Neighborhood Differences - Part One


One of the most BLATANT differences between where I grew up (in mostly lower-middle-class areas) in PHILLY, and here in FORT WAYNE (just PLAIN middle class, at least it WAS before the RENTALS took over), is the lack of items (we call them...TOYS) for the kids to play with. Back in Philly, we had white metal cheap-ass capguns, armymen (only the GREEN ones will do), pimple balls (and a stick if you were old enough to play in the STREET), tricycles (NO...we didn't just give a HUGE bike to a 4 year old and tell him/her to "work with it"), and that as about it for toys. Sure we played TAG, RED ROVER, DODGE BALL, and such (all most likely BANNED in TODAY'S world), but by and large we still had SOMETHING. No matter HOW "financially-challenged" your folks might have been, you had something to amuse you. Here in Fort Wayne (in MY neighborhood anyway), all I see are about THREE "items", four if you count that HUGE(probably stolen) bike for the 4 year old:

1) STICKS (branches will do in a pinch)
2) STONES (rocks...ditto)
3) BASKETBALLS ((note: less than ONE PERCENT of ALL college bound B'ball players will EVER make it to the "bigtime", so parents, guardians, and whoever the hell is minding these kids today...don't waste your money on a damn BASKETBALL when there is not ONE DAMN PLACE TO EVEN PLAY THE FRIGGING GAME ON OUR STREET, OK?))
I suppose the video game thing MUST be a passing fad. Funny, but when we were broken into at WILLOW CREEK CROSSING, the thieves STOLE my PLAYSTATION....so I would have "thought" that SOME little schmuck would have been satying INDOORS, playing MY games...silly me....what the HELL was I thinking???
Still... *IF* you have the voracious desire to FORCE your kids to play WITH a basketball (notice I didn't say PLAY basketball), tell them to NOT bounce it off of cars going by or use a LAWN for a court, you dipshit excuse for a mother (or father). Just load them into your damn 1978 ghetto-sled and DRIVE their asses (yours as well) to a REAL court...with REAL hoops and REAL painted lines, so they can get a REAL understanding of what the game is (since they're probably NOT going to have to scholastic scores to even GET to college in the first place, thanks to YOUR comprehensive tutelage and exceedingly POOR parenting skills)!

Speaking of "parents"...(and I use the term referencing OUR neighborhood ever so loosely)...um...where the f$ck ARE they anyway? I mean who's watching to see if that 4 year old is constantly riding their mini-big wheel into the nearest intersection WITHOUT KNOWING HOW TO LOOK FIRST? Back in Philly, you never had to worry about anyone NOT looking out for you. Hell, EVERY parent of every child "had your six", and made sure you (and any other kid) wasn't doing ANYTHING you weren't "supposed" to be doing. And God help you if YOU did... It used to be called "getting your ass whupped" (yes, outside..in FRONT of everyone). And crying WAS mandatory back then, because parents did what they did best...namely...PARENTING! No one ever got SUED for placing the "Board of education" upon the "Seat of Knowledge" with intent to TEACH! By the way...belts, razor strops, and a good calloused palm of a father's hand worked wonders too! It was called DISCIPLINE. But that's a whole OTHER post.

Here in Fort Wayne....my neighborhood...mostly "single" (as in a member of the "Boyfriend of the Month Club") moms trying to do 'de best de can", as THEY would say. Well, if THAT is your "best"...thank GOD I don't have to see your WORST. NO ONE in their right mind turns kids loose on a street with drug deals happening several times a month (we're not THAT bad...yet), speeders zooming up, down, and over the street, drunks wandering about, and sex offenders heaven knows where (this city seems to be a MAGNET where that's concerned)...or DO they? I guess being a RESPONSIBLE single parent doesn't figure into today's equation like it USED to.

In Philly, you RESPECTED other people (MISTER Smith, or MISSUS Jones...please, thank you...you know...all the words you NEVER hear today), You respected THEIR property, and woe to you if you didn't. Yep...another ass-whupp. But you LEARNED from that, didn't you? In Fort Wayne...the premise goes soemthing like this for kids (and their disrespectful older quasi-parenting units)..."What's YOURS is MINE...and what's MINE is MY OWN". Your property is JUST as much a playground for their kids as a FORMAL park, or their lawn, or Science Central. So if you're trying to grow flowers out front...FAGGEDABOUDIT! If you're thinking of doing ANY type of "curb appeal" to the frontage of your property (on the SOUTH side)...just string some BARBED WIRE between the trees, plant some PUNJI sticks, and cover them with a nice ground-hugging IVY. I can truthfully say it worked QUITE well for me..BWAHAHAhahaha.

So next time you're watching your children play outside in your comfortable suburban setting, complete with the idyllic landscaping, remember us in the OUTLAND....And try NOT to piss yourself laughing...

Can nuts get ANY more numb???

Laser pointers...fun cat toys, right? Hell, even DOGS like 'em...and they're easily purchased, cheap enough, and provide some fun for you and the pets on those banal evenings (and we all have them once in a while)...
BUT...there are those certain people out there that just HATE them...namely the boomcar drivers that crack my plaster walls, scare my cats, drown out the BATTLE OF THE DEATH STAR on my TV, and piss me off to NO end.

