A few years ago I was in Boston for a conference with a bunch of preservation
specialists.  We were doing a post-conference historic pub crawl and as we made
our way from bar to bar we felt compelled to do a great deal of tactile
investigation of street front building elements.  One of the guys had his
girlfriend with him, and it turned out that she was a counsellor in a group home
for adults with severe development disabilities.  She became increasingly
annoyed with us for "fondling" the buildings, until finally she said in disgust,
"I wish you all would quit that . . . you're acting just like my clients".

Lisa


Dan Becker wrote <Mon, 24 May 1999 09:57:00>
>It made me wonder what people think of preservationists walking along
>the streets.  It looks like we are always looking to heaven.  What do
>they make of us?  Do they think we are particularly pious?  Some of us
>do pursue preservation with a certain degree of zealotry.