First, I would like to qualify what I’m going to say here: I am a Pittsburgher, born and bred if not living in city right now. The blood, sweat and tears of my family built the city, literally. Many of them are contractors, have been for going on three generations now, and have had a hand in building (or restoring) many of the landmarks Pittsburghers hold dear. The other half of my family wear blue, and they’ve been protecting the city and surrounding areas since my great-grandfather was on the force in the first half of the last century.
Now that I’ve clarified where I’m coming from, here’s a little advice for our welcomed visitors:
Number one – Don’t touch! We like our city the way it is, and bluntly, we won’t be very happy (or nice) to you if you find it necessary to break things. Also, please don’t insult yourselves by carrying around banners and signs claiming that you’re all for the environment, and then leave tons of trash in your wake! Not only does it defeat the purpose, but it also makes it very easy for members of the press to imply that you’re hypocrites.
Number two – Follow the rules. Contrary to what you might think, we’re not stupid in this town. Don’t cry every five minutes that our police are harassing you, unless they legitimately are. If you were told to do something at a certain time, and in a certain place, do it that way. When the rank and file police on the street say you’re not supposed to be doing something in spite of your having permission from their superiors, be patient! Ask them to call their superiors to verify your information. Remember that the officers on the street are more concerned with the safety of all, as opposed to your ability to protest on your schedule. Bottom line is that they don’t trust you, and bluntly, given their job description, they shouldn’t no matter how peaceful your particular group is.
Number three – We’re Pittsburghers. That means that while there are some of us out there who are quite patient and willing to listen to what you have to say, the vast majority are more concerned with how your presence is going to disrupt our lives. For the most part we’re polite to strangers, but we’re not real patient with people who are obviously hell bent on causing chaos on our streets. Regardless, there are Pittsburghers who are known to not take “crap” from anyone. Don’t dish it out – literally, or figuratively. We’ve survived the fall of the steel industry, numerous floods, tornadoes, and the mistakes of numerous silly politicians who had no business leading a one-man parade, let alone our city. We will survive you. It’s up to you whether or not you’ll survive us.
I know that comes off as a little rough, but that pretty much covers what this town is. Pittsburgh is no Seattle. We work hard and play hard. There’s a soft side at times, but particularly when it comes to an event like the G-20, its not very smart to expect to see that soft side after beating up our streets and buildings. Remember that you’re protesting against the people in our convention center, not the people on our streets. Be nice to us and our city, and we’ll be nice to you. Leave it at that, because just like many other Pittsburghers, I don’t want to think about what it will be like if it doesn’t play out that way.
We love having you here, and would hate for you to change our minds on that!
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