There is a culture war going on at Fresno’s River Park shopping center between the older conservative crowd and a faction of the younger pop culture.
Many older costumers are complaining about the teens hanging out in the parking area or people driving by and playing loud music. “I have a hard time explaining to my young daughter what words like b*tch or h*e mean,” said a caller to KMJ, a local Conservative talk radio station.
For the past week I have been out at River Park observing what was going on. I have come to the conclusion that many of the complaints are an over-exaggeration.
What I recognized was a culture of people who are just minding their own business, trying to have a good time, and not intruding on any one else’s privacy at River Park.
Korey Ray, a Fresno City College sociology student, usually goes to the movies in a group (two guys and two girls). Afterwards, they go across the street to the Myxx hookah lounge to kick back.
The hookah lounge is an internet café and people also go there to smoke hookah. A hookah is tobacco that can be smoked in a huge pipe with a tube coming from the top of the bowl. The tube is used to puff the smoke.
A person has to be 18 or older to enter and purchase a hookah. After the hookah is purchased then there is choice of different color hookah pipes, the customers then go into the patio area to kick back, listening to music-chatting and puffing on hookah tobacco.
If a person wants, he or she can bring their own computer and go on-line at the Myxx Hookah Lounge.
Then there are the people who call themselves Juggalos. Juggalos are skateboarders who occasionally paint their faces like the members of the rap group called the Insane Clown Posse.
“Many people like to call us a gang, but we are not,” said James Stitt, an FCC criminology student, “We don’t like bigots and we don’t tolerate racist activity.”
The mannor that Juggalo’s hang out at River Park has been banned because many of the customers did not appreciate having to avoid nearly running into a skateboarder.
“The people complaining are costumers who spend their money at the stores,” said Officer Smith, a security guard at River Park who was riding on a bike, “I feel for the skateboarders because they don’t have a place to go and ride their skateboards.”
He went on to talk about how the same problem occurred at the last security job he had in Madera, “They solved the problem by opening up a skateboard park for the kids to hang out enjoy themselves.”
Joe Villines, a third year automotive student at FCC, says they ride their skateboards in other places because they are banned from ridding on the smooth surface parking lots in River Park.
The Edwards Theater mall is where many of the under aged teens hang out while they are either waiting for a movie to start or chatting after a movie.
“Creating a curfew would hurt many of the small business’ in this area,” said Shahzaib Zaman. He owns a mobile cart by the name of Stunner Shades that sits right in front `of River Parks’ Edwards Theater.
Stunner Shades is a place were you can find many of the popular sun glasses for reasonable price. “We have the latest and the greatest shades that cover the eyes of some of the most famous trend setters in the pop culture,” said Zaman.
River Park is riddled with security to protect and serve the shopping community. Their job is to keep that community safe from those who wish to cause trouble or loiters, such as a group of people who where peddling their new mix CD in front Borders for $6.
Mat Springer, an FCC Music major said he hangs out at Borders at least three times a week, “Normally I do not buy anything, I just walk around.”
Springer is just one of many who hang out at either Borders or Barns & Noble reading books or drinking non-alcoholic beverages.
Barnes & Noble, which is across the street from what is officially called River Park, has its own crowd enjoying their products and adding to the culture.
Outside Barmes & Nobel is a patio where a person can enjoy listening to soft music while chatting with friends for hours.
The inside of the store is like a state of the arts library, some of the customers are looking to purchase products, while others are either doing their homework or relaxing and reading in the isle or in another area with comfortable chairs.
The book stores in River Park are a family environment where a parent can take their child and spend hours looking through or reading from a large number of various children’s books.
It is easy to notice that each store has its special way of adding to the culture of River Park. None of the particular groups spill into the other stores’ areas. The sports bar, called Hooters is sitting right next to the hookah lounge, but the two crowds don’t seem to blend.
On Friday evening, a group of motorcycle riders spent their evening hanging out at one of River Park’s Starbucks.
Many of them were just chatting, drinking coffee, and no one ever got on his or her bike and peeled out or even blasted their music.
Maybe, it is because River Park’s culture is not a club scene but more like a place where average people go to hang out in a comfortable place. Yet, we still have the old fogies who want to cause trouble by nitpicking.
Of course there are some things that occasionally go wrong in every place that large groups of people gather, and River Park is no exception, but River Park is also a safe place for everyone who is not looking for trouble to go and have a good time.
I would like to recommend that the self-centered whiners, who complain about the young crowd, should be banned along with the skateboarders, trespassers, and loiterers.
Then there would be a group of people, who would be right, to say the old fogies have the same right to shop and hang out at River Park as the youngsters.
