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Mathew Sim (pronounced “Shim”) doesn’t like to talk about the dollar amount of losses he took from the July 24 riot. What’s worse, he tries to explain, is that “it hurts his mind.”
He can’t understand why anyone would want to harm his business, the T-Shirts Outlet, which has been giving back to the community since he started it in 1990 (ten years after he came over from Korea.)
For over two decades he’s been regularly giving clothes to the local homeless, and donating for free lunches at nearby St. Boniface Catholic Church. What seemed to cheer him up most was a few sheets of handwritten sympathy notes from Boniface parishioners, and the fact that a few Hispanic kids showed up early the next morning and volunteered to clean up all the broken glass outside the shop.
Why would anyone want to vandalize, and then rob, Mr. Sim’s shop?
I sympathized with him, told him it was random, and that the people who did it probably regretted it the next day (which I hope is true.) I explained that six of their young neighbors had been shot by the police this year so far (and five killed.) And that politicians – well-meaning politicians – had encouraged them to show up at the Council meeting and make their voices heard. And that the meeting was so crowded the fire marshals 
wouldn’t let most of them in. And that the Mayor was working out a way for them to take turns coming in and speaking. But that by then it was too late and they stormed off in a rage, breaking windows at random. I told him, I might have felt like breaking windows at that point. Maybe even Mr. Sim would have.
But whoever took advantage of the broken windows ($2000) to jump into the shop and steal $10,000 worth of jeans is an asshole, and you can quote me on that.
$12,000. Can Orange Juice readers really spend that much at a T-shirt shop? Let’s see.
A few hundred people will read this story. What if each of you went to the “T Shirt Outlet” at 280 W. Lincoln in Anaheim (at Clementine Street) and brought two or three shirts for you and your kids or friends? Look at the variety! Lots of macho stuff, and lots of Jesus stuff.
(click for larger picture - same with pictures below)
But you can make your own pattern. They do silk screens. You could get something made that’s not necessarily macho OR Jesus, think of it!
I know that, speaking for my friends at Take Back Anaheim, as soon as our campaign manager Tim Whitacre is back in town WHICH SHOULD BE TODAY, we’re going to spend several hundred on some new Take Back Anaheim t-shirts. Not sure if we already have the silk screen made or not. If we do it’ll be $590 for a hundred shirts, if we don’t it’ll be $650 for a hundred shirts.
How about the rest of you? Hey, I know, what about those Building Trades Union hardhat guys who took up most of the seats at the meeting to rail against the “Let the People Vote” measure, so that there was no room for anyone else? How about you guys get your selfish union butts down to the T-Shirt Outlet and buy a big batch? They could, maybe, say something like, “Don’t Let the People Vote!” I don’t know…
Mr. Sim was excited about the upcoming meeting next Wednesday – a local business group, “Anaheim Coalition for a Peaceful Community” had been handing out flyers just that day, encouraging business owners to come. Mr Sim wanted to know if I was going as well!
This was yesterday afternoon in the middle of the marathon closed session. I had to tell him I wasn’t sure if the meeting was actually going to take place, we had to wait and see. I told him 3 out of the 5 councilmembers didn’t really want to have the meeting. I told him that was mostly because there were two things they didn’t want to let the people vote on, and I explained district elections and hotel subsidies to him.
Well, Mr Sim, I know you’re reading this, and Wednesday’s meeting is ON after all! I’ll see you there. No – I’ll probably see you before that. And everybody who’s reading this, tell Mr. Sim and his lovely camera-shy wife Christine that the Orange Juice sent you!
280 W. Lincoln Ave, Anaheim, at Clementine. (714) 758-9011
I saw on one of the protest group facebook pages they were saying not to worry about it because these rich merchants are all insured. Well I can tell you that small business owners are far from rich, most work their own shops 12-14 hours a day because they cannot afford to hire many people, and insurance does not cover acts of God like hurricanes, or acts of assholes, like riots. Thanks for doing this Vern. Things are tight here this month but I will still find a few bucks to go spend there.
