Love-Hate Mail
God bless the Family Wash
I love the Wash and I can't imagine East Nashville without it ("Wash Out?," Sept. 9). The Family Wash is the keystone of that community and removing it would leave a void that would reduce East Nashville/Inglewood to just another suburb with nothing to say for itself. Just a neighborhood with too much crime and not enough personality for the price tag.
I am disappointed by the first four comments on this article. Anyone who knows where it's at, knows it's at the Family Wash. These people are not describing the Wash that I know or Jamie Rubin. He is BY FAR the most personable and genuine business owner in Nashville. Slow service? Maybe, but my bed is bigger than the kitchen there—and everything is baked in an oven. Bad service? Never. Bad music? Subjective. Too loud? No one is interested in what you're saying anyway. Whenever I have guests in town, I insist we visit the Wash because it offers character and comfort level that is rare in any city.
Just check out the artwork in the bathroom if you don't believe me.
The One and Only Bill Davis
Nashville
Pot calls kettle 'hipster'
Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to agree with some of the more negative comments ("Wash Out?," Sept. 9). After repeated visits, the service is inconsistent, to say the least. The food and drinks are overpriced, in general. The faux hipness of the East Side wannabes is so thick you can cut it with a knife. And the music? Less said, the better.
Kman
Nashville
Back Wash
I've been going to the Family Wash for over four years now, and I have never had a bad experience of any kind ("Wash Out?," Sept. 9). The food is always excellent, the staff has always been extremely friendly, and Jamie bends over backwards to be personable to everybody. I know that when I walk in there, I'm always going to hear some cool and interesting music.
Those folks with their comments fueled with anger, venom and hatred, don't belong in a place like the Wash anyway.
Steve Dilliard
East Nashville
Lipstick smeared?
Love the image of this down-and-out guy "fingering his worry beads" ("Wash Out?," Sept. 9). Sensationalist journalism at its finest. Been to the Family Wash a few times, and it left little impression, good or bad. But this article makes me want to hate it. Judging by these comments and the rep around the 'hood, the owner has made poor business decisions, alienated a lot of the 'hood, so people won't go there. Makes sense. But to prop him up as a symbol of the hardships of today's economic crisis is ridiculous. Maybe this explains the heated tone of many of these comments.
Oh, and hating on the Lipstick Lounge to make a point that you don't want people to hate on the Family Wash...well, that's just stupid and sad, man.
Sam Mitchell
East Nashville
Wash haters, you got served—finally
I've known Jamie almost 30 years ("Wash Out?," Sept. 9). He has integrity and has NEVER done anything simply to pad his wallet. He's a struggling business man with a love for the music he showcases, ZERO animosity towards lesbians (his co-manager at the time was very liberal and didn't have any fear or contempt for lesbians) or any other group, and he bends over backwards for bands—often hiring acts with small draws in an effort to help them grow.
In all the time I've known Jamie, he has been entirely immersed in music. That bar exists because Jamie loves music, needs to feed and clothe his two boys, and because he LOVES East Nashville. I know the service can get slow—the minute he lets some of the waitstaff go home, the place gets bombed. Bands with otherwise larger draws are left looking at empty chairs. He isn't a bad businessman—BUSINESS is bad!
Those of you who are bitter, well, don't go in there. Stay home and watch American Idol. If you have nothing good to say about a man's labor of love falling with this economy, blame Greenspan and Bush. The fact that you can't refrain from trashing the place indicates to me that there is more pissing you off than just service issues. Could it be that you don't feel cool and self-confident enough to hang?
Kip Martin
East Nashville
Not a black-and-white issue
Frances Spurlock did not have the NAACP file a lawsuit because of racism ("How can Nashville's rezoning plan work when one school doesn't even have textbooks?" Sept. 3). All of the schools, including the white ones, have delays in getting textbooks every year. No one was singled out by a wicked, evil white Chamber of Commerce to do without.
Frances Spurlock had only two reasons for the suit:
(1) She had before- and after-school child care scheduling problems, as do millions of American parents who do not then file a costly lawsuit to rape the taxpayers so they can get special treatment. She wrote to Metro about it in the summer and they let her deal with it as other parents must do, without special favors.
(2) Her daughter was the victim of black-on-black violence directed at her by the black kids at the John Early Middle School. It was black kids at John Early, and not the "racist" school board or Chamber of Commerce who "viciously threatened" the girl.
How exactly are Frances Spurlock's child care problems and her child's terror at being the victim of black-on-black violence a racist plot by "whitey," whom the NAACP loves to blame for everything? Why don't they address the multitude of problems in the black community that cause many blacks to continue on with a slave/victim attitude—often caused by groups like the NAACP seeing racists behind every bush and dissing wise people like Bill Cosby who urge blacks to take personal responsibility for their lives and stop shooting themselves in the foot?
Terri Merritts
Nashville
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