Contributed photo, blog post by John HoffFire And Ice--the new greasy foods joint which opened recently to a lukewarm reception on this blog, click here--is now known to be selling long plain white t-shirts. A loyal reader contributed this photo. If anybody wants to discuss the significance of the "long plain white tee" and its place in the North Minneapolis fashion scene, feel free. All I have to say is:
Thanks, loyal reader. Now I know where NOT to go for a "Chicago famous" Philly cheesesteak sandwich and big cold glass of lemonade.
(Do not click "Read More")
Ugh. Poor choice.
ReplyDeleteThat must be very recent because there were none when I decided to check the place out about a week and a half ago.
ReplyDeleteWhile I see it as it's their business whether they want to sell clothes along with their sandwiches, it makes no sense as to why someone would do something like that. And who would buy clothes from a place that serves food? Wouldn't you be concerned with getting a grease-covered shirt??
Can't say I was crazy about the food I got (the french fries were hard, and the buffalo chicken sandwich was way too greasy for me), but the lemonade was awesome.
Show me a place in NoMi that doesn't sell the white T. Its the uniform of the day come summer time. Even the places the coppers hang out in sell them. It's capitalism at its finest; supply and demand. No appologies needed.
ReplyDelete-Just a cop
I really like the lemonade at El Amin's. They put a little sandwich board sign out on the sidewalk last summer advertising lemonade and on a really hot day, I found it almost physically impossible to drive by without stopping in for a cool drink. I'm a sucker for lemonade. This has nothing to do with the plain white tee issue, but on a beautiful day like this, looking forward to summer, I just felt like discussing lemonade instead! :+)
ReplyDeleteI'm apparently ignorant of what the significance of selling plain white t-shirts is. Can someone enlighten me?
ReplyDeleteWell, I have a brother-in-law who wears them because he considers himself a "gangsta," so I'm assuming it has something to do with that.
ReplyDeleteThis is the Fire and Ice I wanted on Broadway. I knew it was to good to be true.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.fire-ice.com/
These shirts are typical Muslim attire. However, they are also worn by Israelis. They are very common in the Middle East.forinar
ReplyDeleteI suppose this business should now be driven out of NoMi because it doesn't meet the purity test? I bet there are 911 calls in this part of town too.
ReplyDeleteThis needs to be replaced by some trendy sandwich store that sells tiny over priced sandwiches immediately.
I noticed this yesterday when I stopped in for dinner with some friends. We were pretty amused..
ReplyDeleteWhen I asked why they sold the shirts the answer I got was "This is the 'hood'. What do you expect?"
ReplyDeleteAlthough the owners of Fire N Ice are Palestinian, and therefore most likely Muslum, their reasons for selling the gangster shirts were profit oriented (selling to gang bangers) and not religious. In fact, they didn't mention religion, and I have not noticed anything that would indicate they are observant Muslums.
Additionally, I've been to the Middle East, including Israel and Palestine. I did not notice gang banger attire when I was there. Does anyone have any photos of observant Muslums or Isralis dressed as gang bangers walking around in the Middle East? For what it's worth, I think many Muslum countries might mete out some pretty harsh punishments for some of the activities we encounter on a daily basis in NOMI. Unless I see a picture (Tomas), the whole religious attire comment strikes me as utterly ridiculous. We are not talking about prayer mats. We're talking about long white t-shirts like the ones worn by the same assholes who carry stolen guns in their sagging wastebands and shoot their rivals in front of my house.
I love their philly steaks (sans Mayo btw). I will support this business as it is, provided they show me some evidence that they intend to be responsible business owners and NOT perpetuate the gang banger culture that provides so much benefit to my neighbors and my neighborhood (last clause = sarcasm). The first thing they can do is cease selling these shirts.
If some of you don't like the fact that we are standing up and saying "Enough is Enough" then you can MOVE AWAY. Enough violence and gang banger BS!
