Utah is what it is

In this era of "branding," product placement and public relations, some souls in Utah are fretting about the state's image. Inside the state, one finds people who would like to see the state shed its stodgy reputation and spike the punch with more nightlife and bohemian bliss. Outside of Utah, according to a new survey, some businesses are skittish about coming to the state because of the state's size, location and "Mormon influence."

Might as well start with the changes that will be easy to make — like the state's size and location.

Utah is what it is. And though what others think about the state may be useful to some, we feel most Utahns will greet the news with a shrug. Putting a new face on things is pointless. Lining Main Street with brew pubs won't change what's here any more than plastic surgery made a new woman of Joan Rivers. Haven't we learned? Cosmetics always wear off. As for those businesses that shy away from the state because of the "Mormons," they likely shy away from Georgia because of the Baptists and steer clear of India because of the Hindus, as well.

Just because modern society has sold the world a bill of goods — told people they can "re-make" their faces, their tastes, even their hat size — it doesn't mean Utah should try to sell people a bill of goods by getting gussied up in borrowed clothes or by trying to downplay the presence of a major American religion.

Authenticity, like honesty, is the best policy. And from where we sit, authenticity would entail showing the world that Utah is, for the most part, a get-along band of communities and people, and that Utahns come from as many walks of life as the citizens of California and the Carolinas. Every brand of crime one finds in Florida can be found here. But so can all the virtues of a Mennonite colony. Utah has no room to boast; it struggles. But it has no reason to hang its head, either.

So let the hand-wringers stay away. Utah doesn't get to vote on their feelings anyway. And let those who take the time to get to know the local gentry see that people here are neither holy nor horrible. They're folks. Then, as with most things in life, the people who take the time to get to know the state will be rewarded for it. And Utahns will be rewarded by having such conscientious souls among them.