Choose Charleston

Charleston tends to be recognized as a rather polite, well-mannered, place to live or visit; a place where gentlemen would tip their hats to ladies were hats still in vogue and where doors are routinely held as a courtesy.

It has been mentioned more than once, however, in articles on the polite society of Charleston that our manners tend to become a bit less gentile when we are behind the wheel.

Try to merge into traffic on I-26 somewhere around exit 209 around the middle of the day and you’ll soon be telling a whole different story about politeness.

So we are kinder pedestrians than motorists.

It’s also been noted, on those occasions when local media has experimented with allowing online readers to add commentary to news stories (or when online forums have been built to discuss local issues) that politeness tends to be kicked out the window along with the rest of the trappings of civil behavior.

This, it should be mentioned, is hardly unique to Charleston.

The whole downtown medical district gets a-buzzing when the Roper-St. Francis cafeteria has smoked turkey legs on the lunch menu.

Big juicy smoked turkey leg and some sweet tea - you might as well be walking the midway at the county fair. Not that walking is the thing to do in this kind of heat. Man, that sunshine just pushes you down and makes you say, “Uncle!” And that’s just from crossing the street. Can you imagine what the construction workers are feeling right about now?

On the subject of Roper-St. Francis Healthcare, kudos are due. Health Imaging and IT Magazine recently named RSFH as one of the top 25 connected healthcare facilities.

Accurate information and the ability to access that information in a timely manner are vital to patient care, as we all know, and RSFH is just as pleased as a peach at the way their people consistently keep them on the leading edge, technologically speaking.

Now, everyone go hug someone from hospital IT. They’re the behind-the-scenes heroes keeping the information flowing, after all.

Every now and again, I run through the local Craigslist just to catch a sense of what folks are buying, selling, or trading. What kinds of gigs are emerging, what openings for talent are on the upswing, and who is scouting out whom?

The method, I’ll grant you, is hardly scientific. Its fundamental limitation is that it only speaks of the segment of the population that chooses to use online posting to announce its hopes and dreams.

Some of it is truly scary. “Surely not in gentle Charleston,” I have whispered many a time while going clickety-click through the ads.

We could simply blame ‘bots for anything too out of character, of course, but it is also true that these are changing times and a changing place. People are moving to the South Carolina Lowcountry at an increasingly rapid rate, each bringing their own individual blend of ideas and expectations into the big old melting pot of Frogmore Stew we call home.

Even old Charleston, South of Broad, has absorbed its share of incoming new money from the North as of late.

We still have our cobblestone and the soft clop-clop of horse hooves from the carriage tours but we also have an emerging digital corridor and a medical district that is soaring skyward like something out of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Strange days may be ahead for this rapidly changing place.

While we were driving back from a photo shoot up in the Grand Strand, my friend’s daughter pointed to a billboard and asked, “Da Vinci at Roper? What does that mean?”

Having access to press releases means that I get to act like I’m really smart when people ask about something new in town.

Of course, if I actually were one of the sharpest knives in the drawer, I would be part of Roper St. Francis Healthcare. They are consistently on the cutting edge of medical technology and offer some of the best patient care to be found in the local area.

And given the abundance of care options in Charleston, that’s saying something.

The da Vinci Surgical System allows surgeons to perform procedures via micro-instruments that scale and translate their hand movements. This minimally invasive approach can mean less pain and faster recovery for patients.

It amazes me, every so often, not only how quickly change can occur but also how quickly we adapt to change.

Just yesterday, I was swapping e-mail messages with a local editor about just how many of our daily tasks are now done in front of a computer these days. Everything from casual correspondence with friends to browsing for books, submitting a resume, paying taxes,  and ordering dinner can be done with just a few deft strokes to the keyboard.

Not so long ago, while swiping my debit card at the local grocery store, I remembered reading - way back when in my high school days - a newspaper article about how we were beginning to move toward becoming a cash-less society. Back then, I thought, “Ridiculous!”

Time proved me wrong!

Modern technology has even re-aligned how we connect with others and share our stories. Remember when pen pals swapped anecdotes with pen and paper? Remember licking stamps?

Today, I can follow the lives of boatloads of local bloggers with ease. I can discover not only how people react to the latest stories in the Post & Courier, Charleston City Paper, Skirt, and Charleston Magazine, I can also catch a glimpse of the daily life of a downtown pastry chef, read the reflections of a retired photojournalist, walk with a charming lady, and see Charleston through the eyes of an Englishman still somewhat new to our shore.

It’s a whole new way of approaching the old time sitting on the porch and chatting up the neighbors thing.

Now in its fourth year, the Folly Festival Film Festival supports, encourages, and acts as a showcase for filmmakers, in particular for local talent from South Carolina.

The Folly Felder is a beautiful fit for Piccolo Spoleto, a local arts extravaganza that runs alongside the more internationally flavored Spoleto Festival each year.

Short film has become an increasingly accesible art form, thanks in large part to digital technology and new ways and means of distribution now possible.

A well-made short can be a special delight. Time constraints force artists to make full use of their talents, to snip away unneeded bits and keep the story in tight focus throughout.

This year’s festival paid special recognition to three extraordinary shorts. The bronze went to local filmmaker Richard Almes of Mt. Pleasant, the silver to Merrill Weekley, just up the coast in Surfside Beach, and a well-deserved gold to Barry Battles and Griffin Hood of Alabama.

