HOME SWEAT HOME
No one moved here on purpose: My grandparents came here from Germany, where, yes, they were losers ["The Arch Doesn't Honor You, St. Louisan Slackers: Bill McClellan's Nugget of Genius," Unreal]. They were, in fact, such losers that they completely failed to check in advance how much it would cost them to get from New York, where they landed, to California, where they were going. As with a lot of immigrants, the ferry crossing at the Mississippi was where they ran out of money. Not gumption, money. So they stopped to find whatever make-work they could, always with the intent to eventually save enough money to finish the push to California. They died here of old age.
I often tell this story, and nearly three-fourths of the St. Louisans of a certain age who I tell respond this way: "Yeah, that's what my grandparents did, too." So, rather than put it the way Bill McClellan does, here's what I say: "St. Louis is not a town anybody ever intended to move to. St. Louis is a town that people settled for when they couldn't make it to someplace nicer."
J. Brad Hicks, via the Internet
FEATURE, JULY 9, 2009
STOP WORRYING
They already knew: Thanks for pointing out all of St. Louis' shortcomings for all the national media to read ["Extreme Makeover: All-Star Edition," Keegan Hamilton].
Bry, Clayton, via the Internet
The whole galaxy sucks: We get the point: St. Louis sucks. The politicians suck. The business leaders suck. The citizens suck. Everything sucks, and there's no good reason to live here.
Dweebe, St. Louis, via the Internet
FEATURE, JULY 2, 2009
GARDENBURGER MEMORIES
Meaty reflections from way out West: After 40-plus years in St. Louis, I now live on the infamous West Coast ["Where's the Beef?" Aimee Levitt]. It was here nineteen years ago that I had my first Gardenburger in a restaurant setting. Vancouver and Seattle restaurants are quite adept at feeding vegetarians, vegans and those who recognize that it is not necessary, and even unhealthy, to eat meat at every meal — much less several meats at one meal! After excessive meat consumption, Americans suffer excessive soy consumption. Soy provides a vegetable form of estrogen and is present in most prepared foods. Has Quorn come on the market in St. Louis? This fungus-derived food is my current meat substitute. The texture is more pleasant and there is no starchy, bitter aftertaste. It accepts seasonings much as tofu, which, when properly pan-toasted, is deliciously crunchy on the outside and steamed on the inside.
Denise, Friday Harbor, Washington, via the Internet
