A story related to the shirtless discussion -- Adilbrand Noblesword's Hall of Warriors

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, [8], 9, 10 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 17:17:10 07/12/02 Fri
Author: mt. healthy mountaineer
Subject: A story related to the shirtless discussion

A topless car wash raises tempers

City leaders trying to shut down sudsy spectacle

ASSOCIATED PRESS

MOSCOW, Idaho, July 11 � If you roll up to Daisy Mace�s car wash, you�d better roll up your windows and prepare for the tops to come down.

The idea for the unorthodox business began when Mace and her friends found themselves short of rent money and decided to hold a car wash.

MACE AND her friends run a successful automobile cleaning service that some might object to as being anything but good clean fun: Topless women wash the cars.
Now civic leaders and rival car wash owners who don�t feature similar services want the washers to cover up and are trying to shut down Mace�s sudsy spectacle.

LIBERAL ANOMALY
Moscow, home of the University of Idaho, is a liberal anomaly in a staid state. Still, the City Council is hastily trying to enact a law to prevent topless car washes. The debate has bogged down over how much of a breast can be legally uncovered.
�Idaho state law says there is no difference between topless men and topless women,� Mace, 22, said this week. �The councilmen are trying to impose their own morals.�
The latest proposal, to be voted on Monday, sets a minimum of covering the areola with a length of material running in a straight but narrow line across the breast, said Council member Peg Hamlett.
The idea for the unorthodox business began when Mace and her friends found themselves short of rent money and decided to hold a car wash. They found that ripping off their shirts wasn�t bad for business.
�Everybody liked it so much we continued,� said Mace, a Spokane native whose orange hair and nose ring blended right into the funky downtown scene.

Five times in the past month, the entrepreneurs � including several topless men � have set up shop on the streets of Moscow with hoses, rags and soap. They don�t have set hours, but once they tack up a few �Topless Car Wash� signs, customers magically appear.

BBQ AND MUSIC, TOO
Patrons are asked only for donations, with most paying from $15 to $20, Mace said. There is a party atmosphere, with barbecue and music.
The competition is rough for Tony Heath, owner of T.C.C. Car Care. His business has dropped by more than $100 a day since the unclad competitors set up shop.
�They have no business license,� Heath complained.
Heath doesn�t care if the women go around topless, but believes profiting from it is wrong. He also argues that the rival business is discriminatory.
�Guys can�t go around topless and make money,� he said.
Moscow has a long tradition of battles over breasts. Several years ago, three women decided to go topless to protest a local law that banned bare-breasted women in public, but allowed bare-chested men.
The three were arrested, although the subsequent legal fight ended with the city�s ordinance being struck down as too vague.
�We�re the first to take advantage of the lack of an ordinance,� said Loni Kirchner, 20, of Hamilton, Mont., a car washer who nevertheless declines to work topless.
Idaho state law requires only that genitals be covered in public, Hamlett said.
Mace acknowledged there is some exploitation of her body. But she stressed the signs say �topless car wash,� not �topless women car wash,� because men are included.
The car washers shoo away any gawkers or anyone with a video camera. Guys who want more than one car wash are sent packing. When a truck load of guys got a bit frisky, Mace hosed them down.
The entrepreneurs are resigned to being put out of business. When car washer Cristiana Anderson, 18, is asked what she would do after that, she glumly replied: �Job.�

� 2002 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

I love it! Let them alone, I say. (NT) -- Adilbrand, 18:29:07 07/12/02 Fri