Why East Liberty might change even quicker than you think (Philadelphia: appliances, refrigerator)

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by dtrtrggr13

Must spreads reputations ...

Long story short - you can really tell what you're getting into depending on where you in a neighborhood before you walk into any establishment - food, retail, or otherwise, and I personally would not have been shocked. I'm not sure if you were expecting a different type of situation to go down, but its usually pretty obvious what you are likely to encounter...and if you know you will not deal with it well then why put yourself in that situation to begin with?

Just go to Jimmy Johns a few blocks away...

So in other words just let parts of East Liberty fall prey to the ghetto and associated behaviors in perpetuity instead of correcting ignorant and errant actions whenever possible? When I was in high school a teacher noticed I was "dumbing down" myself in order to fit in better. He pulled me aside and lectured me for ten minutes about how you must strive to encourage others to improve themselves rather than degrade yourself. He said it would encourage others to work harder to keep up and would benefit us both in the long run. His words have stayed with me, and I thank him for them because they helped a lot when I was having issues with self-esteem.

This is MY CITY. Why should I have to adjust my routines and seek out different businesses in different neighborhoods because whites and upstanding black families have just "given up hope" on the ghetto? If I see someone in front of me litter, then I call them out on it. I embarrassed a father (a white yinzer---not a black person) in front of his children once when he just dropped an empty Gatorade bottle on the sidewalk in front of me and kept walking because, as he told me, there "weren't any trash cans around". I don't just say to myself "ghetto is as ghetto does", which, from what I understand, is what I'm being told should be in the back of my mind at all times. If we want Pittsburgh to realize its fullest potential as an emerging great city, then we can't condone and tolerate deplorable behavior.

Am I to understand the "proper" course of action when you see someone in front of you litter is just to pretend you didn't see it and keep on walking? Am I to understand the "proper" course of action when someone cuts you in line at a business is to just let them think it's "ok" to do so? Am I to understand the "proper" course of action when you witness ANY injustice is to just shrug and fiddle away on your iPhone as if nothing had happened? I'm sorry, but I love Pittsburgh too much to see it overtaken by this ghetto garbage. If they're allowed to continue to menace society unchecked, then how will they ever learn that they're actually MENACING anyone in the first place? Not everyone in the East Liberty area has had a positive role model in their lives who raised them properly to mind their manners. Do we just give up on those people and let them ruin vast swaths of our city?

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by Aqua Teen Carl

if you're going to react like a jag prepare to throw the hands with another jag.

I don't get it. How was he "react(ing) like a jag"? If someone cuts in front of me, I'm going to cut right back in front of them.

[eschaton]

SCR, have you ever been admonished by a total stranger? Your teacher doesn't count, as criticism from someone you know is easier to take if its coached right. Most people do not react kindly to being shamed by someone they don't know, regardless of the situation.

I can only think of a few cases offhand where I have had this happen. The only one which actually changed my behavior was when someone said "don't see that everyday" when I went out in my boxer briefs and a t-shirt to take out the garbage. I still take out the garbage without pants usually, but I try to wait until it's late and no one is around now.

[robrobrob]

This has turned into another one of the blame the victim discussions. The two girls that cut were rude and inconsiderate too. It seems as if everyone has forgotten that fact.

Maybe SCR was rude when he called them out on it. Or maybe he wasn't. Regardless it doesn't change the fact that the girls cut in line.

For the most part I can't stand going in to any McDonalds. It always takes forever. It also seems like they never have enough workers. It is not just the McDonalds restaurants in black communities either. The one in the Walmart in Pittsburgh Mills is brutal too.

At one point, McDonalds used to have food already prepared. Sure your food wasn't as fresh cold but it was ready instantly.

[ferraris]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I don't get it. How was he "react(ing) like a jag"?

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

When we were cut in line we politely said "Excuse us, but we were in line". We were met with a disagreement on that, and when we further objected the males, who had no business involving themselves, became involved. How was this indicative of us "confronting idiocy with idiocy"? .

I agree with Jay on this.

I also agree that that particular McDonalds is pretty subpar, even for a McDonalds.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by eschaton

It's just not worth getting worked up about. I tell my wife the same thing when she honks her horn when someone cuts her off. The kind of person who would act like that will not be swayed by being confronted by their own bad behavior - they'll just get more irate in turn.

Sometimes a horn honk CAN change someone's behavior for the better. Back when I used to text while driving (I know, I know...) I was once honked at because I was sitting at a red light for a while and completely hadn't noticed that my lane had received a green left-turn arrow. By the time the person behind me honked to alert me the arrow was already changing to yellow, and only I made it through while the poor person behind me was stuck waiting for oncoming traffic to clear. After that I thought to myself "I'm sure that person had somewhere to go that was as important as my destination, and now I made that trip longer for them" and stopped texting while driving.

