Behind the Times

Don’t shoot the messenger

Posted on March 23, 2007 by kraus2686
Filed Under Clinton, Downtown, Noah's posts |

Oh, if only we could take back some of the regrettable things we say. That’s exactly what Jomahco Designs owner Laura Devlin tried to do this week in a story that appeared in The Item. Devlin tried to undo damage done when she made comments to the Times & Courier last week about local charity WHEAT being a negative influence on business on High Street.

From The Item:

She said this was meant as a compliment, but the resident twisted and fabricated her words to create a sensational story.

Devlin then said she would like to hire a lawyer and bring libel charges against “the resident.”

Well, “the resident,” as we apparently like to call him, is none other than moi. Unfortunately, we don’t hear from “the resident” in that story. Folks, I stand by what we printed.

There were two somewhat shocking things about what Devlin said. When I asked her what was difficult about running a business on High Street, in the same breath as mentioning the usual parking and crime problems, Devlin responded that there were many Brazilian stores on the street and that they seemed to be doing quite well. A poster at clintonmass.com suggested that this could be taken several ways, and I concede that now that I look at it, it is conceivable Devlin meant something else by that comment. If it was meant to be positive, she certainly didn’t make that clear. Her statement about WHEAT, however, was crystal clear — no room for misinterpretation. Allow me to quote:

“There are a lot of Brazilian storefronts that do quite well down there and having WHEAT down there is not helping either. It’s just going to make things worse. Who’s going to want to shop there?”

I then asked, “you mean, having WHEAT next to you?”

“Yes,” she said.

Folks, I’ve been doing this for 10 years and although I may occasionally miss an apostrophe here and there I can tell you I haven’t excelled in this biz by making stuff up — believe me, reality is sensational enough. That quote is verbatim. I should have pressed Devlin harder on the Brazilian question to be sure of what she was saying, but when it came to WHEAT there was no need — Devlin made it perfectly clear that the organization’s presence on High Street wasn’t helping the street’s reputation and it’s impending move closer to her would make business worse. Whether you the reader agree or not, I leave to you.

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