A Drink-and-Drive Party: Hospital Benefit Sparkles

With all sorts of people getting “clean” or sober, new attention is being lavished on what to serve--or not to serve--at parties. Do you offer alcohol, even if you fear someone will drive home drunk? If not, what beverage makes the grade?

Partly to address the new etiquette, but mostly to raise money, Paradise Valley Hospital held a benefit Sunday, of which the primary purpose was water tasting.

About 250 people showed up to taste 11 waters, ranging from sparkling to mineral to tap. For four hours, everyone lolled from one glass to the next, cleansing the palates with cool sorbets. The winner was a Swedish sparkling water called Ramlosa. Second place went to a German water called Voslau.

The big winner may have been the hospital, which is in National City. By the end of the day, it had raised $2,500 for the Paradise Valley Hospital Foundation.

“We wanted to show that groups can gather and have a good time and be involved with socializing without having to have a chemical crutch,” said hospital spokeswoman Zanny Briones. “A lot of times, hospitals throw an event and order up a bunch of wine, which almost defeats the message of good health. Our intention was to say you can still have a great time without alcohol. Maybe all you need . . . is water.”

Who’s Checking?

Did you ever wonder why sometimes at Lindbergh Field your claim tag is checked to make sure your luggage is really your luggage, whereas sometimes no one checks at all?

Bud McDonald, Lindbergh’s manager, said: “That has been asked of me more times than I can remember.” In fact, he said it’s the question asked most often of anyone who works at the airport.

The answer is that baggage is controlled by the airlines, not the airport. Therefore, it’s the policy of American, Eastern and Alaska airlines not to verify claim checks for checked baggage. So they use the unrailed, no-check area of the West Terminal.

United and all other airlines using the East Terminal employ what is known as “positive baggage claim,” meaning they pay the extra money to hire a security guard to stand there and check claim tickets.

Further complicating the picture is that part of the West Terminal is railed and Delta and Northwest use that area, where a guard is on hand to verify claim checks.

McDonald said the inconsistency really isn’t all that aggravating, but when asked if any of the airlines plan changes in claim-check policy, he said: “Oh, sure, but which ones, I can’t tell you. Nor can I tell you when they would do it. And you know why? Because I don’t know. And, if they did make a change, they wouldn’t tell me anyway.”

Eternal Fan

She never told them her last name, but the feelings were always clear. “Cindy” was a fan of the San Diego Padres. She wrote to the team last September, just before the end of the ’87 season, and asked that each Padre player autograph her baseball.

At the time, she was in the hospital, suffering from a grave disease, which she also failed to disclose. After the team mailed the ball back, with each player’s signature scribbled on the horsehide, Cindy wrote a thank-you note. It read in part:

“I want to thank you for the baseball you all signed for me. I love it so very much. I keep it under my pillow every night. Tony (Gwynn), I hope your batting average is even higher next year. I love to watch you hit and catch the ball. I get so happy when you steal a base.

“Benito (Santiago), I think you’re going to be the best catcher there is. I love to watch you throw the ball to second on your knees. It’s terrific.

“John Kruk, I hope you’re batting No. 2 in the National League next year, right next to Tony. . . . I’m going to take my ball to heaven with me. My mommy says it’s OK. I hope God lets me watch the games.

“Goodby to all of you,

“Cindy.”

Cindy died March 3. She was buried with her baseball.

Her letter remains tacked to the bulletin board in the team’s locker room at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium.

Yellow Pages Need 911

Sometimes, it’s dangerous when fingers do the walking.

Pacific Bell recently released its new edition of the San Diego Yellow Pages and managed to make more errors than the 1962 New York Mets. To add insult to injury, the new edition is labeled the “Smart” Yellow Pages.

Well, it wasn’t so smart to put Mission Hills in Mission Valley, in a map on Page 44A of the new book, or to change the Hillcrest ZIP code from 92103 to 92108. The book also left out the Mission Hills Library, a sin that left many outraged, not the least of whom was Michael McLaughlin, president of the Mission Hills Business Assn.

McLaughlin wrote a sizzling letter to the editor of the newsletter published by his own association:

“It is, after all, sort of funny how some low-level lunkhead could move a whole neighborhood. . . . We can see it now: too much to drink the night before, head reeling from all that tequila, shouting supervisors, ringing phones, a slip of the pen, and there you have it, a new home for Mission Hills.”

Other mistakes included Normal Heights (92116) receiving no ZIP code and Kensington being moved east to Talmadge, which did get a ZIP code--but the wrong one.