In my local coffee shop last weekend, the conversation turned to the G-20 conference that Pittsburgh will host in September. A couple of women were concerned our shopping might lack the pizzazz to satisfy our international visitors.

They were serious. I couldn't believe it. On anyone's long list of worries, how could one possibly make room for whether some French diplomat's mistress turns up her nose at the jewelry on Smithfield Street, or a shirt-tail relative of the Saudi royal family isn't bowled over by the sandals and pumps at Ross Park Mall?

It almost made me want to throw in with the anarchists busily planning to sabotage the whole show.

My neighbors' concerns are evidence, as if more were needed, of Pittsburgh's chronic self-esteem issues. The knee-jerk reaction too often has been: "They picked us? Why?"

Why not?

First of all, folks, this is the G-20, the Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors, the suits who see themselves in charge of the world economy. Take a look at the world. Take a look at the economy. This gang should feel lucky it's allowed in anywhere.

Second, this is a very intense, highly policed and scheduled 48-hour summit, and the conferees and the 2,500 credentialed media representatives are likely to spend most or all of their time in the control zone of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. And some arriving from more repressed countries might never want to leave the hotel room mini-bars and the (ahem) premium movie channels.

Third, speaking as a satisfied transplant, I can tell you that only the boring can find a way to stay bored in Pittsburgh.

We're not New York and we're not London, but as one who grew up happily on the edge of the former and spent an enjoyable four months as a student in the latter, I believe that's just fine. There's no use worrying about people who visit a new place and then moan because it's not like the place they just left. (I'm talking to you, Sienna Miller.)

I don't worry about the various embassy staffs and the set-up technicians finding fun stuff to do. I don't know about you, but after I've just spent a long day discussing a proposal to radically reform the International Monetary Fund, I know no better way to unwind than a Pirates game and a Primanti Brothers sandwich.

Oh, and we also have a world-class symphony and museums if they're into that. And it's a nice drive down to Fallingwater that time of year, and a walk along the rivers or an Incline ride up Mount Washington would show anyone that Pittsburgh's a pretty little city at summer's end.

I have siblings, cousins, nieces, nephews and in-laws all over the map, and most know cities larger than ours, but I don't recall any who haven't enjoyed their visits here. New Yorkers, in particular, seem to have a fondness for the feel and scale and relative ease of life here.

The other day I was at PNC Park and about every fifth soul was someone from Greater New York in town to see the Mets play the Pirates. Some sections were so alive with New York voices they sounded like the Joe Pesci Chorus. The Mets lost all three games, but fans around me took comfort in the ticket prices they paid and the views they had sitting in the prettiest ballpark in North America.

"I can't get over it,'' said William Heymann, 42, of Brick, N.J., sitting behind the plate and wearing a Mets jersey. "I'm like in awe. You don't know how good you have it.''

He calculated that it was cheaper for him to fly from Newark to Pittsburgh and buy this ticket than to drive to Queens and buy a similar ticket in Citi Field.

Being a long-suffering Pirates fan, I told him if his team lost for 16 consecutive seasons, his tickets would be cheap, too. But Mr. Heymann went on about the restaurants he'd visited on the North Side, the South Side and Mount Washington with his cousin, Victor Diaz, of Monroeville. It was his first visit, but he's returning in the fall for the Steelers-Vikings game, and plans to make the Mets series an annual event.

"The people are friendly. It's just nice.''

Pittsburgh is pretty nice. In a few months, anarchists willing, more of the world (and of Pittsburgh) may figure that out.