Mailbag: Fashion Island takes misstep with doggy shoppers

As a longtime Newport-Mesa resident, I read with interest about the $100-million makeover of Fashion Island ("Fashion Island undergoes bustling wave of change," Dec. 27). The article slant was very positive, but here is the flipside.

The powers that be have obviously decided the "family-friendly" approach has to go — the merry-go-round, the train and the beloved bubble fountain, for example. The new group that is being courted is the affluent dog owner.

In the last six months or so, my friends and I have personally witnessed dogs lifting their legs on the sides of stores; a large shaggy dog in a store rubbing its shedding coat against the velvet slacks we were looking at; a dog having a big problem inside a store and the owner refusing to clean it up. And, of course, there is no such thing now as walking around the grassy mini-park by Macy's to enjoy the ocean view, because that has become a doggy bathroom.

I have nothing against dogs; it is dog owners and the head honchos who are to blame. As these powers-that-be start losing business from longtime shoppers, I hope they realize that the affluent aren't always the consistent customers.

Gail Perkins

Costa Mesa

*

Giving without expecting something back

My photo files are full of images of nice people, including the Knott's Berry Farm family. Almost 30 years ago, in 1981, I captured images of the luminaries being honored at the American Celebration for Chapman College (now Chapman University). The Knott family was among them.

At that time, being a newcomer to America, and to Orange County, I photographed everybody with the same enthusiasm, without really knowing who was who, and without expecting any personal favors.

Little did I know that Marion Knott would remember me for so long. Her Christmas cards with a check inside have brightened my holiday season for years now — without any obligation and without wanting anything in return, all just in gratitude for the memories I created for the Knott family on that and other occasions.

Dear Mrs. Knott, your gesture is more than a holiday greeting, it is a victory over the transitory nature of life.

Yana Bridle

Newport Beach

*

'Islamophobia' used too loosely

I enjoyed reading Mona Shadia's article "Unveiled: A Muslim Girl in O.C.: Tangled in the layers of a hijab" (Dec. 9), but I am afraid that the term "Islamophobia," used in the editorial note for that article, may mislead readers into wrongly believing that most Americans have a fear of all Muslims.

It is true that there have been incidents of hate crimes against some Muslims, but these are done by a relatively few unstable and ignorant people, whereas most Americans respect the right to freedom of religion guaranteed in our Constitution.

Maneck Bhujwala

Huntington Beach