At least one San Pedran mad at LAT *

Christiana Dominguez blogs at Phoblographer. Her dad runs the group that sponsored yesterday's ceremonial lighting of the Vincent Thomas Bridge that connects San Pedro to Terminal Island and Long Beach. She posts today that the Times story on the lighting is full of stereotypes about San Pedro being "hard-working," ugly and in need of a boost of civic pride, and fails to tell the real story.

San Pedro, The Bridge Lighting Committee, and the City did accomplish something great last night. A strong work ethic is respected in the American narrative, but always with a hint of pity, a moment of Scarlet O'Hara hiding her newly calloused hands from polite society - because the American Dream is all about working until you achieve wealth and don't have to work anymore. All good-for-you-working-class stories, in their "we have so much to learn from the little guys" glory, are inherently condescending.

Find a new meme.

I'm not from San Pedro, but I don't read all that stuff into the Times story. It gives me more perspective on the area than the gushing Daily Breeze coverage, all the quotes are positive, and the lines she takes as insults strike me (as an outsider, admittedly) as respectful. What seems to put Dominguez off is that the blue lights strung on the bridge are called "frivolous," which I agree is a bit of weird phrasing. The photo is by Kim Haggerty Zylius in the Breeze.

*Blame Bukowski: Times reporter Richard Fausset emails blogger that he loves San Pedro. She posts. They achieve mutual understanding, maybe more.