Don't blame Ruby's

Cory Strickland, the CEO and president of Ruby Tequila's restaurant, has been getting his share of not-so-flattering e-mails since Sunday after my column about a a lunchtime crowd at Malcolm's restaurant rising up and helping an elderly lady whose car was towed after inadvertently parking in the empty Ruby's lot next door.

Outrage against Ruby's is misguided. I never thought Ruby's was to blame on this. As it turns out, Strickland said his insurance increased because the property on the former restaurant on Paramount is now vacated. One of the stipulations placed on him was not to allow unauthorized vehicles or people on the property. So he had to contract with a towing company to keep vehicles off said property.

"For 18 years we were neighbors and I never said one word about any of their (Malcolm's) customers on our lot," Strickland said. "But it was occupied property and it didn't matter. But it's a different scenario now and I don't have a choice. We're looking like the bad guy here and we aren't."

The story was more about a lunchtime crowd rising to the defense and helping a senior citizen who mistakenly parked in the wrong area. It was never about who was to blame. And so don't blame Ruby's.