I have never, never, ever, seen that sentiment present on one of the protest Facebook pages. We do occasionally have our share of dolts, so I’m not going to say that it’s impossible, and we have some people who speak loosely and for effect, but everything that I’ve seen in 10 months with Occupy suggests to me that such a sentiment would be roundly and loudly rejected.
I won’t bring up some of the sentiments I see from anti-protest people about what should happen to protesters.
Greg, I have to agree with Cynthia about that comment. I saw it to. There is always at least one jerk who thinks those type of actions are always justified even if that jerk is not the one doing the looting. Looters do not care about helping the community they just see an opportunity to steal and destroy property.They deserve to spend time in jail and then if I were Queen they would have to do their community service helping the business they ruined.
What were the responses to that comment? Harsh, I hope?
yes and I was endlessly attacked for speaking up. I was informed that I am wrong. Period.
Sigh.
“But that by then it was too late and they stormed off in a rage, breaking windows at random. I told him, I might have felt like breaking windows at that point. Maybe even Mr. Sim would have.“
Comments excusing criminal actions certainly never help the situation. An honest, law-abiding businessman such as Mr. Sim would never vandalize businesses, let alone at random.
Yeah, probably not, but maybe. I’ll bet one thing, you never tried putting yourself in their place.
Nice try, but you’d lose that bet. I have tried. But then again, trying and actually doing it are two different things. Having a totally different mind-set doesn’t help.
I will say this; I’ve recently lived within a mile of Anna Drive, so I’m not totally ignorant of their situation. I know there’s a lot of really good people and a few bad ones. The bad ones are the loudest and most of the good ones are too scared to do anything. You see, the it’s the bad ones that carry weapons and intimidates anyone who gets in their way.
Need proof? From a recent article:
“When an explosion ripped through an apartment there not long ago, nobody called the police – nobody until the landlord got word 12 hours later.”
Excuse me, but that quote is not from my comment.
And I think that your view of what people would do in extreme situations is somewhat limited. That doesn’t excuse anything, but still.
The quote is in my story, Greg. And it comes at the end of a long paragraph, describing everything that led up to the riot. I think “Psycho Kitty” just clicked reply accidentally. Psycho kitties do that. You might too, if you were a psycho kitty. I’m pretty sure you’ve never tried to put yourself in a psycho kitty’s place.
Don’t bother trying to flatter yourself, Greg. I would never quote you. You’ve never said anything worthy of quoting.
The only reason I replied to you was because of your comical, but seemingly staunch denial of certain comments that were, in fact, being posted on the Occupy Facebook page. And in your assuming denial, you were proven wrong by one of your own, a pro-looter and criminal supporter.
And to my dear Vern Nelson, whom I WILL quote,
“And it comes at the end of a long paragraph, describing everything that led up to the riot.”
Does it really matter that it “…comes at the end of a long paragraph…”? Is this a feeble attempt to excuse the fact that you’re justifying criminal behavior?
I’m not really sure how noble that is.
And your attempts to discredit my comment by insulting my screen name is jejune, at best.
If you disagree with my comment(s), I would think you’d try a little harder to discredit my claims instead of my screen name. I guess you’re at a loss.
Oh, “jejune at best,” eh? I don’t need to argue with you. I know where you’re coming from. You make some points, but we have a different point of view.
PsychoKitty,
Replying to someone’s post, as you did mine, with a blockquote usually signifies that they said the thing to which you are replying. I wasn’t flattering myself, I was presuming that you were following standard convention. I’m glad that you don’t think it’s truly the implication, though. Meanwhile, hose yourself off.
I never said that no one could have said that on an Occupy page. I said that I hadn’t seen it, I disavowed it, and I expect that it would have been rejected by the larger readership there.
