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PostPunkBurrito t1_j4intpj wrote

I love Baltimore but I hate this stupid bumper sticker

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Avocadofarmer32 t1_j4ir8ah wrote

This has been brought up so many times in this thread and every time it causes such a s storm lol.

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mattfouse t1_j4j8cir wrote

Let me finish the thread out……….. and cue the hatred or I like the “ there’s more than murder here” , BALT rat stickers, blah blah blah, everything is offensive.

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Square-Passion2905 t1_j4jp7nj wrote

But I like your rat stickers. 😉 Hope you and Jess are doing well! (I went to nursing school with her.) I’m really interested in trying out this coffee bar you got going.

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diopsideINcalcite t1_j4kr4lq wrote

Should just sticky a Rat Czar link so people can find all this stuff, if it’s still around. Folks could get this out of their system.

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DfcukinLite t1_j4jftrg wrote

Those same people love the City Needs It slogan though. And that’s really the offensive one 😒🤬

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artie_effim t1_j4i1rx8 wrote

You can buy them (and a whole lot more) at Atomic Books!

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ProfMeowingtonPhd t1_j4ixuw2 wrote

with all the undeserved negative press we receive was a city, ive never understood why someone would add to it.

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my-hero-macadamia t1_j4kdaub wrote

I just want to say I recently moved to Oakland (CA) for a temporary work assignment and it makes Baltimore look like Paris. As bad a rep as Baltimore gets, we’re definitely better than Oakland (and probably a lot of other places) so there’s that.

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4011cache t1_j4m7qqo wrote

I used to have to travel to Baltimore for work (before I moved here) and hated it... always stuck in the Convention center area... I get comments from coworkers/friends "baltimore sucks"... I actually like it and had to defend living here. Used to live at the H&H and now in hollins market neighborhood.. and when those same friends/coworkers are in town, they seem to like it as well.... the city has its problems but being offended by stickers should be the least of them

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clebo99 t1_j4ktscy wrote

I put one on my laptop the other week. Get one at the American Visionary Arts building.

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fallfares t1_j4l75fr wrote

I like it, and the sticker! You know on Friends when Monica is talking to Richard about his divorce and he says he always gets the sympathetic head tilt? That's what I usually get when I tell people I live in the city. I've been here my whole life though, and can't imagine having done it somewhere else.

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Unable-Garden-4824 t1_j4iploo wrote

This bumper sticker is beyond offensive - there is no reason for the “actually” to be there. I find it rude and condescending!

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DfcukinLite t1_j4iq675 wrote

In what world is this “offensive”

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Unable-Garden-4824 t1_j4iravb wrote

Because of the “actually” - it suggests that most people wouldn’t like this city and portrays it negatively.

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DfcukinLite t1_j4irgmk wrote

Most people don’t like this city. Which is why it’s worded correctly.

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thats_hella_cool t1_j4jaci8 wrote

Which would be an accurate depiction, regardless of what you or I may personally think.

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addctd2badideas t1_j4iyz6c wrote

Hard disagree. While there's lots about the city that's good, there's no denying that there are some serious and systemic problems in the city and that its reputation is reflected by those problems in the media. Even if the hyperbole surrounding those problems doesn't match the nuance or complicated nature of them, you can't deny the reality that the perception of the city is lacking.

You can be offended all you want, but it doesn't invalidate a lot of the reasons people have left the city, nor their experiences in dealing with the city's problems at the ground level.

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MeanMrBiter t1_j4i38wd wrote

The only people I’ve seen with this bumper sticker or shirt are people who live in the county or in rich neighborhoods. Just white people trying to pose

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Honeyblade t1_j4i7fvh wrote

What is the point that you are trying to make here?

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CorpCounsel t1_j4lrv6j wrote

This is the single most common point that comes up when someone posts this sticker for its monthly discussion - that it tends to appear on yuppie cars that are parked at night either outside the city or in a private garage attached to a luxury condo. It is a way of virtue signaling by someone who has vastly more resources than the average Baltimore resident and therefore is able to make the choice between living here or elsewhere.

