OP-ED: BRANDING A CITY PT. 2

On Sunday, Lovely Wife showed me the front of the local newspaper with the headline of "City Approves New Slogan."

I hadn't even opened the paper - I was still on the laptop trying to decipher mysterious sluglines in produced scripts, such as --

SECURITY CHECKPOINT - SAME

Thanks Jason Reitman, for that confusing scene heading.

Back to the newspaper -- the other day I wrote an op-ed and sent it in, concerning the proposed city slogan of "The Right Size."

CLICK HERE FOR MY OP-ED

An assistant to the editor said it could be weeks before it was printed. Imagine my surprise when I opened the paper, and there it was already, with my pic, as usual.

Not only that, but the entire page was themed around the "Right Size" slogan. A big political cartoon at the top had a hillbilly-looking fellow nailing a banner, that said "size matters", to a city entrance sign.

On the left column -- the official paper editorial spoke of the possible perils in using such a slogan.

At the bottom -- Editor Rich Whiting charged others to come up with a slogan, but a good one.

In all, seems my column was word-porn for the local newspaper, and they went nuts, rightfully so. I guess I said what they had been thinking -- just had to open the door for them.

Three neighbors have walked past my screened porch since, none acknowledging my presence. Who knows, maybe they didn't see me, but when you write an op-ed about a dumb idea in a southern city, a lot of people "don't take too kindly to it" --

especially when you're a "yankee" who has only lived here for a year.