Pgh Lesbian Correspondents

The prompt

Have you ever met a stranger from Pittsburgh while traveling? Tell us about that experience.

I’ve been so busy blogging about the election that I almost forgot NaBloPoMo!

I meet Pittsburgh folks all of the time. So much that I often try to wear Pgh gear when traveling to draw them out.

In August 2018, we were in New Orleans for a conference. As we wandered through a neighborhood, a person approached us to ask about my Pittsburgh shirt. Turns out they grew up here and told me lovely story about their grandmother’s house on the Northside. THEN they asked me if I knew of Jason Sauer, the artist. Yep! THEN they asked if I knew a former paramour and it turned out that person had completed the #AMPLIFY Q&A.

So when I returned home, I reached out to their paramour with some greetings from their old friend.

On the flipside, we recently spent time in Erie and toured the Brig Niagara. The group was filled with mansplainersto my irritation. One particular fellow really worked my nerves when he over played his hand – he was telling Ledcat and me about the Monongahela river, but he kept pronouncing it incorrectly as Mow-non-gah-hee-la. I was ready to pounce on his obvious mistake, but Ledcat discreetly kicked me and dragged me away.

I remember meeting a guy in an elevator in Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, on a train to Louisiana, in Big Bend National Park in the westernmost part of Texas, and many times while I was in college in D.C. And we always found common ground.

The Pittsburgh Nation of expats is huge. Throw on some black and gold or a shirt emblazoned with Pittsburhgese phrases – it’s like baiting a yinzer trap! You won’t regret a little reminder of home once in awhile.