It is the idea that it is easy to say "I actually like it because I am able to afford a way to avoid the most basic problems of the city." Its a bumper sticker because the only folks advertising their choice to live here are people who can afford and regularly use cars - someone who rides the perpetually late and stalled busses isn't going to say they "actually like it" when funding is again diverted from transit.

It also heavily implies choice - that you could live and work elsewhere, but you choose to. That is great, honestly, I mean I choose to be here and I have resources to live elsewhere, but most Baltimore residents will be born, raised, live, and die within a single neighborhood. These people don't make a "choice" to "actually like it" because the city is where they live, so they deal with it whether its good or bad.

"Actually like it" also implies the ability to compare Baltimore to other places, and again - that means you have the resources to move and live in other places. Every time this sticker gets posted, there will be comments saying "I used to live elsewhere" or "Came here for work but now I love it!" because truly - to make a value opinion is to be able to have a point of reference for another part of the world. This is why people living in remote areas are often perfectly happy with their lives despite the simplicity - sure, they spend hours cooking because they don't have grocery stores, and sure, they only have a few outfits because washing clothing is tough without a modern washing machine, but they are perfectly happy because they don't have anything to compare it to and that is just what daily life is for them.

For many people, this sticker isn't inspirational, its actually just an example of the problems faced by the city.

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Honeyblade t1_j4m6l0m wrote

I appreciate your comment here - but the sticker was created as backlash to Trump calling Baltimore a "shithole city" if I recall correctly. I think a lot of the people who probably put that sticker on their vehicle do it as a point of pride. I don't ever think it was intended to be "inspirational" as you put in your post though. Just, that there are good things here, that people who don't live here don't see, because FOX news is busy demonizing this city. I don't honestly know the demographic of people who put this sticker on their car, but I can tell you that I feel like the message of it is that there is more to this city than what outsiders think.

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CorpCounsel t1_j4mazzi wrote

Oh yeah, of course. I think it comes from the best of intentions, but I also understand why a lot of folks roll their eyes at it. I've also taken to task some of the Fox articles that get posted here, including the ones about the Mosbys, for the same reason. They write "MOSBY ACCUSED OF $1,000,000 FRAUD" but really it is just because she said she was living full-time at a property valued at $1,000,000 on her mortgage application. Is it wrong? Yes. Should she be held accountable? Yes. But she also did something that many property buyers do to avoid taxes - lie and say its a full-time residence. I'd bet most my salary that Trump has frequently bought property and put on a mortgage application a different purpose than what it was actually used for. It wasn't some grand scheme to defraud Baltimore, it was a common scheme to avoid a few thousand of federal taxes.

My neighbors have this sticker on their car, and they are both well paid, well educated white people that live in a nice neighborhood and commute away from the poorest parts of the city, but truly, they also could move their office to Timonium or White Marsh or Columbia and don't and they are out doing charity work on the weekends and supporting city owned businesses. Can they truly understand the average Baltimore resident's life? No, never. Are they good citizens and is their pride in our city a good thing? Absolutely!

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MeanMrBiter t1_j4igvjc wrote

That if you actually interacted with Baltimore you’d find it a pretty much shit in every aspect. I’ve lived here for almost a decade now and the people suck, the restaurants suck, the city sucks…this city greatly influenced my user name.

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DarkNFullOTerrors t1_j4iunet wrote

There are many valid criticisms of Baltimore but this is such a smooth brained take.

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harfordplanning t1_j4kl7g5 wrote

It's also important to note that Baltimore is actually working on a lot of those real issues. Transit in particular I think they're doing great on for a US city

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addctd2badideas t1_j4izht4 wrote

I've personally only seen this in areas like Remington or Hampden. But of course, I'm sure they're elsewhere and there's certainly not a monolith.

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