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---- [轉貼] 康州「妓女路」居民呼籲改名 (http://leold.yuensang.com/cgi-bin/topic.cgi?forum=37&topic=1462)

-- 作者： rainbow
-- 發表時間： 2005/10/22 05:12pm
[這篇文章最後由rainbow在 2005/10/22 05:13pm 第 1 次編輯]

<pre>Real embarrassing! 康州 Greenwich 是非常豐裕的地區。我很 surprise 這麼多年後, 才決定改變 Hooker Lane 街名成 Stonebrook Lane.

不堪繼續忍受恥笑
康州「妓女路」居民呼籲改名
2005/10/23
星島日報
(本報康州訊)康州格林威治鎮「妓女路」上的居民在告訴別人住址時，經常遇到恥笑聲或驚奇質疑的聲音，不堪繼續忍受的居民最近終於發起改名運動，呼籲將街道名字改成「石溪路」。
[b]66歲的退休醫師尼克·卡皮洛夫已經在這條街上住了27年，也忍受了27年這樣的反應。他表示，當他買東西提供地址的時候，就總是聽到竊笑聲。[/b]
最近幾個月，居民們已經收集到街上11戶屋主中的9戶在改名請願書上的簽名。代表該鎮12個區的230名民選代表組成的代表小鎮會議，計劃這個周一就「妓女路」改名成「石溪路」進行投票。
但是，並非每個住在這條路上的居民都想要改名。寡婦蓋兒·唐伯格幾周前就向行政委員理事會表示，她感覺到她一生遇到的改變太多了。自從1969年就住在「妓女路」上的唐伯格在採訪時指出，這是最大的妨害，是非常荒謬的。她有三個兒子，沒有人因為街名而受到傷害。
而且，已經在街上住了35年的律師戴維·阿爾伯特提出，街名可能有歷史價值。畢竟，康州一直以殖民地長官湯瑪斯·胡克(胡克與妓女在英文裏同音)為豪。但是，居民指出，「妓女路」的名字來源於第一位住在那裏的男人娶了一名姓胡克的女子。
卡皮洛夫也表示，[b]雖然街名不好，但是他從來沒有真的為此感到困擾，直到鄰居告訴他街名會影響那裏的房價後，他才改變主意支持改名。[/b]
關於改成什麼名字，[b]居民們一致表示，必須是要少點頭痛的，因為除了被人恥笑外，「妓女路」的街牌還經常遭竊。他們列出了30個街名，最後投票選定了「石溪路」。[/b]
對於「妓女路」上的居民來說，改名行動還有的好處就是讓大家有機會互相認識。之前僅僅是揮手打招呼的人們，現在會站在街上聊天或一起派對。
卡皮洛夫強調，他認識了一起住了7年但從來沒有說過話的鄰居，這對大家都是好的。
</pre>

-- 作者： rainbow
-- 發表時間： 2005/10/22 05:15pm
[UploadFile=Street20name201_1130015614.jpg]
[b][color=blue]Tired of the endless jokes, some residents of Greenwich, Conn., are petitioning to change the name of "Hooker Lane." [/b][/color]
[UploadFile=Street20name202_1130015650.jpg]
[b][color=blue]Sandy Sterling, standing at the end of her driveway, may need to change her mailbox. A vote is scheduled for Monday on giving her street a new name: Stonebrook Lane. [/b][/color]
[b]October 21, 2005
A Name Change to Protect the Innocent
By STACEY STOWE
The New York Times[/b]
GREENWICH, Conn., Oct. 18 - Those who walk the street on Hooker Lane here in the Cos Cob section of town are people of the L. L. Bean-wearing, exercise-the-dog sort, and they're tired of the giggles and the borscht belt zingers that follow the mere mention of their address.
"When you order something from a catalog, for example, and you give the street, there's snickering, always snickering," said Nick Kopeloff, 66, a retired physician and an avid photographer, who has endured 27 years of such reactions.
"Well, there's 'You live on Prostitute Street,' that's typical," said Brendan O'Connor, a cherub-faced 12-year-old, whose world-weary tone belied his tender age.
"It's grating," his mother, Lisa O'Connor, said.
It's so grating that the residents want to change the name. In recent months, they gathered signatures of 9 of the street's 11 homeowners on a petition seeking the change. This Monday, the Representative Town Meeting - consisting of 230 people elected to represent the town's 12 districts - is scheduled to vote on rechristening the street Stonebrook Lane. For a town where Lacoste shirts and country club memberships are a virtual birthright, even the genesis of the new name seems apt: a resident suggested it after spotting the name in a new Westchester development on his way home from playing golf.
But not everyone on this sylvan street - where the architecture evokes the film "The Ice Storm," set in Fairfield County - wants its name changed.
One resident, Gail Tomberg, a recent widow, felt she had had enough change in her life and told the Board of Selectmen so at a meeting a few weeks ago. In an interview, Ms. Tomberg, who has lived on Hooker Lane since 1969, said: "It's a big disruption. It's almost ridiculous. I have three boys, and they didn't suffer because of the name."
In addition, a lawyer who has lived on the street for 35 years, David Albert, raised the possibility that the name had a historic antecedent. After all, Connecticut boasts the Colonial minister the Rev. Thomas Hooker. But it turned out that the man who had developed the first homes here in the late 1960's was married to a woman whose family name was Hooker, residents said.
Dr. Kopeloff said the naughty association of the street name never really bothered him until his neighbors noted that it might hurt property values. "That made me change my mind," he said.
Echoing other mothers, another resident, Jane Olenchuk, said both of her children had been taunted at school. "My son's a skater, and the kids at the park always say, 'Dude, you must be kidding,' when he tells them where he lives," she said.
From the passenger side of her mother's van, another resident, 12-year-old Rebecca Schreff, fairly whispered, "The kids at school always tease me about it."
If the name is changed, residents said, they will have one less headache, since in addition to inducing giggles, the name on the street sign attracts thieves. The sign has been stolen more times than anyone can remember. In response, it was moved to a telephone pole, at the height of a crow's nest.
The Greenwich first selectman, Jim Lash, said it was very rare that anyone here sought to have a street name changed. Was he ever bothered by the street name in question? "I don't pay much attention to those things," Mr. Lash said.
For residents of Hooker Lane, the campaign for the name change served to introduce neighbors who had previously greeted one another only with a wave. There were roadside chats, and a dinner party or two.
"I introduced myself to my neighbor of seven years, someone I had never spoken to," Dr. Kopeloff said. "It was good for all of us."
From more than 30 names, all as bland as vanilla pudding, they winnowed down the list and took a vote. Stonebrook Lane was the victor.
Dr. Kopeloff said it has a "nice, innocuous ring to it."
Ms. Olenchuk, a 14-year resident, was more direct. "Who cares?" she said, a springer spaniel at her heels as she unloaded her car in her driveway. "Anything is better than 'Hooker.' "