Definition of a "podunk big city" (RANT ALERT)

[Nerull]

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Okay, I live in San Antonio, Texas (originally from the northeast, though, so used to big city life). Not a bad town, but for its size (over a million people), people keep trying to cling to the "small town" mentality. It shows in their planning, and even in the way they talk about the city. For example, watch the local news, and when they talk about national issues, they are constantly trying to tie it back to San Antonio, whatever the issue is. I have never seen a local news talk so much about auto accidents around town. Every time some bigger business comes in, they fall on their knees in worship (it took almost 6 months before the first Krispy Kreme donut shop stopped having lines clear out the door, and they are going to be building a Toyota plant here, which is being greeted as if God Himself was coming to visit). I already knew they still had this small town mentality, but what I am seeing now takes the cake.

I am watching the "American" football game between the Eagles and the Packers. Or at least I was, until it was interrupted by "urgent news". You see, there is an old Pearl brewery here in town. It was the only major brewery in town, and it is held up as this big "traditional/historical sight", even though Pearl beer is some of the worst swill that you would ever want to taste. Why the interruption for the news brief? There is a fire at the Pearl Brewery. No flames, mind you; there's just some smoke coming out of ONE of the windows. No danger to be seen to any of the surronding buildings, nor does the brewery itself seem to be in any real danger of burning down. However, they are not only interrupting the game to talk about it, but they have a reporter at the scene, talking with the same urgent tone as if a nuke went off in Washington, D.C.

Maybe I'm being a bit cruel and insensitive, but unless the whole thing is up in flames I really don't need to hear about it except as an aside in the 10:00 news. Maybe if flames shot out and roasted the reporter on the scene, then it might be interesting (just kidding, but not by much). Why do they insist on having such an inferiority complex? People from the northeastern United States come down here to visit, and they bring stories back about how "podunk" this part of the country is. The people down here always get ticked off when they hear this, but if the tourists turn on the television and see this garbage, is it any wonder where it is coming from?

I'm sorry, but I just had to rant here, before I did something like kick in my TV screeen.

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[Gangrell]

A brewery set up as a historical landmark? Was it the first ever to make beer, otherwise I don't see how it's historical, but you have to look at it like this. If it's been crowned with 'historical' so to speak, they probably thought it was urgent and didn't bother checking to see if it was consumed by ungodly amounts of flames and such.

Originally posted by Nerull: I'm sorry, but I just had to rant here, before I did something like kick in my TV screeen.

Or punching a hole through your door

[RevRuby]

i don't recall finding san antonio podunk (i don't recall ever hearing that word before, and i am a north easterner) what i remember most is the streets. i was told they were actually created/setup/whatnot by the wayt he cows came through the city. and y'know what? ppl want to complain about my perfectly normal pennsylvania streets. i tell them to visit san antonio thenc ome back and complain.

anyway....who won the game?

[Nerull]

Originally posted by RevRuby: i don't recall finding san antonio podunk (i don't recall ever hearing that word before, and i am a north easterner) what i remember most is the streets. i was told they were actually created/setup/whatnot by the wayt he cows came through the city. and y'know what? ppl want to complain about my perfectly normal pennsylvania streets. i tell them to visit san antonio thenc ome back and complain. anyway....who won the game?

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Relatively low scoring game, considering it rained the whole time.

McNabb led them back with a scoring drive at the end of the game (TD pass to Pinkston with 27 seconds left). Eagles won 17 - 14. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Okay, back on topic:

Your whole statement about the cows is exactly what I am talking about. That's the whole impression that has been created in the past, and what is being reinforced by stuff like this. Every tourist/recent transplant from the northeast was sitting there thinking "you're telling me that they are interrupting the game for a minor fire at an old, run-down brewery?".

And for Gangrell, they already had the reporter on the scene; all they had to do was speak to the authorities (or even just look at it; it was obviously not a serious fire at all), and realize that they were wasting their time. And it was not the first place to make beer; it's just the only major place to have made beer in this town.

Oh, and "podunk" is a slang term for "hick" (or the nicer term "rural" ) when describing a community.

I think it really boils down to the fact that the city has grown too quickly. They have over 1.1 million people, but it blew up pretty much overnight (as far as city growth goes; it is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States). Meanwhile, the education system sucks in this state (and don't blame Bush when he was governor; ever since a few years after the American Civil War the Lieutenent Governor position holds a LOT more power than the Governor position in Texas), and the economy has been in shambles since the American oil industry hit the wall back in the 1970s (the entire state put all of their eggs in one basket). That was 30 years ago, and they still have not even come close to fully recovering from that. The result? The city population may be growing (there is plenty of surrounding land, so draws people in who do not want to live in crowded conditions like in some places in the northeast, and is pretty much warm year-round for those who are retiring), but businesses are slow to move in (no money and poorly educated workers; one of the things they always complain about in the city is that all of the companies that move here hire their peons here, but bring the managers from elsewhere). Thus the resulting inferiority complex ("hey, we're a big city, too!").

