“Fresno Sucks” No this title does not reflect a change of heart for the Fresno Reborn Page. The term “Fresno Sucks” is something that many of us have heard from many different people both residents and non- residents. Sometimes this could be used as a valid case when talking about unemployment, poverty, possibly crime (although other places actually suck more in terms of numbers). But other reasons for Fresno to be considered a deplorable place to live are a little far-fetched. Because of this concept, the reasons that people use to determine the worthiness of the area is skewed. I once was told that Fresno sucked because we could not even keep the Cabo Wabo that came to town. This was not the populous of the Fresno-Clovis area doing something wrong but instead the fate of that restaurant laid in the hands of the developer that caused the problems. This is how others in our area place blame on Fresno when residents and the city (as an entity, not the actual bureaucracy) have nothing to do with a situation. Another example is last Thursday at the Grizzlies baseball game. There were three special game events going on that night. The obvious was the Thirsty Thursday promotion. The other two was the 3rd annual Taco Truck Throw down and Military Appreciation Night. As a result, the park had an overwhelming amount of people. The total attendance was 13,394 people. This is near the record sect for highest Grizzlies game attendance of just over 14,000 people. The lines to get just about anything at the stadium were a minimum of 30 minutes. It felt that Chukchansi needed to invest in the Disneyland queue signs “You have 1 hour, 37 minutes from this point to use the bathroom.” This story leads up to three instances that the term “Fresno Sucks” was used. #1 – After arriving to look for parking, I spotted a family leaving before the first pitch was thrown. I asked why they were leaving and their response was “The line to get in was too long and we did not have tickets, now we can’t even get our parking money back. The just goes to show why downtown Fresno sucks.” To be fair, parking was in limited supply (due to the packed ballpark) and the crowds were long. However, this is not a reflection as to why it sucks to attend a ball game. This family was more accustomed to the automated ticket machines that we all have seen at the movie theaters. Rather than wait patiently for a few minutes, they decided that it was too much of an inconvenience. And as for the parking refund, we do not go around expecting to be refunded for a cover charge at a bar or nightclub just because there was a long line at the bar for drinks. #2 – While waiting in line for over 45 minutes at a time for tacos, someone a few people in front of me said, “Man, I hate Fresno. They can’t even get a taco truck to serve food fast.” Ok, so a restaurants speed of service is not dictated on its location. I have had some of the fastest food delivered to my table in the smallest of towns and had the slowest waiters in other small towns. Even in Fresno, service time does vary depending on the restaurant you got to. The service time depended on the truck. Some of the taco trucks were literally waiting for you to order to begin prepping. Since a vast majority of these tacos were carne asada tacos, there was no need for this especially with hundreds of people in line at a time. Dusty Buns had the right idea. Everything was prepped and ready. You walk up, order your selection of tacos from them and they had it ready in a few minutes. Some of the other taco trucks were taking 20 minutes or more for a plate of tacos. This mistake falls on the owner and cook of each taco truck, not Fresno. #3 – As the game ended, I noticed the traffic signals were out in front of the park. Someone walking towards the intersection said “Look, the city can’t even turn the traffic lights on. Fresno really does suck.” After leaving the ballpark, I was headed towards home and spotted a large glaring light coming from the near the Fulton Mall. I drove towards this to notice that more signal lights were out was well. Upon arriving at the light I saw that it was PG&E replacing a blown underground transformer. Apparently the item that now made Fresno suck was having maintenance and repairs occur to faulty equipment. Personally, I would say this is a positive rather than a negative. Fresno does have its own issues. Some are very difficult to tackle but by adding inane problems, we only further the stigma rather than fix it. So next time someone comes up to you and say that Fresno sucks because of this, perhaps an education in who is truly responsible is in store.
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 21:05:45 +0000