Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Diversity
Soon in a week or a month Brett and Ira will move in. At that point my block will have a gay couple, a white nuclear family, a coupla of white married couples, black families (nuclear and other), Africans (immigrants), a hispanic family, single females (black and white), 1 single black male, roommate situations, senior citizens, and a Howard U student group house. We got professionals, blue collars and section 8s. We are diverse. Tolerating each other almost appears possible. People who don't like each other aren't on speaking terms anyway, and since they are not actively going after each other, I'll call it tolerance.
Drama Mamma is getting tolerable. There is still the large band of kids who congregate in front of her house and bounce the ball up and down the walkway at all hours. But I'm not hearing the loud music at all hours. I'm not hearing the stereo blasting so loud that I can hear it from inside the house. The people coming through her house are less obnoxious now. I don't foresee any more guests simulating sex acts on cars in front of my house anymore.
The Seventh Day Adventist church on the block is tolerable. They feed the hungry on Sundays and manage it well. The people they serve don't congregate in large numbers outside. They don't loiter.
The mosque down the block is tolerable. So far (knock on wood) I have not been woken to the sounds of the 5 something-ish o'clock call to prayer.
The crowds and crackheads from the block up.... well we're still working on that.
Soon in a week or a month Brett and Ira will move in. At that point my block will have a gay couple, a white nuclear family, a coupla of white married couples, black families (nuclear and other), Africans (immigrants), a hispanic family, single females (black and white), 1 single black male, roommate situations, senior citizens, and a Howard U student group house. We got professionals, blue collars and section 8s. We are diverse. Tolerating each other almost appears possible. People who don't like each other aren't on speaking terms anyway, and since they are not actively going after each other, I'll call it tolerance.
Drama Mamma is getting tolerable. There is still the large band of kids who congregate in front of her house and bounce the ball up and down the walkway at all hours. But I'm not hearing the loud music at all hours. I'm not hearing the stereo blasting so loud that I can hear it from inside the house. The people coming through her house are less obnoxious now. I don't foresee any more guests simulating sex acts on cars in front of my house anymore.
The Seventh Day Adventist church on the block is tolerable. They feed the hungry on Sundays and manage it well. The people they serve don't congregate in large numbers outside. They don't loiter.
The mosque down the block is tolerable. So far (knock on wood) I have not been woken to the sounds of the 5 something-ish o'clock call to prayer.
The crowds and crackheads from the block up.... well we're still working on that.
Monday, August 25, 2003
Drunk Beggars Suck
Ok the Christian side says hate the drunkness and not the drunk and question the motives of the begging.
Sunday I'm getting into the Shaw metro street elevator and an old raggy man calls out "Could you help me miss?" I sort of slow down as I'm getting in the elevator. He wants a dollar for the bus. I highly doubt he wants a dollar for the bus. My Spidey sense tells me he's just gonna wander back across the street and get something he is not supposed to have and not use it for the bus. Also I make a policy not to give to beggars, it works 95% of the time. This was one of those times. I say what I usually say, "I'm sorry I can't help you." He keeps begging. I keep saying sorry, no. He's blocking the elevator doors and I have my bike in the way. I make one stupid move that luckly he doesn't pick up on. I still in 'helpful but I aint giving you money' mode, I hold the elevator for him. G-d grants me some common sense and I recend the offer. Because at that time he's mubbling something about how pretty I am and something about my ass. I shoo him off. I safely decend into the metro station.
It's common. I say no. The beggar gets angry and threatens me. Most don't, they just move on to the next person. Maybe I look like a patsy. I know some may even think I'm white, I'm pale enough, don't have the facial features and my butt is too big. Black beggars know that whites will most likely give them money.
I do give to homeless shelters. I have no guilt in that way and I know a handout may do more harm than good. I don't think for one moment that giving out handouts helps the homeless, it just promotes begging. Not all beggars are homeless and not all homeless are beggars. A lot of homeless are women with children. You won't see too many of them on the street. I donate to a shelter. I believe in supporting the institutions that feed the hungry and house the homeless and does not denegrate people to the point where they must go out and beg.
With gentrification comes begging, cause I rarely get this crap in Brookland (NE DC).
Ok the Christian side says hate the drunkness and not the drunk and question the motives of the begging.
Sunday I'm getting into the Shaw metro street elevator and an old raggy man calls out "Could you help me miss?" I sort of slow down as I'm getting in the elevator. He wants a dollar for the bus. I highly doubt he wants a dollar for the bus. My Spidey sense tells me he's just gonna wander back across the street and get something he is not supposed to have and not use it for the bus. Also I make a policy not to give to beggars, it works 95% of the time. This was one of those times. I say what I usually say, "I'm sorry I can't help you." He keeps begging. I keep saying sorry, no. He's blocking the elevator doors and I have my bike in the way. I make one stupid move that luckly he doesn't pick up on. I still in 'helpful but I aint giving you money' mode, I hold the elevator for him. G-d grants me some common sense and I recend the offer. Because at that time he's mubbling something about how pretty I am and something about my ass. I shoo him off. I safely decend into the metro station.
It's common. I say no. The beggar gets angry and threatens me. Most don't, they just move on to the next person. Maybe I look like a patsy. I know some may even think I'm white, I'm pale enough, don't have the facial features and my butt is too big. Black beggars know that whites will most likely give them money.
I do give to homeless shelters. I have no guilt in that way and I know a handout may do more harm than good. I don't think for one moment that giving out handouts helps the homeless, it just promotes begging. Not all beggars are homeless and not all homeless are beggars. A lot of homeless are women with children. You won't see too many of them on the street. I donate to a shelter. I believe in supporting the institutions that feed the hungry and house the homeless and does not denegrate people to the point where they must go out and beg.
With gentrification comes begging, cause I rarely get this crap in Brookland (NE DC).
