parade

[ohidontthinkso]

Andrew are you friends with TJ? If you arent you should be.

[thisshitisgenius]

I used to have somewhat of an attitude like Andrew's (although to a much lesser degree) about Pittsburgher's reactions to sporting events, until one day I realized I was being a giant douchebag. It was partly intellectual arrogance/superiority complex and partly sour grapes from not having fun like everyone else seemed to be. Then I realized, in their own way, everyone was just trying to enjoy their lives like me.

I also realized that the simplicity of something like a game of football gives 99% of people in a city something that they can agree and on and feel joined together about because it is not controversial in anyway like politics, religion, etc. When you have something in common with somebody, even for a fleeting few hours, you stop fearing them and feel a certain camaraderie. I think it is the simplicity of "silly games" that gives them their power to make people happy and unite. Sure, it's silly and meaningless but so is the music we make and listen to.

So yeah, quit being a humbug. It's some people having fun. Get over it.

[Flashy Ross]

Feb 3, 2009 20:00:02 GMT -5 andrew said:

Feb 3, 2009 18:13:49 GMT -5 eskimusic said:

you still never answered my original question. What the hell is wrong with you?

team- my teenager sister has a part-time job cleaning houses. she cleans several steeler's houses, and from what she's said, they're despicable people. and not just one or two individuals, basically all of them. they hit on her and the other employees constantly, and have things like rotten food and used condoms laying all over their places. so i dont have any sort of pride for shitty human beings like that.

Are you serious? Haha.

Ok, I'll play that card. When I worked at CompUSA I've met several Steelers by selling them stuff. They were all really nice guys, the only one that was a douche was Plaxico. Several of the Steelers come into my g/f's restaurant all of the time and she rarely has anything bad to say about them.

[thisshitisgenius]

Feb 3, 2009 20:00:02 GMT -5 andrew said:

...and have things like rotten food and used condoms laying all over their places.

Wow, you would really hate my house.

[Flashy Ross]

bosscocked.com/

[hird82]

Feb 3, 2009 20:50:28 GMT -5 ohidontthinkso said:

Its hilarious how bitter you are. Its everyone else's fault youre miserable, certainly not anything to do with you.
You are so fucking wrapped up in yourself I highly doubt youll be happy anywhere you go.

i'd have to agree with this. most cities are the same.... relatively. you're outlook and/or life will not change dramatically when you move to a different city trust me... me, kara or bingo could attest to that and we live in one of the most progressive cities in the nation so to speak, the political capital of the u.s. all of you're personal downfalls and your outlook will all carry over, the only way to change that is to do it yourself. switching environments isn't this amazing life changing thing that you're probably hoping for that's all.

[bingosherlock]

How can you be better than everybody else in the city yet rely on bullshit excuses like the economy to explain why you can't find a decent job anywhere else?

[eskimusic]

Let's cancel the St Patricks day festivities, and the memorial day parade and Christmas all those god damned people coming into town and buying all kinds of shit I mean with all the extra traffic and people around we'll have to put more police on duty and it's just toally going to destroy the city budget.

[radioxwaves]

Andrew,

I apologize for calling you an asshole. And I mean that. However it's very difficult NOT to call someone an asshole when they're being as smug as you tend to present yourself to be.

If you had been complaining about Pitt students smashing store windows, destroying bus stops & parking meters and burning dumpsters and couches then we all probably would have been "Yeah, it's kind of funny but that's a juvenile way to celebrate"

However you chose to bitch about people coming together and celebrating over something that doesn't require a specific worldview, religion, race or class to enjoy. It's hard and really rare to find a reason for people to come together regardless of all of those factors.

Yeah so it was a mild inconvenience today. And it WAS MILD. Because it was a one day inconvenience. Those sports fans won't be there tomorrow. Or the next day. Or any other day for that matter until the St. Patricks Day Parade. So it's a *MILD* inconvenience.

Basically, you just come off as someone who hates fun.

[megawesome]

i was down town today for the parade and i honestly didn't notice anyone who was drunk, sloppy, or a slob. it looked like mostly good clean fun. a lot of families and what not. i just don't get why everyone has to be such haters.

[howlerscoyotecafe]

Feb 3, 2009 20:00:02 GMT -5 andrew said:

Feb 3, 2009 18:13:49 GMT -5 eskimusic said:

you still never answered my original question. What the hell is wrong with you?

i dont have a juvenille obsession with football like most other meatheads in this city?

i have enough enjoyable shit in my life to not have to get mounds of joy from a game. most pittsburghers dont, so i guess i somewhat understand.

and yes, people got around today. but im sure it was anything but easy or fine.

i would think it was great if 250,000 people showed up in the city for something. something that mattered, not a game, or a band for that matter.

and as far as pride for my team/city:

team- my teenager sister has a part-time job cleaning houses. she cleans several steeler's houses, and from what she's said, they're despicable people. and not just one or two individuals, basically all of them. they hit on her and the other employees constantly, and have things like rotten food and used condoms laying all over their places. so i dont have any sort of pride for shitty human beings like that.

city- i hate it here. i cant wait to leave. the only good thing is the affordable housing. but that's a catch 22 because the housing is affordable due to the shitty job market and area. there's a reason this city has been hemorrhaging young people for 25 years.

