What should be built on Hotel Sterling lot in Wilkes-Barre if/when it is razed?

[theatergypsy]

What should be built on the Sterling site will, unfortunately, not be decided by Vox Populi. Would a RTM-type be beneficial? I don't know. Would souvenir shops and office space benefit the city? I don't know. But you can count on the fact that we, the local citizens, will probably not have a voice in the final decision.

[Magritte25]

Originally Posted by theatergypsy

Yes, this post was offensive. But I was having a cardiac catherization done yesterday and wasn't able to respond. How can you expect to attract people of quality to this area when you perpetuate the myth that it's populated by a bunch of haynas?

Working a $9./hr job is preferable to sitting home and collecting welfare benefits because a low-paying job is "beneath" you.

There was a point in my life where I was working three part-time, no benefit, jobs to keep shoes on my kids' feet and food in their bellies. And for the record, I never said "dese, dose, dem and hayna", nor do most of the people with whom I associate. I find your use of the vernacular to be mean-spirited.

Funny how people with jobs are critical of those who are striving for one.

My father worked in retail most of his life and raised his family with that money. I know people now raising children while working at Wegmans, Lowe's, Home Depot, etc. I completely agree the tone of that post was uber-offensive.

Originally Posted by Mr Yuk

Its called humor, a joke....life is short, learn to laugh. Nobody ever said that everyone around here talks like that. But even though it is somewhat dying out, the NEPA dialect is still fairly common around here. So I tink I'll go wahk da dahg, getta a cuppa cahfee with some melk in it and a sangwich, den close da light and lay down on my pellow for a while. Hayna er no?

It's humorous when it isn't being used to denigrate a whole group of people. We all have a good laugh about heynabonics but using the dialects of our ancestors to insult the working class is wrong and elitist.

Originally Posted by Jungle George

Actually, that lingo is near & dear to my heart!! All my relatives talked like that, & they were STELLAR people!! They worked their a$$e$ off to raise their "famlees", were honest, law-abiding REAL people...& their word was GOLD!!! I thank my lucky stars that I was raised by a buncha "backward", LESS THAN $9.00 an hour people!!! That's where I get my stellar work-ethic, my honesty & my faith & spirituality!!

I get the humor in it & love it!!!! And frankly, I'll take a whole city of "heynas" over the phony Pottery Barn shopping, "get-the-F-outta-my-way" SUV driving, mega-mansion owning, "I know what's best for you", "my $hit-don't-stink", holier-than-thou "educated" & "cutting-edge" crowd ANY day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(JG steps off soapbox....)

Originally Posted by CoalCityTrash

I think everyone took that post to heart WAY TOO MUCH! As Mr Yuk said, it's a joke. Yes, not everybody here talks like that, but it is the accent & speech pattern particular to this area. Not everyone in Virginia has a southern accent. Not everyone in New York talks like a mobster. That doesn't mean nobody does.

Two negatives don't make a positive.

I think some of us took it to heart for two main reasons:

1. Many of us have/had relatives that did speak like that and who were good, hardworking people that were not stupid.

2. It seemed to denigrate the lower working class for :gasp: daring to earn a wage while not wearing a white collar.

Originally Posted by theatergypsy

Everyone? As far as I can tell, there were only two of us, Magritte and YT. Yes, it is a speech pattern particular to this area. And having lived in other parts of the country, I have heard their local accents as well. (Matter of fact, I have had people tell me that my place of origin can be designated by my accent, and they're usually wrong, but I digress). The accent is not the problem. It is the mean-spirited way in which it was used, as if to indicate that the only people who would take a $9./hr job are the people who (allegedly) talk that way.

Funny, when a person is called out for something another found offensive, the standard answer is "It's just a joke." meh

It is certainly not the accent that is the issue.

Originally Posted by CoalCityTrash

I don't think it's a coincidence. You got offended because you didn't get the joke. You're so convinced the the guy's an ***hole & so set on being offended that you won't even listen. If somebody is telling you that you misunderstood them, they're almost always undoubtedly right. He's the one who said it, therefor, not a single being in the entire universe is capable of understanding what he meant by it better than him. If he says you're mistaken, you're mistaken.

LOL! Oh, trust me I got the "joke" but I still found it highly rude and offensive.

Originally Posted by theatergypsy

You could have stopped right there. (bolded) You seem to think that you can speak for me. I didn't see it as a joke. Doesn't mean I think Mr Yuk is anything other than a poster with whom I sometimes disagree. I'm quite capable of carrying on an intelligent conversation and so far, it hasn't been with you.

I didn't hear Mr Yuk ask you to defend him or his statement. We are both intelligent enough to speak directly to one another without a Mr. Interlocuter.

What should be built on the Sterling site will, unfortunately, not be decided by Vox Populi. Would a RTM-type be beneficial? I don't know. Would souvenir shops and office space benefit the city? I don't know. But you can count on the fact that we, the local citizens, will probably not have a voice in the final decision.

I'd like to see outlet stores, a children's museum/anthracite museum and a few other novelty shops downtown. Oh and DEFINITELY a grocery store (crossing fingers for Trader Joes or Whole Foods).

[Mr Yuk]

Originally Posted by CoalCityTrash

Back on topic. There was some talk months ago that Mohegan Sun might have been interested in the Sterling property. Does anybody know if that offer is still on the table?

Hopefully not....the last thing needed in downtown is a casino. Look at Atlantic City....the boardwalk may be nice, but the social ills brought in from the gambling industry have turned the rest of that city into a ghetto.

I think they should look into either a parking garage, maybe with ground floor space for a year-round farmers' market....or maybe a hotel/conference center similar to the Hilton built on the old Hotel Casey site in Scranton. Keep the gambling out on Rt 315 and out of the cities and towns.

[auntieannie68]

i vote for a downtown community center staffed by police----works well in other communitiies around this country that have few places for community activities at minimal to very little cost to use AND keep up-----but this may take some money out of some special person's overstuffed pockets and put it into the community--GASP!