The major film industry, as we all know, has had more than a few flirtations with Charleston and other South Carolina locations. While this is an obvious choice for films about the American Civil War, it is also becoming recognized that the spectacular landscapes and beauty of the South Carolina Lowcountry make it outstanding for other features as well.

Hey, here in Charleston, we’re always ready for our close-up.

or Why Not To Forward Email

The Internet is a wonderful tool, and speeds the distribution of information to incredible rates. Unfortunately, for pranksters, it’s also a wonderful tool, and speeds the spread of their misinformation to incredible rates as well.

Recently, I received an email, which I’m sure has incarnations all over the net, using different names, but since the version to reach me claims to be from Charleston, I thought I’d spend a little time debunking the contents. So, here in its entirety, is a copy of the email. (I have deleted the scores of email addresses of the many well-meaning individuals who passed it along until it reached my skeptical little hands.)

Dear Friends

My name is Curt Beerman and I live in Charleston, SC. My son Jermaine recently was hit by a car in front of our apartment. Little Jermaine has had many problems with his lungs and right arm since the accident. Our medical costs have become extremely expensive. Jermaine was recently moved to a hosptial in Colombia, SC and the move was very expensive. I could not keep my job at the sanitation department due to the move. A billionaire in Georgia has promised to give $.05 for every time this email is forwarded.

If you wouldn’t mind forwarding this to everyone on your list I would greatly appreciate it as well as my son. Your good deeds could really save his life. Please take a few seconds to help us in our time of need. I know how many of these go around and I want you to know that they really help, if you have any doubts, please E-mail me at the hospital, they have been so kind as to set me up with an e-mail account. My address is: beermanc@musc.edu Please have a heart and forward this.

Remember: What goes around comes around.

Thank you,
Curt Beerman
beerman@musc.com

They way I see it,
If you want the rainbow,
you gotta put up with the rain.

No problem is too big for God’s power.
No person is too small for God’s love.

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh;
is anything too diffucult for Me?
Jeremiah 32:27

The first thing that struck me was the claim to residency in Charleston, yet the poor child has been moved to a hospital in Columbia. Now, I’m sure there are some very good hospitals in Columbia, but you don’t transfer someone from the top hospital in the state unless they’ve improved and need to be closer to home. Usually, the more serious cases in South Carolina are rushed to MUSC, not away.

Next comes the zinger, that mysterious “Billionaire” who has promised to donate a nickel for every time the email is forwarded. First of all, just like Microsoft and Disney are not going to give you a vacation for forwarding some email, there is no billionaire who wants to donate money based on how many times an email is forwarded. There is no software today, which tracks how many times an email gets forwarded, nor can I imagine a need for such software.

Think about it, would you really want to accept money from someone so sadistic as to offer you hope for your ailing child, then make you jump through such ridiculous hoops to get it? Not me.

The next very odd thing is the email address provided in the body of the email. The originator claims the hospital set him up an email account. Let’s forget for a minute the odds of a hospital actually doing this. He claims his son is in a Columbia Hospital, yet has a MUSC address. MUSC is in Charleston, not Columbia. Why would a hospital give an account to a relative of someone who is a patient of another hospital? Ofcourse, the glaring inconsistency with this part of the story is the address itself. MUSC, being the Medical University of South Carolina has a “.edu” extension, not a “.com”.

Finally, comes the part which is designed to cause the most stir, the “threat.” “Remember: What goes around comes around.” Then, just to tug on the emotions of those, probably most likely to want to help, he throws in a quote from the bible.

For more information about email chain letter hoaxes, read this feature about David “Darren” Bucklew, from the About.com Urban Legends Guide, David Emery.

So, what harm can it do to pass along these hoax emails? After all, you’re only trying to help. First, it ties up valuable resources and band width on the net. Then, if it’s pervasive enough, it can overload the email server of an institution like MUSC. Finally, it annoys the heck out of those people who know a hoax when they see one.

The best reaction to such an email is to ignore it.

If you are reading this, you may just be into computers. How techno-savvy are you? Do you have a laptop? Are you looking for places to use your wifi enabled laptop? Do you know what wifi is?

Well, we can help you with at least one of those questions. Here is a brief list of places in Charleston that offer free wifi:

• CharlesTowne Cafe & Coffeehouse
  Francis Marion
  387 King St
  843-853-5282

• Port City Java
  Cannon Park Place
  261 Calhoun St
  843-937-9352

• Rutledge Coffee & Cream
  511 Rutledge Ave
  (843)723-2232

• Kennedy’s Market and Bakery
  60 Calhoun St
  843-723-2026

• Rising High Bakery Café
  480 East Bay St.
  843-958-8596

• SweetSmith Bakery & Coffee
  1124 Sam Rittenberg Blvd

• Manny’s Greek-American Restaurant
  1680 Old Towne Rd
  843-763-3908

• Bobby Hartin’s Sports Grill and Raw Bar
  1124 Sam Rittenberg Blvd.

• Atlanta Bread Co.
  1850 Sam Rittenberg Blvd.

• Kudu Coffee
  4 Vanderhorst St.

• Ashley Marina - facing the water
  33 Lockwood Blvd.

• Residence Inn by Marriott
  90 Ripley Point Dr.
  843-571-7979

• Springhill Suites by Marriott
  98 Ripley Point Dr.
  843-571-1711

• The Elliott House Inn
  78 Queen Street
  800.729.1855