I know the answer already and it's "no," I'm not a yinzer yet. If I ask the same question ten years down the line the answer will be the same. No, not yet. Yinzers are (help me out here) native Pittsburghers. They do not buy books in Shadyside called "How to speak Pittsburghese." They park in the middle of traffic while their grandmothers get out of the car, or while they post a letter or chat with a friend. They blink their headlights twice to mean you should make your left turn in front of opposing traffic or you will never get to make it at all, and they park on the sidewalk, across driveways and sometimes up on the grass. They greet you in the coffee bars with a fast version of "so hows-it goin?" and while they mean that as a friendly gesture they do not really want to know. They are the natives of my favorite city - and yes, that's including Paris and San Francisco. If love made you a yinzer I'd be one - but as they often say "love is not enough..."
Why? Well, for one thing, I will never have stories to tell about growing up in a neighborhood where all the grandmothers spoke Italian (only) and cooked in their basement kitchens so they could keep the upstairs kitchen clean for show. Although I make a dandy pizzelle, I don't much care for anise. I'll never feel strongly about the Pirates, the Steelers or (gasp!) the Penguins. I will always read novels set in Pittsburgh simply to enjoy the fact that I can identify many of the places where the story takes place but I will never get to work out with people who were in my kindergarten class.
Still, I can love this town. I can love its bridges, its neighborhoods, it amazing Cathedral of Learning. Jim and I came here in '98 for just one term - he was a visiting fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Science. I was writing a how-to book for paralegals and we lived in the student ghetto in south Oakland. Everyday I typed away till 3 or so, then crazy to move I would put on a coat and walk the streets. Things here are close! You can get to the Carnegie Museum from Oakland in 15 minutes on your feet, you can take a run to Squirrel Hill and stop there for coffee before heading out Shady Ave to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. You can grab a bus for the northside (Mexican War streets, Warhol and Mattress Factory museum) or one for the Southside (bars and bookstores) and you can head downtown anytime you're bored with the neighborhoods -- but first you should hit the Strip with its great cheese and meat markets. Maybe what really sold me on Pittsburgh was when Spring hit after the long winter. As students shed the jackets, hats and scarves that had made them impossible to sex in the depths of winter, thousands (that's literal) of tulips came up all over town at the same time. By then my book was mostly done so I could walk more - and I did, stoned on the glory of rebirth and amazed at the over-the-top spring gardening yinzers do. Flowers were everywhere. Food too. I felt as at home on the streets of Pittsburgh as I have ever felt anywhere. Rational and practical being that I am I thought - we should move here... Read More
Why? Well, for one thing, I will never have stories to tell about growing up in a neighborhood where all the grandmothers spoke Italian (only) and cooked in their basement kitchens so they could keep the upstairs kitchen clean for show. Although I make a dandy pizzelle, I don't much care for anise. I'll never feel strongly about the Pirates, the Steelers or (gasp!) the Penguins. I will always read novels set in Pittsburgh simply to enjoy the fact that I can identify many of the places where the story takes place but I will never get to work out with people who were in my kindergarten class.
Still, I can love this town. I can love its bridges, its neighborhoods, it amazing Cathedral of Learning. Jim and I came here in '98 for just one term - he was a visiting fellow at the Center for Philosophy of Science. I was writing a how-to book for paralegals and we lived in the student ghetto in south Oakland. Everyday I typed away till 3 or so, then crazy to move I would put on a coat and walk the streets. Things here are close! You can get to the Carnegie Museum from Oakland in 15 minutes on your feet, you can take a run to Squirrel Hill and stop there for coffee before heading out Shady Ave to the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. You can grab a bus for the northside (Mexican War streets, Warhol and Mattress Factory museum) or one for the Southside (bars and bookstores) and you can head downtown anytime you're bored with the neighborhoods -- but first you should hit the Strip with its great cheese and meat markets. Maybe what really sold me on Pittsburgh was when Spring hit after the long winter. As students shed the jackets, hats and scarves that had made them impossible to sex in the depths of winter, thousands (that's literal) of tulips came up all over town at the same time. By then my book was mostly done so I could walk more - and I did, stoned on the glory of rebirth and amazed at the over-the-top spring gardening yinzers do. Flowers were everywhere. Food too. I felt as at home on the streets of Pittsburgh as I have ever felt anywhere. Rational and practical being that I am I thought - we should move here... Read More