Because it's the right thing to do.
That could be one of the reasons that Dave Danforth and the Aspen Daily News make certain the hidden stories and broader opinions of the general population get told.
There are those of us who have no intention, ever, of broadcasting our lives via news media. Really, you say? huh.
It's true. Just because we seized the opportunity to use mass communication to finish a job we didn't want in the first place and then expanded that into a means to make a meager living when nothing else was available (one that's become a closet guilty pleasure for many and wildly popular with quite a few); doesn't mean that we are 'self-aggrandizing'.
We're simply capitalizing on a niche market. You won't see us lending neon lit arrows pointing to 'read here' as truth starts rolling out for all to salivate over.
Are we proud to see and interested to observe the continual unfolding of broader awareness to 'the other side of Paradise'? That place where the majority of the folks in the region actually live in normal, day-to-day existence with a good portion of their lives ruled by the few and powerful?
You betcha.
A shout out of thanks goes once again to respected opinion columnist, Johnny Boyd.
Up on the Aspen Daily News.
Johnny Boyd:
"...The ongoing saga of Lee Mulcahy versus the Aspen Skiing Co. has become something of a comic story in the otherwise lofty sophistication of Aspen and its environs. As the standard that all other ski towns are measured against, Aspen’s methods and actions are scrutinized and emulated by impressionable resorts that will imitate their role model. Will these smaller resorts take notice and single out community members to sanction for actions the corporation doesn’t like?
I can’t imagine that smaller resorts would act with such petty retribution for disrespecting the will of the local corporation. In smaller, less company-minded towns, the backlash might be severe. I can, however, imagine that the little resorts would take note of SkiCo’s actions to remove trouble-making pro-union employees from the equation. The message is clear: Don’t try to unionize ski employees or you will never ski again.
Thuggish tactics used on one person to assure that pro-union employees are sent a message make big headlines in a small town. The SkiCo obviously doesn’t care that its methods keep the issue in the news long after it should have faded. The bad publicity is nothing when compared with paying employees a wage that people need to live on. It’s the bottom line that counts.....
.....It is neither glamorous nor sophisticated of the SkiCo and the museum to be seen as picking on the little guys. Truthfully, the pettiness of the SkiCo and the Aspen Art Museum isn’t so much a “comic story” as it is a joke.
If word gets out, that might affect the bottom line...." (Read the rest of Johnny's column? Click title)
"Unapologetically pursuing and tracking patterns within the news others make since 2010."
2 comments:
The truly shameful to Aspen part of this entire situation with Lee Mulcahy is that Aspen Ski Corp execs and the Crown family never thought they would be caught. In the same way as the majority of their public treatment of employees, locals and guests the thought that they might be seen as lacking in the public eye never dawned on any of them.
That ground under the boot heel of Aspen Ski Corp is an energy that many pick up on when they visit us. The energy of snobbery, entitlement by self-proclamation and general disdain for the average family and most of the middle class is palpable everywhere, including the slopes and lift lines. You either party hard with all the drugs, booze and star culture or you set off on specific events that are more singular and family oriented. There is no middle of the road in Aspen. Lee Mulcahy dared to challenge that elitist snobbery and did so with a simple statement. "Don't use us anymore. Pay us fairly and treat us with respect because without us, you will not thrive."
The backlash for Mulcahy was and still is, a vile thing to observe. My family and I have been in this area for nearly 40 years now and when we run across any Skico exec, Paula or Jim my husband and I cannot stomach even being polite. To do so would be fake and as reprehensible as the position they have over Lee. (and here's a clue..we've been in their employ before in the local construction arena). We wouldn't give Skico or the Crowns the time of day after what has happened with Lee Mulcahy.
You bet that bottom line is going to continue to stay flat, Johnny.
It may even begin to sag until it finally ends up in a downward spiral. At this point, lifting this childish, petulant temper tantrum against Mulcahy and removing all bans is only going to make the Skico and family tolerable. There isn't much that's going to reinstate them in the society of the Roaring Fork Valley that truly matters.
gws speaks truth to power. right on brother.
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