Everything Old Is New Again
The old-A2/new-A2 debate is revisited on the News’ letters page with a brand-new political spin. Usually the people responsible for ruining the character of Ann Arbor are capitalists in the pockets of greedy developers, but this time they’re “entitlement”-happy liberals influenced by PC academics.
Also at issue: what frivolous priority the U of M places over educating students. The old-A2 crowd is deeply divided on whether the university is obsessed with building expensive skyboxes and shutting local kids out of their athletic facilities, or mainly focused on “boycotting non-politically correct products.” Can’t they just sit down at Drake’s and work out their differences over a sandwich? Oh, wait — they can’t, because it’s GONE, thanks to the [development profiteers/pinko university administrators.]
Dear Amber-freezers,
I sympathize greatly with your mourning for the places you love. However, a community is a living, growing thing. You can try to stunt its growth, but, like a bonsai tree (or kitten), it’s going to twist around and poke free somewhere else - in this case, it poked free in the form of luxury condos, luxury skyboxes, and luxury lampposts. The place you love is gone, and you were complicit in its demise. I’m sorry.
Tell you what. Why don’t you head on down to Fraser’s - where you met your wife, remember? not everything you loved is gone.[1] - order a beer, have a good cry into it, and then start figuring out how to help your community change with the times. Chin up, looking forward, and ready for what comes, rather than looking over your shoulder at what you had, and running ear-first into yet another handbill-covered lamppost.
(And, while you’re at it, why don’t you read those handbills, rather than tearing them down. Remember when you were young and went to shows? Yeah, some of us still are. Hi, nice to meet you. Punk week and rock show houses are old-school Ann Arbor - if you tear down that handbill, you’re spitting in the face of what you loved.)
kthx,
Murph.
[1] At this point, I considered adding, “Well, your wife _did_ leave you, but, let’s try not to dwell, shall we?” I thought that might be a bit much.
posted by Murph. on June 28th, 2006 at 12:35 pmWas there even a point in that letter? The closest argument I can get in there is some tautology that he is angry because things are not the way he wants them to be. What a moron.
Also, it was the students who pressed for the ban on Coke and then the university who recently abandoned that ban after an agreement with Coke for the ILO (international labour organization) to do an independent study.
Sorry, I just got back from out of town so my tolerance for this kind of bullshit is kinda low today.
p.s. Is “entree-buying” an insult? Are we supposed to go to restaurants and only order appetizers? Mary, mother of God….
posted by Peter on June 28th, 2006 at 12:46 pmAny time anyone starts talking about the People’s Republic of Ann Arbor I tune out. If it was ever close to that it was tens of years ago, and even then it was a tiny minority of the actual residents. They make more noise than you’d think, but that’s about it.
posted by Michael McC. on June 28th, 2006 at 1:46 pmYeah, I didn’t realize that ordering only appetizers was what made you a “real” local. And complaining about other people being focused only on their own entitlement is really “pot-calling-kettle-black” territory.
posted by Nick on June 28th, 2006 at 5:10 pm