A bar in Philadelphia is angering newcomers to the neighborhood with the huge warning sign that management posted on the window of the front door for all to see. But, not everyone sees a problem. Do you?
Old Philadelphia Bar, a pub in Pennsylvania’s largest city, has outraged some of the neighborhood’s newcomers, according to Victor Fiorilla, a writer for Philly Mag, and it seems he might be the most indignant and disturbed of them all. After what Fiorilla witnessed at the “longstanding Philly watering hole,” he couldn’t keep quiet.
Just 15 minutes into his Thursday-night visit, Fiorilla said that “the inevitable happened,” and he went into great detail about the chain of events that unfolded, which he found deeply troubling. He was so bothered, in fact, he opined on the situation in a lengthy article.
“A man, who said he was a former firefighter before saying that he was a Mexican, which he then said was ‘just a joke’ (the Mexican part), walked up to the jukebox, put his money inside, and played the 1984 Lee Greenwood hit ‘God Bless the USA,'” Fiorilla wrote. “And as the anthemic chorus began, many of the patriotic patrons at the bar joined in.”
Although most of us already know the words, Fiorilla did everyone a solid and included the lyrics to the iconic chorus in his writing, adding, “It’s a fitting theme song for the smoky little bar at the corner of Martha and Dauphin streets in the Kensington section of Philadelphia — just around the corner from popular spots like Pizza Brain and Martha, and just across the border from Fishtown.”
With that out of the way, Fiorilla finally got to the point. His issue isn’t necessarily with the music selection but rather what he said was a recent addition to the bar, which has been around for nearly half a century and proudly displays American flag pennants, USA signs, and red and blue stars all over the walls.
“The sign on the front door reads: ‘IF YOU’RE NOT PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN, DO NOT BOTHER TO COME IN,'” Fiorilla revealed, expressing his obvious disgust over the suggestion that customers should be proud of our country. But, it shouldn’t come as a shock that Philly still has some old-school patriots who love America.
It’s exactly what we should expect from a city that’s notable for its rich American history and home of the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall, where our Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed, as well as many other American Revolutionary sites. But, proving ignorance is bliss, Fiorilla really showed his true colors and what he thinks of patriotic Americans who visit Old Philadelphia Bar by making a comment full of blatant stereotyping.
“It’s the type of bar where you’re more likely to find construction workers and toothless men than the hipsters and yuppies who have taken over parts of the neighborhood around the bar,” he wrote, expressing his dislike for the sign and the patrons who would frequent an establishment that shares such sentiments on their door. Fiorilla claimed he wasn’t alone in his apparent outrage, either.
According to the senior reporter, the sign caused quite a stir on Facebook, where social media users allegedly reacted with indignation after a passerby supposedly took notice of the door signage and posted it to a community group on the popular platform. He doesn’t include the post nor does he offer a link to it or provide any screenshots of the fury that purportedly ensued, though.
He does claim, however, that an unnamed “young Fairmount woman who saw the image said she’d be sure to skip Old Philadelphia Bar — the locals simply call it Old Philly — because her boyfriend is an Indian man who has a beard. ‘I would avoid going there,’ she told me. ‘It’s usually fine. Sometimes, some places, it’s not fine. As is obvious from that sign.'”
Photos from inside the bar posted on social media, however, seem to indicate that a diverse group of people frequent the establishment. And, much to Victor Fiorilla’s dismay, we couldn’t spot any toothless men. As for the sign, it’s obvious it wasn’t intended to discourage any ethnic group from entering. After all, America is a melting pot for all ethnicities. It was simply saying that we should be proud to be Americans.
And, yes, that includes the hard-working construction worker Fiorilla seems concerned he might rub elbows with, which is a much more insulting sentiment than the sign on the door. After all, if it wasn’t for the blue-collared worker, there wouldn’t be bars for the big-shot writer to lambaste or beers for him to throw back with his hipster and yuppie buddies. The workingmen built that and the workingmen brewed it, while this guy only sat at a computer to criticize it.
