There is a phantom writer at the Coast Weekend who calls him or herself “The Mouth of The Columbia,” and who is sneaking into good restaurants and leaving terrible reviews. Although not a safe assumption, I am guessing this person is male, so I will refer to the phantom as male from this point forward.

The Mouth, who is blessed with a great job, where he can write his thoughts and eat in all different kinds of restaurants, needs to remember that the people who own these businesses worked hard to build them, and it did not happen overnight. The servers he ridicules work really hard to serve him the meals he eats as he’s plotting where to stick the knife. He is tearing down these people’s hard efforts with five minutes at his computer.

I wonder if he thinks about how the person who is serving him has to work two jobs at minimum wage and lousy tips to feed his or her kids. Does he think about how much of the chef’s effort goes into the food he cooks? Does he think to maybe inject a little class in his reviews, or use a little tact? Does he assume that because so many people enjoy Howard Stern and Jerry Springer, that the entire public wants to read his trash-talk? Does he think at all?

It’s really nice to know that my taste in food is terrible. I like every restaurant he has slaughtered in his articles. I direct people to these places all the time and they are always pleased. Out here in Ocean Park, Wash., we don’t get all the tourism that Long Beach, Wash., does. We need all the business we can get out here, and these reviews do not help us.

Mouth, you are a coward, hiding behind your computer and picking on small businesses and their employees. I hope our restaurant managers find out who you are and show you the door. If our restaurants don’t appeal to you, perhaps you should consider relocating. Maybe you’ll find the perfect Monte Cristo somewhere else.

The Mouth’s articles do nothing to bring our community together or attract local or taxpayer dollars. We cannot afford him. His metaphor about drinking orange juice after brushing your teeth also applies to his journalism style, which is totally tasteless and just plain icky.

ANGELA PIERCE

Oysterville, Wash.