Knowing Your Place

I gave up on the Globe about a decade ago. I was living in Sutton, the place I lived before I found my true home here, and the Globe didn't offer much coverage of life in Central Massachusetts. The unread papers piled up in the recycling bin so finally I decided to cancel my subscription: a big deal for a guy who's read newspapers since he was six.


I offer that history as a partial explanation of why I missed this short write-up on Yankee Homecoming that appeared in the Globe Magazine last week. Well, I might have missed it anyway if it hadn't generated a few letters of complaint published this morning.


No doubt, the tone of the piece was a bit patronizing. I winced when I read some of the observed short-comings. ("Sushi and yoga options were limited."....ouch) Plus, she referred to herself and her husband as "city slickers." This probably wasn't the intent, but my reading of the comment left me thinking that Newburyporters are the opposite - yokels or small-town rubes.


I'm glad a few folks were driven to stand up for Newburyport. This place is special, and that should be stated. The irony is the author didn't say anything all that bad about Yankee Homecoming or Newburyport. In fact, I've heard far worse from locals and long-time residents.


But this is all about the messenger, not the message. 


I realize the very purpose of this blog is for me, a newcomer, to spout off about what should and shouldn't be done in the place I call home. I obviously don't subscribe to one letter-writer's suggestion that newcomers aren't well tolerated "unless we find ways to listen more than we talk." If I just listened, I wouldn't blog. But I see this blog as an opportunity to engage in dialogue with people I might not otherwise meet. I actually enjoy reading comments from readers more than I like writing these posts, particularly when a proclaimed local calls me out when I'm wrong.


I try to respect the believe that newcomers should be heard less and should listen more. But I also hold that an outsider's perspective is healthy if it's combined with a large dose of humility. 


Perhaps that's where the piece in the Globe fell a bit short. The author almost seemed to appreciate Newburyport most when it was more like Boston (although it's a bit unclear whether she was talking about Yankee Homecoming or the Riverfront Music Festival.). 

"And we battled the crowds and the lines for the right to eat fried junk food. The place felt energized, almost metropolitan, but without the ubiquitous taxis or $18 glasses of wine." 

Finally, it's worth noting that she does conclude the piece with kind words about the city, concluding that she's finally discovered something she never found in New York and Boston - neighbors.I'll agree with the author's final point. I've never lived in a place where it's so easy to meet people and to make friends.