Dimon Kendrick-Holmes
Nobody likes a whiner.
Unless you’re whining about the heat when it’s not even summer yet.
Speaking of which, just for kicks, I looked back at our website metrics for the first 19 days of June to see which of our stories readers found most interesting when it wasn’t summer yet but sure as heck felt like it.
Our most popular story in Greensboro, by far, was actually a letter to the editor entitled, “Greensboro is so noisy we’ll never visit again.”
A tip of the hat to our editorial page editor, Allen Johnson, who grabbed that letter and posted it online for the world to enjoy.
It was a rare gem.
People are also reading…
Michael Aquilina was visiting Greensboro from St. Augustine, Fla., to attend his grandson’s graduation from Grimsley High School. He was staying at the Hampton Inn downtown and reported in his letter that “the noise on the evenings of June 7 and 8 was unbelievable.” This was a Thursday and Friday night. “Motorcycles were racing up and down the street until 3 a.m.,” he continued, “loud music was playing and people were yelling during this entire period.”
So he went to complain to the front desk, and the folks there gave him ear plugs — how’s that for immediately solving a problem? — and told him “that the police are slow in responding.”
“This is very strange,” Aquilina noted in his letter, “as the police headquarters was right there where this was occurring.”
Aquilina sent a version of the letter to Mayor Nancy Vaughan, and she sent him a reply in which she apologized profusely, vowed to do better, but also pointed this out:
“You are correct that the Hampton Inn is next to police headquarters, but the officers are deployed throughout the city. They return to HQ at shift change.”
If I appear to be taking Mr. Aquilina’s plight lightly, well, get a load of the response from readers on our Facebook page. One of our reporters, Susie Spear, did a bit of research and estimates that more than 90 percent of the more than 160 comments dismissed and often mocked Aquilina’s passionate missive. Here’s a taste:
- “Is this a joke? We just got back from NYC, the Bronx to be exact, and let me tell ya, we are mouse quiet compared to what I endured there.’’
- “What noise?? I moved from Texas. This is heaven.”
- “Dude, I don’t even hear any cicadas yet.”
Over in Winston-Salem, one particular story drew an even larger audience than Aquilina’s letter to the editor: “Wings-N-Fins truck owner opens restaurant in Winston-Salem.”
I’ve mentioned this before, but I love reading stories about people who stare down the odds and decide to open a restaurant.
Michael Hasting’s story about Dedrick Roseboro did not disappoint.
Roseboro was working in food service for senior living communities when he endured two tragic events: His mother died of cancer at age 56, and then his brother was shot to death at age 30.
Memories of good times with his brother at a bar in Thruway Shopping Center inspired him to start a food truck and continue to drive him to succeed in the restaurant business.
“We ate so many wings, man,” Roseboro said. “I don’t know if you remember the Fox & the Hound. We ate so many wings and watched so many games over there.”
Another thing that made the story special was Walt Unks’ photos of Roseboro with his food and a close-up of a fried whiting sandwich with two massive fillets overwhelming a bun.
What can I say? I love good food, and so does everybody else in the Triad.
That explains why about half of our most popular stories so far in June have been about local restaurants and the good folks who run them.
In addition to Wings-N-Fins, Winston-Salem readers have enjoyed stories about the opening of Kalamaki Authentic Greek Street Food, the planned expansion of Louie & Honey’s Kitchen, and a new line of Holiday sparkling wine co*cktails from a local couple.
In Greensboro, folks are talking about how falling in love with a vegetarian inspired a man to start Mike’s Vegan Grill, how 60 food trucks recently descended on Greensboro, and how a Mooresville institution called Epic Chophouse has opened a restaurant in the Gate City.
Readers in both cities were interested to read about a couple of Long Islanders opening a Yankees-themed deli — called Damn Yankees, of course — in Kernersville.
And the list goes on.
We’ll keep the stories coming all summer.
Did I mention it’s just getting started?
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Dimon Kendrick-Holmes
Executive Editor
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