When Carlsbad’s Rebekah Price, 35, painted her Piragua Street house sea-foam green the neighbors were not stoked.
“It glows at night,” said neighbor Karen Sims, who has tried to give the color scheme some latitude. “I’ll think, maybe it’s not so bad. Then you turn the corner and you’re like, oh, it is that bad. . . . “The last week has been a complete nightmare where I haven’t slept,” said Price, 35. “I’ve dealt with angry, hostile, ridiculous people … screaming at me when they drive by, ‘Go back to (expletive) Tijuana!’ They have their kids yell at me, harass my children.”
Some people were so upset that they reportedly smeared dog poop on her fence and threw a dead rabbit on her lawn. Which we guess is how people respond to problems when they live so far away from the beach.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
RSS Feed-Posts
Dear Pat,
Thanks, your article made me feel very good, which surprised me because of how cranked up and disgusted I get with closed minded, ignorant, bigoted bullies, who set bad examples for their children. (sorry I needed that)
When I thought about why I felt good, it was abundantly clear that it was Rebekah’s infectious smile and super cool demeanor. What a great attitude and her smile is further punctuated by the sincerity in her eyes … of course you can only smile at that gordito Lucky, who’s adorable, bandana and all.
The big Mexican fiesta and “cool car” entourage was just icing on the cake, what a chuckle, I wish I had been there.
Her monochromatic stepford neighbors should be thanking her for brightening things up and offering them another dimension, instead of intimidating her. Use that energy to embrace her and understand her … What ever happened to the “village” the “community” the “neighborhood” …
I live not too far, so before I pushed send, I jumped in the car to see it first hand and was lucky to find her sitting outside on the brick wall in her meticulous yard, being interviewed by a TV station. I didn’t want to intrude of course, so I waved, gave her a thumbs up and told her I thought it looked great and without hesitation she waved back, said thank you and shared that sincere smile … thats not contrived, thats just a nice person.
I think it’s important to note, that my motivation is not about her health issue, clearly thats a terrible thing and I wish her only the best. I’m simply proud of her, support her individuality and admire her apparent gracefulness … she’s an artist not an antagonist. I think the vines will be nice either way and a testament to her neighborly diplomacy. Otherwise, I encourage her to stay the course and do not acquiesce one iota … enjoy your colors, feel good everyday and thank you for brightening mine!
The world needs as many people like her as possible, we cocoon instead of interact. If it takes a brightly colored house, to remind folks, that everyone has feelings and that “it’s people, not things, that bring us life’s greatest joys”, then I say paint every house in the country a different bright color and get the neighborhood talking to each other again, bring back the village, reclaim the community. Thats the example our kids need!
Thanks for good balanced journalism and if you would, please forward this to Rebekah and tell her thank you, she’s my hero and I wish her all the best for many, many years to come.
Sincerely your neighbor,
Steve
PS Pat, please keep us posted about our new friend Rebekah Price, thanks!
Steve Miller
858-945-6269
From the picture, I think it looks good. She did a nice job.
Thank you Pat. I had been sad for so long. As horrible as the neighborhood’s reaction was, I feel more good came from it than bad. The excitement got me out of my shell and reminded me of how alive I am. Having people over and being social again after such a long recovery period, was just the ice breaker I needed to get back into the social swing of things. I can’t thank you enough for your interest in a tiny part of my story.
Steve, you’re a sweetheart. Thank you for the extra kind words.
Love Bekah
Your home looks beautiful. I certainly wish that there had been more photos of your place. There are many sea-foam houses here in Santa Barbara and the color suits your home quite well. Yeah!
Another great thing about Carlsbad, there are lots of neighborhoods that agree ahead of time what colors a house can be painted, and other neighborhoods who don’t dictate that.
Personally, I enjoy individual expression and consider it a right. There are parts of the world where worse things can happen than a little dog poop smeared on your fence.
My neighborhood in Carlsbad doesn’t allow much freedom in choice of house colors. I’m wondering, now, though, what would happen if I started to put out a few garden gnomes or pink flamingos. Stay tuned…
I live in Rebekah’s neighborhood. In fact, I drive by her house pretty much every day.
My opinion of the color is unimportant. I fully agree that it’s her right to paint it whatever color she pleases. What right do I have to dictate how she should paint her house? None. My opinion on the matter is completely worthless. I may love it or hate it. It doesn’t matter.
Rebekah is no longer an anonymous, faceless person in the neighborhood. For better or for worse, she has chosen to thrust herself out into the open by painting her house a color that says “Look at me! I’m different!” She shouldn’t be surprised that she is getting reaction, both positive and negative. She also shouldn’t forget that she has EARNED those opinions, both positive and negative, by choosing the path that she did. (I painted my house a pretty color, but a color that “fits” with the neighborhood. By making the safe choice, I EARNED nothing. No news vans in front of my house, but no kudos to my artistic spirit, either).
She has earned OPINIONS, but no one deserves harassment. I’m APPALLED at the behavior of some of her neighbors. It’s inexcusable and embarrassing. Please don’t think we’re all like that.
I’m disappointed that her response to harassment is escalation. Threatening to paint her house even further, or throwing a big Mexican party in response to racial slurs. I do NOT agree with harassment, but her response is to do MORE of the thing that got her harassed in the first place? That’s not going to make anything better.
I respect her choices, and I admire her individualism. If she could only do something about that huge chip on her shoulder…
(I painted my house a pretty color, but a color that “fits” with the neighborhood. By making the safe choice I EARNED nothing. How sad to live a life dictated by what others have to say about color choices.. Rebekah’s home is beautiful. What a perfect color choice for a coastal home. How small are these people who feel they are threatened by someone coloring outside of their palette? THe statement “By making the safe choice” says a lot. Is there something life threatening about sea foam green? Is it a terrorist color? a toxic emission color? Or simply not the beige,dun,putty, off-white adobe color of this pastry dough neighborhood. God gave us color celebrate it..Kudos Rebekah and God’s Blessings for your safety
There is no HOA in the neighborhood, so Rebekah can do whatever the heck she wants with her property, and painting it a cool color is actually pretty minor. At least she didn’t park a broken-down pickup truck in on her lawn or put up blinking neon signs (which also would have been cool, but against which neighbors might be more justified in complaining). Anyone who wouldn’t live near her because of the color of her house is a moron, and those who smeared dog feces on her fence are complete knuckleheads.
Comments on this entry are closed.