Trentonian columnist's toddlers are naked at the beach and ...

Let them laugh. We have a different worldview of nudity -- doesn't make it right or wrong in comparison to other cultures.

 

I've worked for both companies, so let's get that out of the way, I hope. Don't know Jeff, but certainly know who he is.

1.) Except for a year or two after a competitor folded, I've spent my entire journalism career in competitive markets and nowhere did we have a style entry on how we treat a competitor -- although a couple unofficially employed the awful "according to a published report"-- so consequently everyone's been all over the place on a case-by-case basis. Usually it comes down to whether the person is a public figure and whether his employer's name is relevant. I would say far more people would know Jeff as that guy who once wrote a book/guide about the Jersey Shore than as a newspaper columnist, and even that number would be small. It also can be touchy to ID the employer in such a way that might give people the impression you're trying to point out, "Hey, look at the douchebags THEY employ." I don't know the reasoning on nj.com's choice, but I will say I would have been torn on it.

2.) I'm too new at online posting to be married to any idea, but I remain squeamish to linking to any opinion piece from a news story, even by our own columnists, lest it appears we are taking sides on an issue.

3.) Fox didn't mention Jeff's affiliation in its writeup, you have to watch the video to get that. Nor do I see Fox linking to his column(s).

4.) Spring Lake is a ritzy place, it's not Seaside Heights, or even Jeff's intended destination of Belmar. I would guess the public employees feel some pressure to enforce every rule to the letter or some Wall Street bigwig will bitch to the mayor and the next thing you know, you're cleaning the public restrooms in Asbury Park after the roller derby.

5.) Why anyone would want a competitor to them acknowledge them still puzzles me. About 10 years ago a photog from my now-paper pointed his lens at my wife and me (Middle-Age Man Not Only Hides Penis But Wears Shirt on Beach) and I told him, "Go away!" My wife said, "You didn't have to be rude." I said that's all I fucking need, my picture splashed in the competition.

 

This. Very much this.

 

Didn't Jeff write that book 15 years ago? I'm pretty sure he's much more known as a Trentonian columnist, and especially with the explosion of the Net. Not to mention he does (or did, not sure if he still does) a weekly segment (Growls From the Mancave) for MyFoxNY http://www.myfoxny.com/story/18700329/jeff-edelstein-soap so he's definitely known as a Trentonian columnist in the NY/NJ market.

He also teaches at Rider U so he might be more known for that lately than the book.

 

x2 what three_bags wrote.

They're toddlers with sandy bums. Big damn deal. Rinse 'em off, put clothes on them and Wannabe Beach Master should STFU.

 

I lived by the beach for a long time. We would take showers there every time. We would keep our bathing suits on, exactly as any adult did.

 

Totally agreed. I did not get that either.

 

No need to strip the kids naked to wash them off for the 45-60 minute car ride home from the shore. Rinse the sand off the feet, if the kid is complaining about sand inside the suit, then hold the suit open and spray the shower inside the suit and have the kid sit on a towel on the car seat/booster seat.

Since I know Jeff and I work for a paper affiliated with nj.com, I won't comment further.

 

Roasted Nuts.

 

I could give less than two shits about whether people from other countries laugh at Americans because the parents of two kids are urged to put their damn clothes on in public. Part of our problem is that some people think we have to stop and worry about what Belgians will think of us.

 

And in the end, it doesn't matter at all what people in other countries think, or even what any of us would do with our kids in the exact same scenario.

The relevant part is that the borough code states you can't get naked to rinse off at that beach/boardwalk/shower area. The columnist broke that law, was told he was breaking that law, chose to keep doing what he was doing and then didn't like it that someone told him no.

He believes he doesn't need to follow the rules, and did the columnist equivalent of sitting on the floor, holding his breath like a 2-year-old so everyone would look at him.

 

What BWIP said. The issue isn't whether or not kids should be allowed to be nude in public and at what age. The issue is that the columnist was told by an authority figure that he wasn't allowed to do it, flipped the bird at the authority figure, and was upset when that resulted in negative consequences. Because he's special and important and his is the only judgment that matters, so he should be above consequences for his actions.