05 May 2008

Monday Musings...
If you think this post will be all fluff and no "stuff"...keep reading.
It gets a LOT better, trust me.
I just want to EASE all of you into it SLOWLY, because it IS Monday...AND it's "Cinco De Mayo" (which does NOT mean put that mayonnaise jar in the sink - I checked).
This weekend's grocery excursion had us faring better this week with a deli girl who KNEW what we meant when we stated we'd like the lunch meats THINLY-CUT. Well, we DID go to our regular store.
Amazing.
And we even got in a bit of weeding & planting in our garden as well as out front. It's astounding the number of weeds YOU wind up with when no one else cares about THEIR lawns, isn't it? Still, my wife and I are the type who find simple pleasures the best. A fragrant and growing garden scape, a nice breeze, songbirds at all the feeders...all of this makes owning a house worthwhile.
BUT....there is always...the DOWN side.
(Here comes the GOOD stuff)
We have these newbie "neighbors" (who apparently JUST arrived from the 7th layer of Hades) that love to come thumping down the street, scaring the hell out of the birds (formerly AT our feeders) who promptly fly away, while also attempting to wake the deceased...and this is at 0730 hours!
For cripes sake, get a f$cking LIFE, will you, people?
And it's relatively pointless to call the FWPD on them, as the "priority" set for a NOISE-related call is SO far down the frigging list, that you're fortunate if they show up WITHIN 40 minutes (once in a while you DO luck out, and an officer comes by within 15 minutes only because he "happened" to be nearby), but by THEN, they've either shut the stereo OFF and gone in whatever crib they're hanging at, or just drove the hell away.
I've often thought of saying I saw a GUN...("at least I think i saw one")...JUST to get the police here sooner. But I can't do that...not even to THIS police department. That wouldn't be "fair", would it?
Now I said all that to say this:
One recurring aspect to ALL these neighborhood problems, is that it always comes down to the PEOPLE, and the bad choices they make.
Don't have to tell ME that, though...I see the evidence in favor of that with every new "tenant" that moves close(r) to us. PEOPLE need to change. They NEED a healthy dose of CIVILITY...a sense of PRIDE...a desire to be CONSTRUCTIVE and not destructive in both action and word. And above all, they need to know that RESPECT has always been a TWO-WAY street. If they WANT respect, they have to be willing to GIVE some to others. And it's always better to give it FIRST.
They need some hope and purpose for their pitiful lives, and that hope can't come from a government check every month, or that book of food stamps or that WIC card. It doesn't come from that 40oz, or that blunt, or that crack rock either. It has to come from within that person, first and foremost. Without that much going for them, nothing else will come of them. Church, role models and mentors help to some degree, but every individual STILL has the same POTENTIAL to do for THEMSELVES...all they have to do is TAP INTO IT.
And that's where the problem lies.
It's not the EASY way out. It's damn hard to make such an important, and in some cases monumental decision about YOUR life, especially when you've been brought up to believe that any hand stretched out always gets filled, no matter how lazy you are.
It's this victicratic mindset that keeps all these people exactly where they are, and where they'll eventually wind up, which is at the corner of NO & WHERE (in life).
Now, it's not MY job to tell these people what's wrong with them and their lives. They simply won't listen. They are basically remorseless, unable to be intimidated, but LOVE TO BE intimidating themselves, have no regard for authority (especially the police), and are as disrespectful as the day is long. And all through of this (and perhaps more), we're supposed to call them "neighbors".
Some people might do that with ease.
Me? Not so much.
Hell, many of their OWN people have abandoned them. Their own community might acknowledge their existence, but when it comes to actually getting out there among them and getting THEM to help THEMSELVES (much like the give 'em a fish - feed 'em for a day; teach 'em to fish - feed 'em for life gig), their community doesn't just drop the ball...hell, they start playing for the OTHER SIDE!
Looks damn good on paper, though...lots of ideas, task forces, prayer meetings, discussions, workshops, and the like, but NO REAL ACTION taken for the betterment of everyone involved.
Again...amazing.
Maybe you really "can't fix stupid", but if people cared more about their own, they could at least keep it (stupid) at bay until some progress is made to get them back on track with the rest of Western civilized society.
To add another log on this fire, a fellow (newbie neighbor from hell) across the street that LOVES to use MY driveway regularly to make his U-turns. Now he already HAS a perfectly good driveway on his OWN property, AS WELL AS a perfectly good ALLEY. Not to mention, he can always do what everyone ELSE does, namely BACK INTO THE DAMN INTERSECTION to go the other way (yeah, the police never seem to catch this chronic behavior going on either).
So Saturday night, I caught him doing his U-turn thing in my driveway for the SECOND time.
OK...enough is enough.
I went outside, pointed to that nice, red NO TRESPASSING sign I have on my garage (right below the spotlight so everyone can SEE it) and said: "Can't you READ that sign, BOY?" Well, (as can be predicted), he got mouthier than hell and didn't like the "boy" comment. A schooled MAN would have enough sense to see the sign, in my opinion. Then he proceeded to mention my ass...some kind of kicking involved. You know the routine with these animals.
Let them growl, let them howl.
He also mumbled something about America being a FREE country. Hell, I know THAT much, but since I'm free to OWN property, I can set whatever "guidelines" I desire (within the law), thanks TO that freedom, and if I choose to LIMIT ACCESS to MY property, that is MY right as a FREE citizen. My property is not FREE TO EVERYONE to do as they damn well please. Any trespass (by definition) is against the law, without the PERMISSION of the owner OF that property. And I didn't see any court order that told me to allow this jerk in my driveway.
I pay the taxes on it (he doesn't).
I invest the sweat equity into it (he doesn't).
And I'll be damned if some pond-scum-sucking excuse for a "neighbor" will dictate freedom to ME. Just because Lincoln freed his ancestors' asses doesn't give him carte blanche to avail himself of everything else that everyone else has. That shit will end here...and now. He IS free to do whatever he wants, but his freedoms end where my freedoms (and property lines) begin...same as his "rights" (which end where MINE begin). That my friends, is called EQUALITY and FAIRNESS. If I leave YOU alone, I only askTHE SAME in return...no more, no less. Simple, huh?
I emailed the FWPD quadrant captain (and pretty much said what I stated here) in the hopes that some intervention can be achieved before this guy gets on my "top five" list (and he doesn't want to be there, trust me).
I mean it really couldn't be considered all that heinous if I perform a CIVIL SERVICE (culling the herd), right? Hey, that's just the way you treat something like this...excise it, before it becomes worse.
It's not revenge...or even justice. It's punishment.
I look at it this way...this schmuck lost the potential for a friend and ally, but managed to make a damn nice enemy in the process.
And of course, I do have a "WATCH-SQUIRREL" now.
Those that learn...live.
Those that don't...well, you get the idea.
Yep...and it's ONLY Monday.

1 comment:

Bob G. said...

WHAT?
Nobody likes my SQUIRREL?

I'm shocked!

B.G.