[cloud ff7 38]

Yes a brewary is a histoic landmark because its beer and well do we need more argument? All brewarys are historic landmarks in my book!
But the idea they had to show smoke coming out of a window instead of football is kind of stupid.

[RevRuby]

off topic: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

on topic: okies...i guess since i only visited i really didn't k=notice too much, we were there for like a week just to see my brother graduate from basic training at lackland.

Nerull ... can you just move out of the city? I used to live in the Alamo City and they are IMO just trying to live & get bigger. I remembered they once had a pro football team called the San Antonio Gunslingers. It was a big deal to them. But that went away quick. There's also some five military bases there right? Or did some go away. Yeah, they're just trying to stay big. The authentic Mexican food is great there too. Haven't found that here yet in the Seattle area.

[VulcanRider]

I'm not trying to be insulting, but this triggers a mini-rant of my own. Speaking on behalf of all podunk towns in the southern US, did you expect to move from the northeast to a different state, with different traditions, different attitudes, different history, and expect it to be just like the place you left? Whenever I meet a northern transplant who starts preaching about how "we did things better up north" the first question that pops into my mind is "Then why did you move down here?" If I moved to a different part of the country, I would expect to have to change my attitudes to match my new locale, rather than expecting everyone in my new home to change to match mine. Trust me, if you've ever truly experienced a "small town" mentality -- the kind where you can leave your front door unlocked when you go out, and you wave to people in passing vehicles -- you'll miss it when it's gone.

[Nerull]

Actually, I've been living here longer than I did in the Northeast. I've actually adapted pretty well (miss some of the stuff from New York City, but I've gotten over it). The reason this annoys me so much is that they are constantly trying to promote themselves as a big city, then do stuff like this. As someone who originally lived in the Northeast, I see this stuff, and know exactly what people are thinking when they see it, as I thought the same thing when I first moved down and saw the local news. They are trying desperately to attract business to the city, yet when others are on the outside looking in, they see this stuff and it just shoots them in the foot. Trust me, VulcanRider, with over 1.1 million people, it has been a long time since people can leave their doors unlocked. There is gang violence pretty much every day. However, I also rode down the street two days ago, passed by the bar near my house, and saw the normal crowd of people who ride horses into town from one of the farms or ranches near the outskirts of the city (and I live well inside the city limits). Even though I am in a middle class neighborhood smack in the middle of the city, I wake up every morning to a rooster one of the neighbors has. Thus, it ends up being this "hodgepodge" of big city and small town, and no one seems to be able to lead it anywhere except in circles. The harsh reality is that they are a big city, and everyone is trying to get respect as a big city. However, when the signals that they are showing everyone is stuff like that broadcast (and it is still a major news story today, last I saw on the news this afternoon), all they are doing is shooting themselves in the foot. Of course, actually fixing their education problems would go a long way to help bring in the business that everyone is clamoring for. But if everyone is so eager down here to see the city grow and for businesses to move in (mostly because they want better job opportunities, just like everyone else would like to see in their communities), showing stuff like this so prominently and treating it like the city council had been murdered doesn't help (for those who do not know, the Pearl Brewery is an old, run-down brewery that hardly employs anyone anymore; it has never been large, and even finding someone that drinks Pearl beer (even inside the city) is hard to find).

I guess it just gets under my skin, because I like living here (sorry about the impression that I do not like it), but there are times I just want to tell these people that they are just screwing themselves repeatedly (and every time they lose some business to another city, they immediately go on this self-pity trip, with all kinds of questions about why they get no respect). As the old saying goes, image is everything. Listen to Lisle and Hahn on the local rock station 99.5 KISS. They have a webcast of their station, including the morning show. They simply repeat exactly what I am stating here (one is from another state, but has been here over 20 years, while the other was born and raised in San Antonio). I just hate to see them burning themselves like this, especially considering that there is a ton of potential here (plenty of land for growth, major crossroads for both highway and rail, plenty of resources, etc.). I could understand if they were screaming about the businesses moving in, and wanted it to return to the way things were. But everyone is clamoring for just the opposite, then wonder why businesses look elsewhere. It's stuff like this that creates the impression among those businesses that this is a "podunk" city, and thus it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.