Tempest in a teacup

Following the deaths of three young men in a drunk driving accident in Providence, a miniature storm has erupted on the Providence Journal's "7 to 7" blog over the impromptu memorial spraypainted on the side of the building (owned by Ferguson Perforating & Wire Co.).

While comments on the blog's story included many RIPs and "oh isn't it terribles", a large number of people left comments about how outraged over the defacement of the property, prompting a followup here. And, in typical Rhode Island fashion, there were plenty of comments about the propensity of Portuguese people to drink and drive when compared to people who aren't Portuguese. All politics are local, as they say.

One of my favorite quotes in the original blog story was from "Geo" who defended the graffiti memorial, saying:

forget about the spray paint worry about the the kids who are deceased and pray for them, cuz its jus a symbol of struggle and i think everyone should understand and respect that

The "struggle" Geo is apparently referring to is the struggle to drink brandy and crash a Mercedes into a building, killing three people. The struggle continues, my brothers.