Wow.. Andrew, I'm going to address this on a few different levels.
First, as someone that once worked in a downtown office, I understand that for the folks "just not into it" things like parades, celebrations, whatever that blocks your normal way of getting around are a bit of a pain in the ass.. I remember getting highly pissed a few times because of things like this that made my getting into or out of town difficult.
I remember once having to get something to the courthouse to file by 4:00 pm and they had the entire Grant Street blocked so they could parade Elephants to the Arena for the Circus.. for the life of me I could not understand the timing of this parade, and trying to figure out a way around it was a major pain in the ass.. I think I MF'd our city planners and the folks at Ringling Brothers for a few days after that. But, all the little kids watching those damn Elephants parade up Grant Street were having a great time, so I got over it.
But, its also things like this that allow families, friends, fans and the city as a whole to celebrate as one. Even if football is dumb to you, this is a working class city that celebrates its reputation as a hard working town. The Steelers and the Rooney family have embodied that image for a very long time. It gives this city and its people something to stand up and cheer about.. so be it. It also brought something like 350,000 people into the city today.. I imagine there are a lot of service industry folks.. waitresses, bartenders, fast food workers that did bang up business today and through the playoff run that are managing their finances just a little easier this week.
How about just be glad for them....?

2) I don't know which of the Steelers your little sister cleans for, but they are just humans, after all. I worked for years on the catering team at Heinz Field. I served a lot of the Steeler private parties, parties for the Rooney family, etc. There are some good people and some not so nice among them.. but that's in any walk of life. I met many more sub-human shitheads among the supposed "high placed" attorneys I used to work for than I did among the Steeler organization. (I will agree with whoever in this thread that said Plax is a jackass. He is and was not well liked among his team mates here either)

3) Pittsburgh is a city with a lot to offer if you just open your eyes and look around. If its bleeding, its because of the tendency among today's young people to cut and run rather than stay and fix.
I grew up and came of age in the early 70s, when this city was losing its mills and people were desparately leaving this city because of lack of work, losing homes.. they were taking work all over this country, moving their families.. I left for a brief period myself. Its one of the reasons there IS A "STEELER NATION" all over this country.
If you look around, this city has a resiliency like no other, it has managed to rebuild itself over and over again.
It is now a model for cities like Detroit that are losing their main industry in how to survive and come out the other side intact. Many of the families that left back then, have since returned to be here and be part of the solutions.

Yes, we have our problems and I could innumerate them... our Mayor is a jackass Frat boy straight out of Animal House, our City and County Council are a joke, we have much work to do on our schools.. I could go on, but these are all things that are problems in cities all across the Country..

I don't know what it is you are trained to do for a living or what kind of work you are looking for that is not here.. but there are opportunities here that you will not find anywhere else in this country. You maybe just have to be a little creative in looking for them.
Unless, of course, you want to be an actor or a model (go to Hollywood or New York) or a black jack dealer (go to Vegas).
I submit that if you can't find what you are looking for here, you're not going to find it anywhere else either.. the grass is always greener... until you get there.

If you have an opportunity in another city presented to you that you cannot find here, by all means, take it. But to just up and split thinking there will be opportunities somewhere else without creating your own opportinities where you are is pretty self defeating if you ask me.

Last, as a "Mom" - I've met you, your a nice kid you don't come off in person as being as condescending as you sound in these threads and posts. I think you should learn to "lighten up" a little and live and let live, so to speak.

If people are having fun, and it makes this city feel good for a week or two to celebrate our sports teams.. just enjoy it.

Allright now.. LETS GO PENS!!

[bertokhadafi]

Fuck jocks fuck yinzers and fuck the average american

[andrew]

Feb 3, 2009 21:47:28 GMT -5 bingosherlock said:

How can you be better than everybody else in the city yet rely on bullshit excuses like the economy to explain why you can't find a decent job anywhere else?

i have a job that pays extremely well by pittsburgh standards right now. i can get a decent job in other places, even with the dwindling posts on monster. but it's too risky to do that now though in lieu of the economy.

and i didnt say i was better than everyone else in the city. i said i was better than alot of the scum that was downtown yesterday.

[bingosherlock]

Feb 4, 2009 6:09:07 GMT -5 andrew said:

Feb 3, 2009 21:47:28 GMT -5 bingosherlock said:

How can you be better than everybody else in the city yet rely on bullshit excuses like the economy to explain why you can't find a decent job anywhere else?

i have a job that pays extremely well by pittsburgh standards right now. i can get a decent job in other places, even with the dwindling posts on monster. but it's too risky to do that now though in lieu of the economy.

and i didnt say i was better than everyone else in the city. i said i was better than alot of the scum that was downtown yesterday.

I never asked if you said it or not, I stated that you believe it. It's pretty obvious in your tone that you are very bitter about this city and that you have a completely unfounded sense of superiority with its residents.

Also, "in lieu of" means "in place of" not "because of." Your sentence reads "in place of the economy" or "instead of the economy."

Either way it just sounds like a convenient excuse to me. What, are you going to wait until the GDP sees two consecutive positive quarters before you start looking for a job over in the progressive parts of the world?

[andrew]

Feb 4, 2009 7:32:47 GMT -5 bingosherlock said:

Feb 4, 2009 6:09:07 GMT -5 andrew said:

i have a job that pays extremely well by pittsburgh standards right now. i can get a decent job in other places, even with the dwindling posts on monster. but it's too risky to do that now though in lieu of the economy.

and i didnt say i was better than everyone else in the city. i said i was better than alot of the scum that was downtown yesterday.

I never asked if you said it or not, I stated that you believe it. It's pretty obvious in your tone that you are very bitter about this city and that you have a completely unfounded sense of superiority with its residents.

Also, "in lieu of" means "in place of" not "because of." Your sentence reads "in place of the economy" or "instead of the economy."

Either way it just sounds like a convenient excuse to me. What, are you going to wait until the GDP sees two consecutive positive quarters before you start looking for a job over in the progressive parts of the world?

i have a founded sense of superiority over some of the obnoxious drunks in town yesterday, not the entire city.

and it's a perfectly resonable excuse not to leave a job with layoff benefits during the current economic state. i dont want to start a new job because that would certiainly increase the risk of layoff. i turned down a lucrative offer in maryland several months ago for exactly that reason.