Who’s the “pro-looter”? None of my friends, from Occupy or otherwise. And if “criminal supporter” means that I think that they should receive constitutionally mandated due process — well, you have me there.
Wasn’t really trying to argue with you, Vern. Just thought we could discuss the situation. But it’s cool. You are right in that we have a different point of view… sort of Peace and meow.
Sorry for addressing you Greg. I thought that maybe you had read the article. Have a good day now.
Oh, and toilet water is really not that bad. You should try it sometime. Meow.
Didn’t worry so much about the Starbucks, cuz like you said, CW, they got a big corporate cushion to fall back on, and they got their window fixed right away. It was funny though, when I sat down to plug in my computer there (see my Rich Olquin encounter as told in Voice of OC comments) the electric outlet was still covered with broken glass.
Next week, we feature Taqueria Don Leonardo! Arriba! Andale!
As you may already be aware, I was inside Anaheim City Council Chambers when the demonstrations were taking place outside. However, I seriously doubt the persons who broke windows and stole $10,000 worth of jeans from Mr. Shin’s shop were “protesters.” I’m not saying that’s not the case. But after reviewing several hours of video footage, photographs, and speaking to journalists and others who were in the downtown area at the time of the “riot,” I’m of the opinion locals were responsible for much of the vandalism and theft. They took advantage of a chaotic situation by committing these “crimes of opportunity.” I bring this up because if you’re looking at protest group Facebook pages for answers that will explain what happened that Tuesday night, you won’t find any there. What transpired on the streets surrounding City Hall on that fateful evening reflects deeper internal problems affecting Anaheim.
spot on!
THANK OCUPOO FOR ALL THE MESS , BUT FOR ONCE VERN IM WITH YOU… EXPECT FOR THE TAKE BACK ANAHEIM SHIRTS ,
1. Sorry some of your comments have been going into spam BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL IN CAPS! New rule.
2. Occupy didn’t even take note of this cause or join it until after the July 24 riot. This was local people with local grievances.
3. Glad you’re going to buy a shirt there. Don’t be all talk now, but do it! You can get your own GRATE ONE SHIRT – IN ALL CAPS!!!!!!
Some of us in Occupy were there at the A.P.D. on the Sunday after the shooting, but not a whole lot.
OK, but not at the Tuesday riot is the thing.
To the best of my knowledge, that’s correct.
This is very sad. I sure hope that the person(s) responsible for this are identified and made to make amends. This type of behavior is what the law enforcement use for an excuse to use military force on peaceful demonstrators. While it happens rarely they will use any occurrence as a reason to continue their police brutality. We are working to get the police brutality addressed by the Obama administration as well as move to have local law enforcement demilitarized. Please people, keep ALL demonstrations PEACEFUL.
If you want to sign the petition go to http://wh.gov/1S3u
See, I feel a little connected, since I sympathize with the rioters’ grievances while not condoning their actions in the heat of the moment. So I’m thinking we can be, like, the healing side of the protest here.
I agree that it’s nice to encourage people to shop at the T Shirt shop to help make up the loss for the owner. At the same time, I hope that you can go back and explain even further that there is a strong possibility hired police provocateurs were the ones actually responsible for his store being “vandalized.”
Also, though people got upset that they could not get into the City Hall meeting, there were hundreds – close to a thousand people in a large group I myself was with that were entirely blocked by the police chief’s orders of the riot police to literally block community intersections so that people could not get out on foot to get downtown.
ALL of these protesters were community members and were entirely peaceful! They would see the rows of riot police and at each intersection would back off and try to figure out where they could go to try next to get out of the area so they could get downtown to have their voices heard.
Not until it was for certain the City Council meeting was OVER, did the riot police open an intersection so that we could get downtown. By then, people were angry – especially young people – but NONE of them were in any mode to be violent in order to keep from compromising the protest. I was very impressed with how calm they all were.
