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Old 03-18-2011, 10:06 AM
 
Location: Saint Petersburg
632 posts, read 1,733,076 times
Reputation: 319

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Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
I ended up feeling very lonesome, dejected, and like I belonged on "The Island of Misfit Toys".
The rest snipped for brevity.

Although the author and I would appear to have nothing much in common on the surface (I'm from the mountain west, happily hetero, etc.), the post I would have written in answer to the OP's question would have been extremely similar to this one.

The part about the "Island of Misfit Toys" particularly resonated with me. That's EXACTLY how I felt living in the land of sterile, conformist sprawl (i.e., Colorado Springs, CO), and I felt extremely welcomed and cared for by others around me when I moved to Pittsburgh. People here like me for who I am, quirks and flaws and all. There's a real sense of community, tolerance, and genuine love for others here that I never felt living in the West.

Last month a good friend visited me from California. It was her first time spending more than a day or two in Pittsburgh. She was profoundly surprised by how happy and friendly people were here, how willing they were to interact and bond with strangers. We were in an elevator one day and a random girl just started happily chatting up everybody around her. When we got off at our floor, my friend leaned over and said, "I can't believe it! Nobody would ever be that genuinely sweet to or interested in strangers where I live!" To me, the interaction was such a normal thing that I didn't even notice, and she was totally floored by it.

My parents, who are also retired in the mountain west, also commented on how open and friendly people are here. In fact, they told me after they visited last fall that they're probably going to move somewhere else this year, and one major reason is that they had this realization after their trip to Pittsburgh that people are actually very unfriendly in their area and it's diminishing their quality of life. (My mother also told me that Pittsburgh was one of the best big cities she's been in, and she's been all over the globe - major world traveler when she was young).
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Old 03-18-2011, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Saint Petersburg
632 posts, read 1,733,076 times
Reputation: 319
By the way, nobody would ever mistake me for a beer-swilling "Yinzer" type in a million years.

But I've never felt like an outcast here. It's been exactly the opposite, in fact.
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Old 03-18-2011, 10:28 AM
 
20,273 posts, read 32,857,468 times
Reputation: 2910
I actually don't really understand what is going on with people who have problems with "yinzers". I have had a lot of conversations with people fitting that description over time. It has almost never been problematic, and often been interesting (there was one guy who had worked a lot of different jobs, was a devout atheist, and was just an all-around interesting character--but I digress).
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Old 03-18-2011, 10:56 AM
 
9 posts, read 16,929 times
Reputation: 14
Quote:
Originally Posted by Benzman66 View Post
Thanks for the advice. But my English is pretty poor and I was just trying to find a translation for "Yinzers" . Now understood "Speakers of Pittsburgh English are sometimes called" Yinzers ", in reference to their use of the 2nd-person plural pronoun" Yinz "
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Old 03-18-2011, 11:26 AM
 
Location: ɥbɹnqsʇʇıd
4,599 posts, read 6,682,312 times
Reputation: 3521
Yinzers are really friendly people actually. My parents are Grade A, 100% Yinzer and they welcome strangers with open arms. However, I will agree that if you don't like sports (particularly Steelers football) you lose 90% of common ground with them. That's just how it is. Would you expect anyone from Manchester, UK to always be on the same wavelength for people who couldn't care less about Manchester United? It's the same deal.

It doesn't mean they're going to hate you all of a sudden though. Also, Yinzers love beer, but they love awful beer. I've been teased many times for getting a microbrew (even East End which is brewed here) instead of a Coors Light. Go figure.
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Old 03-18-2011, 12:08 PM
 
Location: About 10 miles north of Pittsburgh International
2,458 posts, read 4,182,291 times
Reputation: 2374
Quote:
...people who couldn't care less about Manchester United?
About who?
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Old 03-18-2011, 02:25 PM
 
Location: San Francisco
1,472 posts, read 3,531,114 times
Reputation: 1583
Quote:
Originally Posted by SteelCityRising View Post
/snip
Awesome post. Almost makes me want to sell my house in San Francisco and move there (seriously!). I could probably pay for one outright in Pittsburgh from my equity.
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Old 03-18-2011, 05:53 PM
 
1,158 posts, read 1,844,129 times
Reputation: 455
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffredo View Post
Awesome post. Almost makes me want to sell my house in San Francisco and move there (seriously!). I could probably pay for one outright in Pittsburgh from my equity.
My father told me he met a guy that moved from L.A. to Pittsburgh area and did just that. He got so much money for his house that he sold in L.A. that he bought a newer home with all brand new furniture plus a new car and paid cash for it all. This was back in the early 90's, though. However, I wouldn't be surprised if one could still be able to do that today.
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Old 03-18-2011, 06:38 PM
 
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
6,327 posts, read 9,093,421 times
Reputation: 4048
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl View Post
Yinzers are really friendly people actually. My parents are Grade A, 100% Yinzer and they welcome strangers with open arms. However, I will agree that if you don't like sports (particularly Steelers football) you lose 90% of common ground with them. That's just how it is. Would you expect anyone from Manchester, UK to always be on the same wavelength for people who couldn't care less about Manchester United? It's the same deal.

It doesn't mean they're going to hate you all of a sudden though. Also, Yinzers love beer, but they love awful beer. I've been teased many times for getting a microbrew (even East End which is brewed here) instead of a Coors Light. Go figure.
I'm not a beer person at all and do just fine
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Old 03-18-2011, 09:22 PM
 
Location: Portland, OR
4,275 posts, read 7,595,178 times
Reputation: 2943
My main problem is that if you tell someone during football season that you don't care if the Steelers win or lose (because you are not a football fan) you are looked at like a wierdo. That's that yinzer mentality that scathes on me.
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