Dumb letter

[TheGerbil]

I won't quote it here, but there was a letter in the P-G today that really bugged me. Basically a guy from Philly thinks Pittsburgh is backwards because a handful of people want to protest the BodyWorks exhibit. He says thousands of people attended when it was in Philly, so this shows how much more backwards Pittsburgh is and that's why we are "hemhorraging" people. (Did I spell that right?)

Here are my beefs with the letter:

1) A couple of people who want to protest the exhibit do not represent everyone in the city.

2) It remains to be seen how many people will actually see it while it's here.

3) As we all know, the city is not "hemhorraging" people. That's a horrendous exaggeration. Of course I suppose it's not his fault if he believes that, since so many people say it's true.

4) The letter is mean-spirited and serves no purpose except to bash the city.

He also talks about some Pittsburghers he ran into at the exhibit in Philly. He says they were complaining that these things don't come to Pittsburgh. Not sure what he meant to show with that comment, since a) It demonstrates that there are Pittsburghers who want to see the exhibit (which goes against the point of his letter), and b) The exhibit obviously IS coming here.

Anyway I guess I'm just venting. I'm pretty darn tired of seeing letters like that.

[ainulindale]

Isn't it rather backwards to label other people backwards because they don't agree with you? In fact, why don't we have this guy from Philly crowned king so he can tell us all what is the proper way of thinking and what is backwards and wrong. Like I always say, fascism's the way.

[Evergrey]

The City of Philadelphia is hemhorraging people as well. According to Census Estimates, its metro has grown a meager 2.5% since 2000... but the 5-county PA portion of its metro has only grown 0.9%... a tiny increase almost assuredly due to natural increase and immigration. 2/3s of the population growth of the Philly metro is in DE and NJ. It's not exactly booming out there either... despite Philly's natural advantage of being huge and being with 2 hours of the capital of the world's most powerful country and the capital of the world.

Concerning the exhibit... one woman quits her job due to ethical questions concerning the exhibit and it suddenly hits every media outlet in the country.

[urbanophile]

Gerbil,

I think you're getting a little worked up about that letter.

First of all, the guy who wrote it said he was originally from Pittsburgh and moved to Philly. Most likely he moved out of Pittsburgh because he didn't like it for one reason or another. Thus, his reaction was predictable. So it's not an act of an outsider bashing Pittsburgh but rather an ex-pat bashing his hometown.

Secondly, the letter was written for a Pittsburgh audience so few people outside of Pittsburgh likely read it. So no "dirty laundry" was really aired.

I know all these letters must sound annoying to you but you must not let each negative article, letter, etc. about Pittsburgh frustrate you. Every city gets stuff like that.

[JRNYP2C]

This exhibit is currently here in Charlotte and there was a minor stir over it at first.

However, it has been getting a lot of advertising and it is doing fairly well.

There are going to be people who will protest it no matter where it goes just because of what it is. Actual people preserved.

I haven't heard of anyone quitting their job over it here. That is a little drastic.

And Gerbil, don't get upset over the Philly guy comments. Those on the eastern side have ALWAYS and WILL always have something bad to say about the 'burgh. They think they are better than us.

It is quality not quantity when it comes to the two biggest cities in PA. Pittsburgh has the quality.

[ainulindale]

[quote name='JRNYP2C' date='Jun 30 2007, 12:13 AM' post='809756'

It is quality not quantity when it comes to the two biggest cities in PA. Pittsburgh has the quality.

[TheGerbil]

I'm not really upset, I just tend to like responding to these things, and I can't write to the newspaper every time, so this is a good place to make my rebuttle. Misinformation irritates me and I have a desire to correct it, even if the person who wrote it won't see my reply.

I suppose I should just start a blog, but I like the discussion that goes on here.

But anyway, I found out a little more about this. Apparently the reason the woman quit was the questionable source of these bodies. You can read a little about it in this article: http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/silence/arch..._the_exhi.shtml

[marta]

TheGerbil, I agree with you that the letter is frustrating. In addition to all the reasons you pointed out, I think he's missing the important one: the objections to the exhibit are all quite reasonable and reasoned. I have seen the exhibit and am not opposed to it, but I can't think of anything more urbane and less backwater than people wanting to have a hard and open conversation about consent and human rights in art and science.

[TheGerbil]

TheGerbil, I agree with you that the letter is frustrating. In addition to all the reasons you pointed out, I think he's missing the important one: the objections to the exhibit are all quite reasonable and reasoned. I have seen the exhibit and am not opposed to it, but I can't think of anything more urbane and less backwater than people wanting to have a hard and open conversation about consent and human rights in art and science.

[blueblackcat]

Anyone living in Philly shouldn't be worried about anything but the problems with their own city They have enough of them to fill up the Inquirer with articles for years to come.