MOST of these audio-vermin aren't really even bothered by having a laser shine into their ghetto-sleds. Some of them DO turn it down though (or even off completely).

But there is ALWAYS that ONE "special" driver...the one that thinks the world revolves around HIS ethnic a$$..the one with his hand firmly ensconced upon his "nether-regions" as he shuffles down the middle of a city street. The perpetual bad-ass buck with NO job, NO future, NO self respect, but PUH-LENTY of what I like to call "Badditude"...

Now, according to Indiana law..the ONLY caveat pertaining to laser pointers is the ordinance (IC 35-47-4.5-4), that states that a citizen cannot shine a laser at:

(1) a state police officer;
(2) a county sheriff;
(3) a county police officer;
(4) a correctional officer;
(5) an excise police officer;
(6) a county police reserve officer;
(7) a city police officer;
(8) a city police reserve officer;
(9) a conservation enforcement officer;
(10) a town marshal;
(11) a deputy town marshal;
(12) a state university police officer appointed under IC 20-12-3.5;
(13) a probation officer;
(14) a firefighter (as defined in IC 9-18-34-1);
(15) an emergency medical technician; or
(16) a paramedic

With that being said, everyone else is "fair game", and since these are LOW power lasers (650Nw), it should be a given that it's not going to harm anyone (unless the village idiot does a "stare-down" with one).

Still, all this goes to show that "some" people think although it is PERFECTLY FINE to inflict their "music" (?) to anyone withing THREE city blocks...it's NOT OK to shine a quiet low intensity laser into their boomcar....yeah, right!

These audio-morons "think" it's Hollywood.....and I have a GUN pointed at them. Ok, fine...if that's what they "think"....at least it shows they ARE capable of thought, no matter HOW basic and primitive it may be. And it shows they watch TV..then again, my cats watch the TV when birds are on ANIMAL PLANET...so much for THAT train of logic, eh?

Long story short....."Mr Badditude" is seeking a RESTRAINING ORDER against me (and my laser)....
Well, Mr. "B"..I got some news for YOU....

When you threatened me by saying you were going to kick my ass, and when you threatened to come in my house and "f$ck" my old lady (gee..sounds like a RAPE there)...YOU committed:
a class A misdeameanor...
a class C felony, AND...
a class D felony.
Now...who's going to see who in court...Hmm????

Maybe you should just take your boomcar, and drive back UNDER the rock you came from, kapesh?

Justice might be BLIND...but I'll wager her HEARING is better than EVER!!

Now...On to the "good stuff"....

Living in Philly as opposed to living in Fort Wayne, Indiana:

What's good?
What's bad?
What's the same?
What's different?

Wow...now THERE is one LOADED bunch o' questions!

Let me preface any and all responses by stating that for the first 45 years of my life, I lived in Philly. SO, with the last nine years having been spent as a "Fort-Wayneian", I think I might have some kind of handle on the GOOD...the BAD...and the UGLY on both sides of the geographical fence.

Therein lies the PA-IN "connection", or as I lke to call it...The ERUDITION*.
(*yeah, that IS a real word....get a REAL GOOD dictionary and see...LOL)

I'd like to say that the past 9 years in Fort Wayne have been great....that's what I'd LIKE to say...

Just the opposite is true, provisionally speaking (I have had some good moments, but all to few).

In Indiana...I own FIREARMS because I NEED to.
In Philly...I shot a LOT of firearms, but never owned one...didn't NEED it.

In Indiana...I make sure EVERYTHING is locked at night...several times.
In Philly....I left the door unlocked a few trimes...no biggie, no breakins.

In Indiana...I've been illegally "relieved" of possessions TWICE.
In Philly...I GAVE possessions away to those less fortunate...or to friends.

In Indiana...I call the police several times a MONTH.
In Philly...I called the police less than TEN times in OVER 25 YEARS.

In Indiana...I live in a single house (stand alone)...ten houses per block.
In Philly...I lived in a ROWHOUSE...40+ FAMILIES per block.

In Indiana...I have TEN TIMES more crime than in Philly.
In Philly...I had TEN TIMES less crime than Fort Wayne.

In Indiana...I have those who hate me because of my skin color.
In Philly...I had MANY friends of EVERY color.

So you can see that there are some VAST differences between two cities of wide population numbers (Philly - 2+ million / Fort Wayne - 250K). It must be the weather that's to blame.....it seems to get "dark" around here much sooner...ROFL!

Oops.....my bad...that might be construed as a "racial" statement....yeah, big f$cking deal. The truth be told (which it will on THIS blog anyway)....race DOES matter.

And we'll explore that topic soon enough, among other things of interest.

Catch 'ya on the flip side!

In The Beginning...

So I'm standing around in my back yard, thinking about HOW many times people (on other blogs) have told me..."You should get your OWN blog"...and so...here we are then.

Now...what to blog ABOUT...?
Well, there a shitload of things that can be taken to task....politics, media, people...so much to consider...so little time(?)....LOL!

Expect this blogger to rant...because there is a TON of crap that NEEDS to be ranted AT.

Yeah, I might be 54 years "young" (it's the glass half full thing)...so?

Anyway...here's to ALL those that thought this was a good "gig"....hope I manage to NOT disappoint ANY of you...