Or should it be changed to Yeatville?
I ask this question in the wake of the deadly cyclonic disaster in Myanmar. Err, Burma. Err, Myanmar.
The United States and the United Kingdom call the Indian subcontinental nation Burma, despite the United Nations' name of Myanmar. BBC News delved into the colloquialism last fall.
So.
What about Newburyport? Anyone want to call it something else, and it can be known by two names?
On a serious note, I hope everyone in Burma/Myanmar gets the help they deserve.
11 comments:
Yeatville??
You don't like Yeatville. How's Newburyport-by-the-River?
I'm not saying I don't like it, necessarily - just what does it mean? Newburyport-by-the-River is too ummm la-di-da.
What does what mean? Yeat?
Oh, right. Someone was talking about that word the other day, at the Literary Festival, I think.
Ari, you remind me of someone that moves to Massachusetts from some other state and decides they want to become a Red Sox fan, since its the popular team in the area and everyone else is in to them. So you buy season tickets and hats and stickers and t-shirts, and after a few games you're sitting next to a couple of people at a game a say to them, "gee, this stadium sure is old and run down, why don't we try and get them to build a new one?", or "Why are they called Red Sox, no one wears red socks and that isn't even the correct spelling, maybe we should get them to change the name to the Boston Green Monsters"... It's not that you're serious or joking, a good guy or not, or even that you're a "newbie", its that you don't seem to recognize that you are trying to change and usurp the very essence of that to which you wish to belong, and that is what bothers a lot of locals/natives. It's just sort of your bad luck that it comes at a time where we have seen years and years of this and are afraid of where it has lead us, and where it will bring us in the future.
...you don't seem to recognize that you are trying to change and usurp the very essence of that to which you wish to belong, and that is what bothers a lot of locals/natives.
Last fall, around the time I moved here, the billboard in front of the Unitarian church posted the saying: Unanswered questions are far less dangerous than unquestioned answers.
What do you see me trying to change, and why do you fear it?
It's just sort of your bad luck that it comes at a time where we have seen years and years of this and are afraid of where it has lead us, and where it will bring us in the future.
Shortly after I started working in city hall, I leafed through a police department report written about so many years earlier that mentioned various initiatives that I knew weren't on the books anymore. I remember asking the Marshal about it, and he was grateful that the report wasn't collecting dust on some shelf.
I'm sure you know what I mean. How many more studies, telephone polls, brainstorming sessions, and community meetings are necessary on long-term plans for a senior center, waterfront redevelopment, parking implementation?
Thankfully, city officials are beginning to make headway on these and other priority issues.
A wise high school teacher once told me that for every student raising his hand in class there are 10 other students who would have raised their hands but didn't due to anxiety or fear or apathy.
Every teacher of mine since would testify I always raised my hand and asked probing questions.
I respect the past, and would love to talk more with those who have lived here for decades to hear stories of the 'good old days' and how they feel about the current state of things so I can ask another question. Maybe that's where you fit in?
Ari, I was clued into this exchange of comments through Gillian's blog and wanted to commend you for the way you handled it.
It is much better than I could have done...and much better than I ever did do.
Thanks Tom. Let me know the next time you come down from the mountains and we'll do lunch or something.
Look forward to it, but no Starbucks. (Yep, I'm one of them.)
I do like the name Newburyport, but I think that Tropyrubwen would help us relate to our Russian sister city much better.
Plus it would really mess up our friends at the Lahore call centers.
James
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