If this business chooses the wrong side of this issue, I will not shop there. If this business becomes a problem because of the ownership's poor choices, I will work to make their continued existence a difficult one.
Signed,
Philly Steak Lover/Gang Hater.
Eugene sounds like Keith Reitman.
ReplyDeleteThe long plain white tee is as much a part of gang banger culture as "blunts" where the tobacco is removed and replaced with cannabis (another popular "thug store" item) or stores that sell small postage scales. Stores that support thugs in the name of making a few bucks deserve whatever harsh criticism I can manage to heap upon them.
ReplyDeleteI won't spend my money at a place that supports thugs in the name of "capitalism." That would therefore include "Fire And Ice."
When word reaches me they no longer sell the long plain white tees, I'll go there and buy something and, well, I may keep going there. But not until then. I would urge like-minded people to act likewise.
Well, as long as you're on the subject of neighborhood businesses and drug/gang related merchandise...
ReplyDeleteSeveral months back I was in the dollar store near the intersection of Lyndale & Broadway for some packaging tape. I happened to notice a customer at the front counter looking over a smallish piece of cardboard the clerk was holding. Attached to the cardboard square were various sizes of the really small, ziplock bags. The customer was trying to decide which ones he wanted.
Now I suppose these bags could be used by coin collectors or whatever, but a more logical conclusion would be they're the same ziplock bags used by crack dealers to package a rock or two. Every once in a while I find them on the Blvd. by my house - sometimes with the stuff still inside.
Since Broadway & Lyndale can be rather like an open-air market, it doesn't surprise me some nearby businesses would be trying to profit from what's going on outside their stores. I hate it, but how can it be stopped? It's not illegal to sell ziplock bags.
Yes!
ReplyDeleteHow often I have asked myself; "Where can I buy a white t-shirt that has been dangling over a grease frier"? Is the grey dust that has settled on the shoulders extra? Maybe they could hook me up with a tube sock they used to wash windows with while I am there...
Not everyone who wears these shirts sells drugs. It is nothing more than urban fashion, which is predominantly, but not exclusively, worn by black people.
ReplyDeleteDon't stereotype people who wear this fashion.
If I mentioned folks who walk around with their underwear showing and pants below their ass, would that be a stereotype, too?
ReplyDeleteI feel perfectly free to consider some forms of fashion to be in bad taste and to strongly disapprove of their sale. For the record, I feel the same way about baby seal fur and stuff produced by sweatshop labor. There is all kinds of fashion I disapprove of, and I feel free to say so.
Kevin:
ReplyDeleteThat's like the Electric Fetus selling glass pipes.
It sucks, I agree. But, what do you do other than vote with your wallet?
Anyone know if operating a "headshop" requires a special permit? Perhaps the City could re-classify some of these items as items requiring a special permit in order to offer them for sale?
Wait...does the Electric Fetus actually sell glass pipes?
ReplyDeleteI strongly disapprove, if that's the case.
JNS: Sure, glass pipes, one hitters, matches, zippos, incense, clothing, gifts, and music.
ReplyDeleteJust ask Ringo Star.
Shamika:
ReplyDeleteWho said anything about race, except you?
I, for one, don't care what color you are, if you are packing a piece underneathe your long ass shirt, you suck. If you sell long ass shirts to people who wear them to conceal their illegal guns, you also suck.
If you do that in my neighborhood, me and my friends will eventually run you out of business.
End of Story.
No offense, Shamika, but I have a lot of black friends back in Indy who call the shirt "gangsta style," too, besides my white brother-in-law who wears them and also calls them that. If they can call it that, why can't I?
ReplyDeleteI'm part Cherokee, and I don't think it's fair for me to joke about my "redskin heritage" if I won't let others call it that, too.
To the victims:
ReplyDeleteWHEN ARE YOU GOING TO LEARN...
IT ISN'T ABOUT RACE, IT IS ABOUT BEHAVIOR!
Until you learn this, you will never stand tall.
You are simply a victim of your own misconception.
