Guys-
Whether or not you think the higher-ups have been fair and legitimate in their dealings with us, and whether or not you think that we are completely justified in insulting them, do any of you think that being rude and offensive will solve our problem?
We can decry their unfair practices all we want. We can make sure that every other domain in the world knows the plight of poor Pittsburgh. We can stand up like a bunch of idealists and fling invective at all of our oppressors. But if we do so, we're hypocrites. We can't possibly say we are doing everything we can to solve the problem if we're behaving like this.
This summer, I've travelled a lot. I've had the opportunity to talk to people from all over, and it's been a rewarding experience for me. However, universally, when I mention that I'm from Pittsburgh, I almost always get the same response:
"I'm sorry."
Everywhere I've travelled thinks it sucks to live in Pittsburgh. Everywhere I've gone thinks Pittsburgh is a terrible place to LARP. The reason they think so? Because everyone knows the people in Pittsburgh are a bunch of offensive, loud-mouthed jerks.
How did this happen?
As a group, we're demonizing ourselves more than we demonize anyone else with our behavior. Nobody is listening to our message, because they're too focused on the way we're presenting it. All we are doing is turning everyone else against us because we're being so offensive and loud. Now, we can keep doing this. We can keep being rude to the people we interact with as a domain, or we can stop using brinkmanship, we can stop being arrogant, and we could try to actually discuss matters with the people who can fix them.
Running our RST off our domain list is not negotiation. Walking around saying that everyone we deal with in this club is a liar is not negotiation. Screaming like a bunch of spoiled children is not negotiation.
Can we please start being nice to people?
Anthony C. [name redacted at Anthonys request]
US2003021263