This is why I chronically blare my horn at people in front of me who don't signal when turning or when I'm cut off on the highway. Perhaps they've always engaged in such unsavory behaviors because quite honestly everyone else has had the "bystander effect" that you are all encouraging---just stay quiet and hope someone else acts---and they never knew their actions were annoying others. On TWO (yes, two) separate occasions within TWO HOURS on Monday evening I was honked at by motorists behind me because I was waiting to turn onto a street until pedestrians in the crosswalk had crossed. I was turning from eastbound Beacon onto southbound Shady the first time as a woman crossed with heavy Giant Eagle shopping bags. The second time a younger male was hesitant to cross Devonshire at Fifth because he saw me put on my blinker while I was on Fifth, but I immediately waved him across when we made eye contact. On both occasions I screamed back out my window "do you want me to run them over?!" at the honking motorists behind me. I cringe to think of what may have happened to either pedestrian had the motorists behind me in both occasions been in my position. Ironically the person behind me on Fifth could have easily passed me in the right-hand lane, which was open and had no vehicles approaching from behind us.

Maybe I'm just too Utopian and idealistic for Pittsburgh. I moved here after severe depression in NoVA nearly made me take my own life, and for that reason I view Pittsburgh as being my savior. As such I always want to see this city improve and be a better place for everyone else, too, in gratitude. I'm sorry, but I wouldn't want to be mugged in front of any of you who would all tap-dance around wondering if you should call 911 or just pretend you didn't see anything to avoid unpleasantness "cuz ghetto is as ghetto does".

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I don't get it. How was he "react(ing) like a jag"? If someone cuts in front of me, I'm going to cut right back in front of them.

^ This. I suppose this is where the mish-mash of cultures here comes into play. You're from NJ, Jay. I'm from the Poconos, which isn't far away. East Coast people would see someone cut them in line and cut right back in front OR politely (as we did) indicate to the offending party that we were in line and hope for a less abrasive encounter than what we experienced. I suppose those with the more Midwestern-ish influencing in Pittsburgh look at someone cutting them in line and just think "It's ok. They're probably just in more of a hurry than I am. I have all day to wait if need be."

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by eschaton

SCR, have you ever been admonished by a total stranger? Your teacher doesn't count, as criticism from someone you know is easier to take if its coached right. Most people do not react kindly to being shamed by someone they don't know, regardless of the situation.

I can only think of a few cases offhand where I have had this happen. The only one which actually changed my behavior was when someone said "don't see that everyday" when I went out in my boxer briefs and a t-shirt to take out the garbage. I still take out the garbage without pants usually, but I try to wait until it's late and no one is around now.

Actually, I'm not "shamed" that often, but when I am I DO immediately take it to heart and pledge to correct my errant behavior. As I said with the texting example where I caused the person behind me to miss the turn arrow, I stopped texting while driving and gave the person a little "sorry" wave in my rearview mirror when they caught up to me further up the street we had both turned onto.

We're all human. We all make mistakes. I'm different in that I'd want people to call me out on my mistakes so I could learn from them, and I also call out others on their mistakes for that same reason. We weren't rude to the two girls who cut us in line at that McDonald's, but we also weren't going to go with the majority on this sub-forum with the "cutting in line hurts nobody so just let it go" mentality. Whether the young black males getting involved in defending the girls, who were in the wrong, was racially-motivated or not it still made us uncomfortable being the only whites in that McDonald's at the time, which is why we left.

As far as the "just use the drive-thru" commentary is concerned, I loathe the drive through because:

a.) My order is incorrect 50% of the time;

and

b.) My partner is picky, and it's hard to communicate his special request unless we're face-to-face anyways.

I always wondered why McDonald's (and other fast-food places) don't just adopt what Sheetz has where you just tap a screen to personally customize your food order to avoid the possibility of anything going wrong AND to increase efficiency in the line.

[selltheburgh]

If you expect more than the lowest common denominator at McD's, then you are a bit short sighted.

[Aqua Teen Carl]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I don't get it. How was he "react(ing) like a jag"? If someone cuts in front of me, I'm going to cut right back in front of them.

While I can't be sure obviously, if his posts are an indicator then he probably had more than a tinge of "holier than thou" when he confronted them. Whether or not the reaction was appropriate was of his own personal opinion, but he shouldn't be shocked when he was met opposition. But as I wrote previously, this has nothing to do with race.

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

This is MY CITY.

Oh damn, I forgot to send you my rent check on the 1st.