Mercury newspaper creates havoc in Portland

Who knew The Mercury could cause such a hullabaloo?

A group of people opposing the annual tradition of taping the sidewalk to “reserve” spots along the Grand Floral Parade route plans to pull up duct tape all over Portland Friday night.

The effort was organized after an article apeared in this week’s Portland Mercury newspaper. The editor complained that the tape trashes the parade route and many agree.

The article in the Mercury calls on Portlanders to tear the tape up, with one exception. If parade fans are already sitting in their taped-up spots, they’ll remain untouched.

“If a few, self-centered individuals want to jump in line, we don't feel like that's fair. You can't tape off a spot at the DMV or at the bank and say I'm here, I'm first, and come back tomorrow. You know, stay up all night. Earn your spot," Mercury reporter Matt Davis said.

While the Portland tradition of saving parade spots strikes many as kind of strange, it sounds like it got kind of out of control. Then The Mercury had to jump in and turn it into some kind of crusade, which was funny, but then it wasn't. Didn't the Mercury staff ever see this cautionary WKRP episode? It's all fun and games with media promotions until someone starts dropping turkeys...

With only a few hours to go until the scheduled de-taping of Portland begins, you can check Blogtown PDX for possible updates. Hopefully no SUV driving, McMansion-owning, beer swilling cretins from places like Vancouver have taken offense at The Mercury's playful antics.