Tales From The South Side...
Now what better way to start the NEXT 800 posts than with a romp through the ghetto-esque confines of that part of Fort Wayne we've come to know and love (well, maybe LOVE isn't quite the RIGHT word...how about DETEST...yeah, that works for me) so very well.
Remember those "amber waves of grain" we heard as schoolkids whenever someone mentioned the Midwest?
I certainly do.
Here was a part of our nation that seemed relatively unspoiled by those big, bad city folk and their "evils".
Time to toss THAT idea out the window, Martha...that ain't the case.
Sure there are "pockets of resistance" in the Midwest...those people who STILL espouse GOOD, decent values, and if you venture to most ANY small town in the Midwest, you'll find it...and in abundance.
But in most "cities" in the Midwest, they're suffering the exact same fate that even LARGER cities have suffered for DECADES.
And again, in most cases, it boils down to a "people" problem.
Doesn't matter if it's politicians with spendaholic tendencies, criminal elements coming to town to spread their bane, or even people that have decided, for one reason or another, to throw common sense out with the bath water.
"You got trouble, my friend...right here in River City", as the saying went.
Now I see *MY* specific part of the Midwest as nothing more than rims, long white t-shirts, saggy jeans, crooked baseball caps, disrespectful people, loud music, ugly women, uglier men, grilling out front of a house, alcohol or drug-induced stupidity, and pit bulls.
I can no evidence of anything CLOSE to approaching what a REAL FAMILY is.
I see a lack of businesses, thanks to Realtors that steered good folks away, while deadbeat "landlords" bought up cheaply had houses (due to white flight and attrition through aging), turning them into rentals for uses such as STASH houses, BUY houses, and MONEY houses.
I see unlawful behavior perpetrated on these streets 24/7/365, and that ranges from fights to burglaries, rapes to sexual deviances, drug dealing to prostitution, noise ordinance violations to littering, and trespassing to vandalism.
Now is this ANY WAY to conduct oneself?
Is there a shred of decency in ANY of the people mentioned above that might cause them to turn from such activities and ATTEMPT to become something USEFUL to a community, rather than an annoyance?
None whatsoever, friends.
These folks think that THIS is the way to behave...and they do so with a zeal and gusto that we'd be hard-pressed to find in industry, or scholastic pursuits.
Case in point...
Yesterday, I see this black guy straddling a bicycle across the street (parked, not riding), and he's messing with something in his hands. I see that he's got some small wad of plastic bag (some LEO readers out there already KNOW where this is going). He begins chewing on it to "open" it up.
After spitting out one part of it, he "inspects" the other part still in his hand, and after rewadding it up, places it in his pocket and rides off. I had him looking all over the place when I took my green laser (which can be seen in daylight) and shined it on his chest, too...LOL.
(sometimes, you just WISH you could run out and bust their asses, but at 56, I'm not AS spry as I once was)
Now the trained eye will tell you he just got himself a rock of crack, because what else do YOU know of that comes in really small plastic bags (smaller than the size of a dime) with a knot in one end, hmm?
And this kind of sh*t happens all too frequently.
These people have become emboldened in recent years, even with strong police activity. They have no shame, no honor and certainly no scruples when it comes to doing "their thang".
They will BLOCK streets with cars to "shoot the sh*t", honk instead of getting their lazy asses OUT of the vehicle, walking up to a door and actually KNOCK for someone, will always take short cuts across your property to facilitate the "ease" of their journey to wherever, and they will seek out your property to use as a "waste engineering receptacle" (aka trashcan), simply because they are too damn lazy to carry that wrapper home to dispose of, or carry a bag in their vehicle.
Now if some of my disgust and frustration seems directed at a "specific" group of "people"...well, that's just too damn bad.
Some would even go so far as to think this a racist rant.
Well, to them I would say that until and unless YOU get YOUR ass down here, and live among such vermin and STILL maintain your sanity (which is a wonderfully daunting task, I might add) you'd come away from this with a VERY DIFFERENT perspective on HOW these creatures operate and how far from normal they actually are. Fortunately, we DO have ALL "flavors" of morons around here, so racism doesn't really enter into it.
Sure, they can "put on a good show" when they HAVE to, like when they're on TV, being "axed" questions about a shooting they were witness to (I din-see-nuthin, man....all-I-hear-wuh-shots-faad...and-de-ma-nfall-down). They can also cry on command, too, much like a trained actor (de-arres-ma-baby...he-a-goo-kid...nevah-hurt-nobody). Run those phrases together to get a GOOD idea how they're actually said in real time. I just hyphenated them to show the breaks in the sentences normal folks would put there...civilized people pick up the jargon soon enough. We call it "lazy English"...how appropriate, right?
Now, I said all that to say this...
Every day we're assaulted by the woes of this nation, be it health-care, the economy. the out-of-control spending on Capitol Hill, the auto industries or unemployment. And that ALONE is enough to make one's head implode (or as Glenn Beck would say..."Make blood shoot from your eyes").
But when you couple all THAT crap along with ALL the crap that happens on the "local" levels across this nation, it's small wonder why many more citizens haven't started going postal.
Sure, I worry about the FUTURE...who the hell wouldn't.
I have to spend most of what time I have left THERE (as do you).
And Lord knows our kids and grand kids will spend a LOT more time there than even WE will.
So, imagine how much "fun" it must be to fret about those "big" things staring each of us in the face (like the future of our paychecks, economy, and homes)...adding all those "little" (local) things that we have to ALSO deal with daily, that I have spoken of earlier on.
Gets pretty damn "busy" doesn't it?
And cripes, I'm only ONE GUY...and I have to split my time between trying to sort out all the BS I hear on the news and read about in the papers AS WELL AS deal with my "locals" who are trying their damnedest to make peoples' lives just a tad more lousy than my elected officials have already made it.
We (as average, normal, hard-working citizens) have to balance our checkbooks, spend within our means, pay for house and car repairs, doctor visits, prescription meds, as well as take care of the pets we might own.
We need food, clothing, and utilities to live normally. And, if we have children, we have to provide their needs as well as ours. Everything from a can of soup to a roof for the house (and everything in between)...it's OUR responsibility.
To those others I talked about...none of that applies.
They do whatever they feel like doing, and most times, YOU, the taxpayer are footing THEIR bill...yeah, that just SCREAMS "equality" to me...how about you? Now, if all this sounds a bit on the "bitch, piss, and moan" side, I feel I've got plenty of REASONS to do so.
And since the city hasn't a proviso to allow me to do what NEEDS to be done to quash the troubles in my neighborhood outright, I've got to attend to it in other ways, none of which is the BEST way...nor the FASTEST way, nor the MOST EFFICIENT way.
All of this I (as do others in similar situations) have to do WHILE doing all the OTHER things to avoid becoming part of this socialistic venue the government is attempting to perpetrate upon every citizen of this nation.
Like I said...it gets REAL busy for one lifetime.
Still, I strongly believe there is hope...somewhere.
Trouble is...trying to FIND it.
When EVERYONE gets on the same page when it comes to responsible behavior...THEN things will once again make sense.
When EVERYONE starts to carry THEIR share of the load, things will get accomplished.
When EVERYONE holds THEMSELVES accountable for THEIR actions...justice will prevail.
When EVERYONE holds themselves to higher standards...EQUALITY will be realized.
Not before.
Thing is...when you practice good traits, they become second nature.
Same can be said for bad traits.
The problems lies in making the right CHOICES between those good and bad ones.
Make a good choice today....it won't hurt, trust me.
Stay safe out there, America