This is rather unscientific, but I did a Google image search on "white shirt Muslim attire." I made it through the first fifteen pages and didn't see a single image that looked anything like the t-shirts that are the subject of this post. Here are some things that Google thinks are closer to "whit shirt Muslim attire" than gangbanger t-shirts:
ReplyDelete- A black t-shirt displaying Mr. T saying, "Shut up fool!"
- A Detroit Red Wings jersey
- The premiere issue of Playboy in Indonesia
- The bride of Frankenstein
- A stork
And yes, I agree that we as residents of NoMi (and non-residents who care about NoMi are welcome to pitch in!) have every right to decide what we want and value in our community. That goes for John and others like him as well as the commenters who disagree with us.
To those who agree that we should not spend money at a place that supports the thug lifestyle, I say we make that known to the store. Perhaps the only thing or the quickest thing that will make these people change their minds is if they know that they are LOSING business because of these shirts.
Education is key. It wouldn't be out of line to have a "chat" with these owners. A certain councilman and his wife have been known to do JUST THAT with regards to what is being sold on our Avenue and our neighborhood. Possibly the wake up call would assist with educating the owner not only about the t-shirt ( assuming they don't get it) but also an education about our expectations in our community.
ReplyDeleteOooohhhhh, I got it now.. I see what the commenter who writes about the long white shirts being muslim attire - that commenter is trying to convince us that these extra long white fruit of the loom type tee-shirts being sold in Fire-n-Ice and a dozen other thug stores is the same as a muslim man who wears a long, knee-length white linen type shirt, sometimes with a few buttons, mostly with some kind of a banded collar or mandarin type collar is the same thing..
ReplyDeletehahaha, nice try. Definitely not the same thing.
And Shamika is right... not all the kids wearing these extra long tees are actually selling drugs or gang-banging. However they are atleast trying to imitate the pushers and the bangers. Thats for sure. Mommas, don't let your babies grow up to imitate thugs, or they will be considered a thug.
I know this is probably a shock to many of you, but a black person can wear urban styled clothing and not sling crack or rape your white woman.
ReplyDeleteIt's actually a great disguise. Ever tried to call-in to 911 for a crime in progress. When they ask for a description and you have to say "Three individuals. they're 14-18 years-old, and they-re all wearing baggy jeans and a white baggy tee-shirt." Who are the cops going to look for? Everyone's wearing baggy jeans and white baggy tee shirts these days...
ReplyDeleteShamika don't get it. Shamika don't get it. Shamika don't get it, and i don't care. The neighborhood's gonna change.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI guess white t-shirts are a bit of a red flag to me. Being from Chicago, where colors are often used as gang symbols, we went through a period in 05 or so where plain white t-shirts were not allowed in most schools and workplaces as they signified a certain gang. So I suppose that attire means something to some of us, from experience.
ReplyDeletedo you have to say "your white women"? "your? really? we're all people. not mine or yours or theirs or his. we're all the same.
ReplyDelete(sorry if this posted twice - my account's being strange)
Uh, Shamika, it's not just a "black urban thing." I know plenty of white urban men who wear the same attire, but guess what? They're either true gangbangers or emulating gangbangers in order to be cool.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, I used to dress that way, too, because emulating gangbangers and rappers was the cool thing to do.
Seriously, you with your comments sound more racist than anyone else here.
SHAMIKA, RACISM IS OOZING FROM YOUR SKIN PORES.RACISM COMES IN MANY FORMS FROM PEOPLE WITH VARIOUS BACKGROUNDS.YOU MAY THINK PEOPLE ARE CHUMPS AND ARE NOT ON TO THE COVERT RACISM THAT EXISTS IN YOUR LANGUAGE AND I WILL STATE UNEQUIVOCALLY THAT YOU WOULD DENY BEING ONE.WITH THAT SAID, YOUR GAME IS OLD AND IT SUCKS SO GO BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD.
ReplyDelete