Los Gatos Weekly-Times

EDITORIALS

Tone of debate reduced to ridicule

What's most disconcerting about the Double D's flap isn't that some visitors may snicker as they drive past the new sports grill at the gateway to downtown.

It's not that the owners conveniently called the restaurant "Doubles" rather than "Double D's" in their dealings with the Planning Department.

It's not even the weighty implications of First Amendment rights that come into play when the town gently suggested a name change might be appropriate.

What's really troubling about this controversy is the tone of the debate. Granted, those complaining about the name have assumed a strident stance.

Still, their observation that the name Double D's attached to a sports bar is sexually suggestive and degrading to women shouldn't be dismissed as the ravings of "feminists" who--as one writer of an unsigned letter-to-the-editor suggested--don't have enough confidence in their own femininity.

Ridicule for women who are unwilling to go along with sexually degrading humor proves once again that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Devincenzis say they did not intend their restaurant's name to suggest anything more than an old nickname. And we suspect that's true. Still, in the few days that Dean and Darin Devincenzi displayed their Double D's banner, the Los Gatos Weekly-Times received several letters and heard enough other rumblings to suggest many residents believed the pun was definitely intended.

Enough residents expressed concern to the town that the mayor felt obligated to take on a delicate diplomatic mission to discuss the matter with the owners.

We expect that the furor will die down if the Double D Devincenzis make good on their assurance to hire both men and women and that their attire will be baseball jerseys and khaki slacks.

The name was only part of the wariness some people felt. Of greater concern was what the name might portend in terms of the type of establishment the new guys in town really intended their sports bar to be.

Let the music begin

There were times last summer when it seemed as if the popular Music in the Plaza series was doomed to become just another bit of Los Gatos nostalgia. Now, thanks to a strong Arts Commission, a generous community and an energetic John Tice, who personally solicited donations of $9,000, the show will go on.

What's more, the series has been able to attract high-quality musicians who will be paid for their work. Too often, people who are paid for their work assume musicians should perform for free. The Arts Commission is to be congratulated for not settling for lower standards or begging musicians to work gratis.

This year's program kicks off Sunday with Hurricane Sam and his honkey tonk piano. The 11-week series is an eclectic one, ranging from gospel to mariachi to New Age. The popular bluegrass group Sidesaddle is on the calendar, as is jazz fusion guitarist Jim Witzel.

It's time to pull the picnic basket out of the closet, hang out the blanket, gather up the lawn chairs and get ready for summertime--Los Gatos style.