Two of this city's sports mascots are furry, wide-eyed, 7-foot-tall chaos-causers. Did anyone really think sending an "army" of watchers down here would intimidate Philly?
The president declared that "bad things happen" here, and the slogan was on T-shirts almost immediately. Now, weeks later, dozens of supporters have showed up at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and elsewhere in the city as the nation watches Philadelphia count ballots. (Need to see a livestream? It's here.)
It can be difficult to laugh in a time like this. And some of the news has been no laughing matter, like the arrest of two men who came up from Virginia with guns and may have targeted the convention center.
But scariness and divisiveness haven't stopped the weird or unexpected from happening in Philly. Supporters protesting the ballot counting process were met with dance parties that lasted hours on multiple days this week, while the count continues. There were people dressed up like mailboxes!
It's all strange - to those unfamiliar with the birthplace of freedom. But if you've seen Gritty or the Phanatic, you should already know that Philly is different. And sometimes, we forget just how unique we are, until someone from elsewhere points it out.
Here are a few things that struck people about Philly and Pennsylvania as they spent days and hours in the spotlight:
We've seen commercials, tweets and countless articles telling us why spotted lanternflies are a danger that will kill our crops and should be destroyed on sight.
For some natives here, it was a shock to see people unaware of the lanternflies, or this tweet referring to it as an "elections bug."
This weird, beautiful bug just landed on my head. Cheers to the Elections Bug pic.twitter.com/ESC5DeuaBC — Anna Merlan (@annamerlan) November 6, 2020
Unfortunately, these bugs are spreading across the country, though they die off in the winter (not before leaving eggs behind though.) The University of Pennsylvania is training a team of dogs to sniff out lanternfly egg nests so they can be eradicated.
Hopefully that plan goes well; we don't want more lanternflies piling up like they did outside one Philly restaurant this fall.
Legal Weed For Pennsylvania. pic.twitter.com/ztLR0rBnyi — Jawn Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 16, 2020
John Fetterman, our state Gov. Tom Wolf's righthand man, is closer to seven feet tall than six. He's made the rounds on cable news networks offering context about the Keystone State during this weeklong Election Day.
A former mayor in western Pennsylvania, he was recently criticized on Twitter for saying the convenience store Sheetz was better than the Philly-loved Wawa.
As an olive branch in that social media fight, Fetterman changed his Twitter username to "Jawn Fetterman," taking the Philly slang statewide. (Here's a sort-of explainer on what Jawn means.)
One national journalist speculated if the new attention will lead to more articles about Fetterman, while another Twitter user speculated about future political ambitions.
Not even kidding, I think if Pennsylvania’s 6’10 pro-weed Lt Governor John Fetterman were to ever run for President he’d win 400 Electoral Votes pic.twitter.com/CMv6Y4ye1z — Nick Mastropietro (@nick_mastropie) November 5, 2020
six hours from now a drunk Local 98 guy is gonna be wearing this hat https://t.co/oo3VzchZGv — local Philadelphia resident #FreeAnt (@flexlibris) November 6, 2020
The president's false claims about the vote count have led to politicians and social media personalities who support him flocking to Philadelphia.
It has also led to speculation about union electricians stealing cowboy hats, apparently.
Speaking of the Cowboys, they are 2-6 after falling to the Eagles. The Birds continue to lead the NFC East at 3-4-1 and beat Dallas this past Sunday.
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro didn't need to mention the Cowboys' record when he tweeted at Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Friday.
Counselor, as you may recall from your days practicing law, in court we deal with facts and evidence — you have none.
Case closed. https://t.co/mAq2ArjNV0 — Josh Shapiro (@JoshShapiroPA) November 6, 2020
I have to say. Much respect to @PhilaParking for always being ready to get that money https://t.co/8fEAv81Y6c — Miguel Martinez-Valle (@MiguelMValle) November 6, 2020
The aforementioned Virginia men were arrested, so they haven't had time to move their car. But if their time in the spot was up, here comes the ticket.
TaiKorczak on November 8th, 2020 at 03:51 UTC »
Gritty is the guardian of Philly. No one makes fun of Philadelphia but Gritty.
LX_Theo on November 8th, 2020 at 03:32 UTC »
Pretty sure Gritty is just Philly as a city's mascot at this point, lol.
Flash_ina_pan on November 8th, 2020 at 02:58 UTC »
I maintain that Gritty is deeply terrifying. Effective, but terrifying.