My initial response was to write a nasty note back to Michael Herring, but I stayed out because I thought I was too close to the subject. You see, although I'm white my grandchildren are mixed. But I have no tact and so here are my two cents worth. When I first read Herring's posting I took it to be racial, but after thinking about it for awhile, I have changed my mind. These are my thoughts: Michael Herring is a jerk! We can all be jerks at times (heaven knows I've been told that I can be one). Let's just hope he is that way all the time. If he did mean it to be racist, then I feel sorry for him. As one who has often run up agaist predjudice I know he's misssing out on a lot of great people. His thoughts would have been better accepted among his close friends who probably forgive him for being a jerk (whether permanently or partly) His slam seemed aimed more at New York--a great city (I know, I've visited) except for the taxi cab drivers. I don't want to meet Michael Herring, but I would like to meet Mr. Vreeland. I want to be included in the "we" who doesn't tolerate such talk without speaking up. Mr. Herring is welcome to his opinion, but if I think he's wrong, I'm going to say so. People who pick on vocabulary and grammer are too picky. Ease up! We're writing fast, trying to get everything in before our server disconnects us for being in one place too long, and we don't always have time to check spelling and grammer. Besides, I thought we were among friends (mostly) here.