Life in the City - Naughty and Nice
ILLEGAL gambling in Neveh Shaanan The other day I had a conversation with a friend about the "good" and the "bad" of Tel Aviv life. By that I mean what we referred to as the 'nice' things that happen here. And... the 'not so nice' things that go on every day but we usually don't talk about (gambling, sex, smoking, drinking, etc.) When we started out this blog, we wanted to put a positive 'face' to the writing. Not because we are "selling" or doing a "PR job", but because there is so much negative writing, intensely focused on things that do not affect our daily life (terrorism, politics, nationalism, crime, etc.)
So what do we do about the "good life" that is not exactly "nice"? Well, we want to hear from you. Some would say it goes in a different blog, in one with "adult" content. Some say, tag each story with an "adult" label, then we can skip it if we want. Some would say - this part is a "negative" to Tel Aviv. If the sex trade is negative in Atlanta and Milan, it's negative in Tel Aviv! PERIOD, end of story. So what does "negative" content has to do with a "positive" blog?
"Massage" advertising We think that "adult" life is sometimes a "good" part of life. Cheating on your wife or mate is not at all good. Spending your salary on card games is not good when you need to feed the baby and pay the rent. But men hire women for pleasure, they gamble for excitement and drink for fun. There is nothing unique about Tel Aviv, Israelis or the time we live in today. We also think that Tel Aviv DOES NOT have the extremes that we hear about in other places. For the most part the "sins of life" here are VERY tame. We are not naive to think that nobody spends the salary on drugs instead of diapers and formula, but on a whole, Israel and Tel Aviv have not seen the crazy epidemics of Europe and America. Actually, that innocence is what attracts people to Tel Aviv. Not only the ones looking for a "nice" place to live or visit, but also the ones that are looking for a little "naughty" in a vacation or " 'round the corner".
Finally, we think that NOT writing about what you see on the street is somewhat of a "PR job" by itself. We set out to give you a positive - YET - accurate view of Tel Aviv. That means, what it would be for you to walk, talk, smell and BE here. We don't know what you like EXACTLY, but, we see people going about life, enjoying the city, and we write about it. The process is made up of lots of small decisions, some as simple as "how" to ask a question and what to photograph, but some are complex as "what" to write about and what to leave out. Anyway, we believe that the "sins of life" are something that Tel Aviv does "well" - if such thing can be said.
Anyway, back to the dilemma: we also heard that most people, knowing the "sins of the city" simply want to read about "nice of the city". Nobody is naive about things, we all know of the darker side of life. But, we still want to read, vacation, work and live in a "nice place". Anyway, a little dilemma to get the creative writing juices going. So please... write us...
So, what do you have to say??? Tell us what you think. We will post the results and let you know what will happen. Once again, enjoy 'the city' and come play if you like...
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