Laid Back

Take my wife, sleaze:In his letter to the editor in the October 2 issue, David Youmans starts by saying he's a single man and that sometimes a guy wants to get laid. He goes on to say that he doesn't want to deal with games and rejection. So, inevitably, most men pay for sex by either buying it from a prostitute or a wife.

I'm a wife. I've known sex workers. I can't speak for single men, or men at all, for that matter. But I do question Mr. Youmans' assessment of sexual relations between men and women. If that is really his attitude toward women, maybe that's why he finds himself played, rejected and (I'm guessing) single against his will.

I talk with single men and women who are that way by choice. They tell me that finding safe sex partners can be difficult but not impossible. And not one of them has ever confided that they've had to buy sex. Other married men and women don't see their sexual relationships as sex for money, either.

Maybe Mr. Youmans should stick with going to a professional until he decodes how other single men manage to have healthy, friendly, noncommercial sexual relationships with ADULT women. Or maybe he's unable to figure it out because he can't see women as anything more than assorted body parts on sale to anyone with the asking price.
Wasit Yu
Kansas City, KansasOff Track
Loose caboose: Did something seem strange to you about C.J. Janovy's "Runaway Train" (October 23)? I went to C.J. in good faith to be interviewed on my transit plan, Ballot Question No. 3.

Weeks before, I had been interviewed by Pitch reporter Casey Logan about Question No. 3. All he wrote was an article clowning around with Clay Chastain, how I dressed, and how my plan had no chance of winning ("Laugh Track," June 19).

Anyway, the moment I sat down, C.J. declared, "This interview will be on my terms," and it quickly became apparent that those terms were to attack me personally and not discuss Question No. 3.

C.J. began badgering me about my residence, the fact I was messing up transit authorities' plans for Kansas City, and that I was just doing this because I had a vendetta against the establishment. I sensed from her opening conversation that her motive was to rile me up so I would act crazy. I decided at that moment to play along, act crazy and give her what she wanted, to see whether she would write about Crazy Clay or Question No. 3.

As I suspected, C.J.'s article focused entirely on Crazy Clay and even produced a distorted picture of Crazy Clay along with a cover teaser: "Why must we always end up riding Clay Chastain's crazy train?"

This character assassination I played along with finally proves my long-held contention that some media outlets and reporters are only interested in killing me -- the messenger -- rather than reporting on my message to improve Kansas City.

I challenge C.J. to print our entire conversation.
Clay Chastain
Athens, Tennessee

Rant control: I usually enjoy C.J. Janovy's rants, but I found the personal attack on Clay Chastain appalling. Chastain's plan is exciting and energetic. It will bring new life to our stodgy old town. It will bring new construction and much-needed jobs. And the results of the plan will be very visible and useful to new businesses attracted from near and far.

Kansas City is a lot like St. Joseph was at one time. St. Joe might have become a real city. Instead, it lost its motivation and crumbled into a small town, geriatrically fond of old memories and lost opportunities.

Chastain's plan is full of youthful ambition and vision. At one time, those words described Kansas City. Now the KC media, including my beloved Pitch, have chosen to descend into ridicule and ill-advised rant.
Larry Rochelle
Overland Park

The rail world: Questions 1 and 3 on the November 4 ballot present two very different transit proposals to Kansas City voters. Of course, Question 1 asks people to pay pittance to support the current Metro system (see Casey Logan's "Bus-ted," October 23). Question 3 is much more optimistic, endorsing multimodal transportation. It's also composed by Clay Chastain, and that means it can't be safe in the eyes of many in the power elite of Kansas City.

In most cities, all of Chastain's ideas would not be shocking or risky, in that they are pipe dreams. Rather, real efforts to research and add momentum to multimodal transit options for Kansas City's region would be created.

Considering that until 1957, Kansas City had one of the best systems of public transport in the nation, it is sad that so little of that history is used to build a momentum that could make the region even more appealing and accessible to all.
Ryan Caviglia
Philadelphia

Vapid transit: The Pitch has once again shed the light on where taxpayer money is really going. To TIF subsidies. This is why Kansas City has the highest transit spending per capita in the nation for bus service only -- $87.85. The KCATA is not interested in a financial analysis of how they operate and discussion of facts. The KCATA is trying to play to people's emotions about the disabled and jobs. They are blackmailing us to try to get this tax increase passed.
Terrence Nash
Kansas City, Missouri