How are you defined??

So, been thinking about things for a while here... a few days ago I posted a story about the city of Draper here in Utah voting at the City Council level to reject plans by the LDS church to allow a Deseret Industries to be built in that city. There's been an interesting backlash toward Draper, and most people are seeing the rejection of the application as code for "take your poor people somewhere else, they don't smell good, and the labels on their clothes are on the INSIDE - gasp!!"

Of course there are defenders saying that it is more an issue of a big box retailer wanting to move into an already congested commercial district, but by and large, the public image is now one of "that's where the rich people are, and Democrats need not apply, either."

So how do we define ourselves within our own communities? What does your zip code say about you? What you you LET it say about you? What do you WANT it to say about you?

And while you're being introspective for a minute, let's do something else....

The premier of the new HBO series "big love" aired a couple of days ago. Although I haven't watched it yet - I captured it on TIVO - I have listened to several stories in the press about polygamy, Utah, Mormons, etc. There are lots of preconceived notions out there about Utah, and every once in a while they show up on the national stage.

A few days ago Pres. Bush was touring the Katrina damage, and ended up talking to an African-American man who had been displaced by the hurricane to Utah. He asked the man if he was the only black man in Utah. Moron Of The Day Award.

Anyway, taking the questions from above, about how you see yourself in this community or that, how, then, do you see yourself as a citizen of the state, as opposed to the microcosm of the zip code in which you live? Does it get your goat that Utah is seen as the bastard step child of states to whom nobody really gives the time of day? Is that really the case? There are several publications that list places in Utah as some of the best places in Utah to live. The LDS Church has expressed reservations about "Big Love" portraying the religion as being soft on Polygamy even though it was discontinued decades ago. State Attorney General Shurtleff has found the sledding pretty tough when it comes to taking steps to eradicate polygamy here, even though it is illegal. Seems we have some identity issues here with regard to how we are viewed by the rest of the country. Does that bug you at all? Or are you more of the mindset that you would just as soon have people stay away from here at all costs, leaving more room for you and your horses...

Interesting thoughts.

Later.