Culturally, their voices carried, but their emotions were that of grieving people with purpose – angry, yes, but righteously so. I, myself, being a member of this community am also upset about this particular situation, but am also – knowing the people of the community – more of the mindset that police were the culprits – not citizens – something about it is just “off” – so I hope the owner understands that perspective as well and does not just jump to conclusions the way the msm would have us do. Also, keep in mind, that while there is promotion to shop at the Tshirt shop, there are also local fundraisers for the families who lost lives of loved ones.
Mr. and Mrs. Sim have been customers of mine for over 10 years. They are the NICEST people you could meet. I feel so badly about what happened to their store. They work so hard at this business and are truly a part of the Anaheim community. Weeks ago, I asked my Facebook friends to stop by the shop and buy something, anything. They have a huge variety of products!
So I say “Shop T-Shirt Outlet!”
Hugs to the Sim Family,
Lorraine
PCF Souvenirs
I will be Mr. Sims new customer. Hubby always needs new tee shirts for work. Thanks Vern for writing this article.
Zia, we don’t know who exactly the culprits were but I know from personal experience that not all occupiers are “angels” either. They may not outright break windows and steal but they have done some “questionable” things that I do not consider peaceful.
I already know that occupy is both “macho” and “Jesus” endorsed Vern. I Don’t need to loot any t-shirts to prove it. I’ll buy Mr. Sims a beer someday while we watch the Counter Revolution on T.V. After Olympics.
T Shirt Design for Mr.Sims. “Hey Kids, look at my riot police” Micky on top of tank looking like Dukakis! HAAAAAA HAAAAA hara haa ha.
oh man – and you’re an artist – design that!
In all honestly though. Every single tshirt and cap in that store looks like it was made to sell to a gang banger. Like I said, Neo-Liberal free market capitalism! makes us all victims. homeboys.
Hi my name is Allen moon, an employee at the “T-shirts Outlet” and I am sincerely grateful for this article. It has brought an optimistic joy to Mr and Mrs Sim. They too are also thankful that people in the Anaheim community are gracious enough to lend a hand. We really appreciate the help and are excite to see new faces in the store.
Thanks!
This is good! I will also go buy some Ts.
*Chairman Vern; Did you miss adding the Web Site?
http://tshirtsoutletanaheim.com/
Wow, thanks! They didn’t tell me they had a website… don’t remember if I asked actually. Didn’t seem like a place that would have one.
Can’t order off of the website, but they have a shuttle service.
I haven’t made it up there yet, but I can and will this week.
As always “The Orange Juice sent you!” Thanks buddy…
I hope that he has the “Cowboy’s Designated Driver” one with the passed out cowboy on the horse with his trusty dog sitting in front on the horn with the reins in its mouth.
I’ve always wanted that one.
All right, people, if everyone who liked this post, shared it on Facebook, and even said they were going to buy a shirt there, did it … well, only a few of you have so far, so git ‘er done!
Good post Vern!
I will stop by the store and make a purchase sometime this week.
Hi everyone –
My name is Elisia and I am Mr. and Mrs. Sim’s oldest daughter. I want to personally thank you for this post on behalf of our entire family. We sincerely appreciate the support from our community and are moved by the outpouring of love we’ve felt over the past couple of weeks.
My parents are two of the most hardworking people I know and it saddens me to to see my parent’s hearts and store broken. However, I am comforted by your acts of kindess and thoughtfulness – they not only help mend our broken store, but my parent’s hearts as well.
The day after the vandalism, my dad said, “I still love and believe in Anaheim. This is my home”. Thank you for helping my parents feel loved during this tough time.
With much gratitude,
Elisia
Just dropped in on the T-Shirts Outlet. They have a lot of good stuff in there, better grade t-shirts than the big box stores, and his prices were lower than I expected for what the quality is.
The owner wasn’t there, but I left him a note that the OJ Blog supports him.
All the news trucks are lined up on Lincoln, waitin’ for a show down.