The Brown & White

The edit desk "Be a friendly neighbor" (Feb. 19, 2008) made me laugh; it's the sort of thing that can only be written by someone who is truly oblivious.

Encouraging civility and respect when interacting with Bethlehem residents would have been appropriate and credible; town-gown relations are undeniably strained and at times hostile.

However, the "friendliness" Ms. Hardenstine prescribes is self-serving, hypocritical and demeaning. At the end of the day, she pats herself on the back for being so darn egalitarian, something she could only accomplish by being hyper-aware of the differences between her and the person she so generously acknowledges with a smile or a wave.

Being so self-conscious with the Bethlehem-ites only accentuates the differences between us and makes relations even more tenuous.

Essentially, she promotes using the "scary" residents of Bethlehem to alleviate your bourgeois hang-ups.