WWO, Week 11 - NY is CRAZY!

Thu, 10 May 2007 21:08:08 GMT

Even in the best of times, it often seems like the bad guys outnumber the good guys here in the boroughs, but that's probably just because there are so many friggin' people. You tend to notice the bad ones more, maybe.

Even in the best of times, things like food are/were more expensive here, and out-of-stock situations are/were not uncommon.

Even in the best of times, the garbage tends/tended to pile up in stinking hedges. But you deal with it because that's the trade-off for living in "The Greatest City in the World." You take the good with the bad, and for every bad thing, there's something equally as good. Sure, you dodge rats as big as cats (or they dodge you) but at least you can check out great music or art at any hour of any day.

Lately it seems like the good stuff is getting drowned out by the bad stuff, though. The sound of gunfire is not something I ever thought I'd hear on a regular basis, let alone become accustomed to, but I do and I am. Not exactly a smart move to go out and sample the night life these days, not unless you enjoy Russian roulette.

It's like some critical mass was reached where suddenly the criminals realized that they outnumbered the cops. Ten years of repressed criminality exploded all at once with the crisis. It's not as bad as it was in the pre-Giuliani days -- it's worse, way worse. Forget about the cops and National Guard stopping the killing; they're having a hard enough time just trying to keep up with scraping up the blood and guts.

Speaking of the National Guard, it ticks me off that they're all over the tourist spots, but out in the neighborhoods where we New Yorkers actually live, they're few and far between, like they're afraid. There are no more tourists. Protect us already!

The only thing that keeps me alive when I venture out is attitude -- I carry myself like I could be carrying, and I'm physically not an easy target. In my own neighborhood in Queens, I don't worry too much about some kid blasting me from his stoop, then picking me clean like a vulture and leaving me to bleed to death in the gutter. Mainly that's because I know a lot of people around here, and we're watching each other's backs. But you wouldn't catch me dead in Jamaica or Brooklyn or the Bronx these days.

The car is full of gas, though, probably enough to get me to Canada. Just trying to plot the best time to go. Last thing I want is to get stuck in a traffic jam on the Cross Bronx Expressway on my way upstate. The wife still has a job so she's scared to leave since we really got nowhere to go. I'm scared to stay. I want to get as far away from this shithole as I can. Leave it to the rats.

I will always love New York effin' City, but it's too tough for me now.

Hello!

Sun, 10 Dec 2006 01:44:42 GMT

Hi, this is my first entry at LiveJournal. It sure is easy to start a page here, that's all I can say. Any IDIOT can do it. The very page you're reading is living proof!

BTW, if you like music -- the real kind, like, one guy with a guitar -- you should check out this great other blog. It's a hoot!

Also, you'll find that unemployed people blog there. Some of the stories are really touching.

Actually, to tell you the truth, I really don't plan on blogging here much -- just wanted to seed my other site. Devious, I know. Hey, at least I'm honest about it!

clinart

WWO, Week 11 - NY is CRAZY!

Hello!