Tales From the SOUTHSIDE...
It's one of those fall mornings....hazy sunrise, with a very good chance of precipitation (thunderstorms, actually), and one hellacious wind coming at us off of the Great Lakes (glad I wasn't sailing on them LAST night).
We may see gusts of up to SIXTY+ MPH...(yikes), and a possibility of tornadic actions (welcome to the Midwest).
And wouldn't you KNOW it...just in time for our annual LEAF PICKUP!
(I think they plan it this way)
Anyway, like the dutiful citizen that I am, I got out my trusty leaf blower and moved all the fallout to the curbside yesterday (the FIRST day of pickup), and lo and behold, NO ONE showed the hell up!
Naturally, with today's high wind warning, I am SURE they will come, making an otherwise messy neighborhood even messier.
But, that's the way THIS part of the city is treated...'ya get used to it after a time, even though it's STILL detestable behavior on the part of the city.
Now, you do have to remember that the number of people that actually PLACE the leaves where they are supposed to be (by city ordinance) are few and far between. Face it, if you're ON the government dole, you're gonna do what every public-assistance leech would do, namely wait for someone ELSE to DO IT FOR YOU.
Sadly, many houses will NEVER get raked, no matter HOW MANY people are cribbing there...like the people that live across our side street.
I mean, this (white) guy can spend a day and a half tearing out and replacing the carpet in that nice fairly new and shiny Dodge Stratus, but when it comes to raking ONE single leaf...no way, Jose. Better to let Mother Nature do HER thing, instead. Maybe they do that down in Georgia (where they must be from, according to he plates on the car), and those I know FROM that area are a much better quality of people than these yokels, but in the confines of Indiana's 2nd largest city...you'd expect a bit more, right?
Perhaps NOT, which would explain why they "chose" the ghettohood, across the street from someone who's lived here a lot longer, AND still gives a damn.






Now, some city representative stated on TV that people should be aware of the leaf pickup dates and to move their vehicles from the streets during such times to facilitate ease of leaf removal...
All well and good...sort of.
On a street with NO off-street parking, that would be a challenge, especially to those morons living around us, but most ALL houses have either a garage OR at least a driveway, so there is NO excuse to have a vehicle on the street in the first place, and with the populace as crime-infested as they are, it behooves one to keep your vehicle AS protected as you can, trust me.
BUT, with any group of idiots, there will always be those who "buck the system" (that feeds, clothes, and houses their primate bodies), ergo, you will see vehicles parked wherever the hell they want to park...screw leaf pickup, screw the city.
Cripes, why you want to get these people UP so damn early anyway? They need to sleep to at least 1100 hrs, and here you go waking these do-nothing-all-day folks the hell up before they get a chance to sleep off last night's drunk or high.
What the hell is WRONG with the city anyway?
How DARE they intrude in the ghetto lifestyle in such a manner!
Another "fun" thing that occurs with such strange weather as today...you get lawn trash blowing in from damn near everywhere.
I already picked up some math worksheet from a lad named "Lorenzo", and I can already tell you his future...
No clairvoyance here, just a nice red *F* on the top of the worksheet.
Seems little Lorenzo can't tell time all that well, and his ability to round off numbers is greatly impaired.
For example, if the SMALL hand is on the ONE, and the BIG hand is on the TEN, it is NOT 1:10 (AM or PM)!
And if you're given the number 81 and asked to round off to the nearest TEN, the answer is NOT 90...you're rounding OFF, not rounding UP, kapeesh?
Now the TIME gig had me a bit more worried, because how many children in elementary school do you see wearing WRISTWATCHES, hmm?
It's certainly NOT due to the LACK of such devices, right?
In my day, I was the proud owner of a Mickey Mouse watch...with YELLOW gloves, and I can tell you that Mom & Dad scraped to get me that for Christmas one year...cost them about $5 and change. THAT was pricey for those days.
Today it's worth close to $200!
It was a wind-up and eventually the stem came out, so we got rid of it.
We knew how to tell time because we were taught AT HOME, so most all of us knew before we even set foot IN school what time it was.
Besides, we had help from such icons as The Lone Ranger AND Howdy Doody...(what time is it, kids?)
Today, everything is DIGITAL, and hardly ANYONE knows what a wind-up watch is.
They do have "kinetic" watches, that wind themselves whenever you move your wrist about.
But otherwise, you and I are all slaves to the battery-driven timepiece.
Well, I DO have a Longines wind-up model that I got from Mom & dad (and I knew THAT cost them a few bucks) for graduating high school back in 1970....
And THAT still functions fine...no batteries required!
Yes, little Lorenzo is going to be at a disadvantage in school...no doubt about it,. and it's NOT the school's fault, either.
But perhaps in say TEN years, Lorenzo's math skills might be good enough to measure out things in GRAMS...or KILOS...you never can tell.
Meanwhile, back at the leaf pile...
I have to admit that after seeing these "people" move into rentals all around us, I am rarely surprised by their lack of action.
And yet, the staunch holdouts in areas like this (that would be US) attempt to TEACH these jackoffs what it means to be RESPONSIBLE for a property. We re the example, and don't set the bar all that high. Yet, these folks are only in life for the entertainment value...accountability be damned.
As long as some "rich uncle" (named Sam, as I recall) is paying THEIR tab, they're going to do whatever they want, whenever they want to whomever they want...because they CAN.
Nice to see YOUR tax dollars funding stupidity, isn't it?
We can't LEGISLATE stupidity, but we sure as hell can FUND it...another "double-standard"?
Utterly amazing, is it not?
Well, we really can't expect that much from a system that rewards those who exhibit bad behavior, can we?
Be a nice touch if someone grew enough cajones to take ALL these welfare "kings & queens", gave 'em all a rake and put them on the streets they live (read rent) on, gathering up all those LEAVES...make them "sing for their supper", as it were.
Got the largest source of UNTAPPED WORKERS on the planet...right here in River City...getting it all FOR FREE (as far as they're concerned).
It actually costs everyone something...we know that if we pay taxes.
But think of the possibilities that COULD be achieved, if all those lazy-asses (who are ALL in fine health, as their constant partying demonstrates) were out in the fresh air to CLEAN UP the neighborhood in which they dwell.
Man, you could have some of the CLEANEST parts of town...something to be PROUD of.
And you could be learning valuable SKILLS and perhaps even a trade along the way...whatta concept.
Something to pass along to that next generation...being RESPONSIBLE.
Yeah, I know...I can always dream, because it never costs a dime to do so.
Funny thing is, THAT is what made this nation thrive...made it great, and kept it that way for a very long time.
Be real nice to get back to THOSE values again....real nice indeed.
Maybe not today, but perhaps tomorrow.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and...
Stay safe out there, America.