- 482
- 11
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2005
Dear friends, this has been a very big year for me. My daughter was born slightly prematurely last May (during the time I was conducting the NikeTalk Census) and within an hour of her birth my priorities changed. Making life better for her and us became more important than anything else and the idea of bringing home this tiny baby to grow up in the same type of neighborhood that I grew up in almost broke my heart. I have a good career, money isn't an issue, and there just weren't any good reasons to keep living where I was when I could give her something much safer.
Well, it's taken over thirty years and more blood, sweat, and tears than anyone will ever know but last fall I closed on my own little piece of sanctity out in hideyhttp://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/snapshots/PL3983342.html-ho-neighborino suburbia. This is a different world. People introduce themselves and say hello when they pass you on the street. People cut the grass and rake the yard. They collect recyclables with the trash. Yesterday was sunny and there were parents at the playground with their kids. Spent 10 minutes watching a dad teach a kid how to shoot free throws like I was watching a documentary on parenting. The schools and libraries are INCREDIBLE.
After everything I've been through to get where I am in life today, I am DONE with living in the hood. People talk about home prices like they're strictly an investment vehicle and I am here to tell you that the intangible benefits of where you live go far beyond the dollar value someone places on your home. The sense of peace that I feel coming home every night to a safe place surrounded by people that care about their neighborhood and city is both entirely new and deeply comforting. My daughter is going to grow up in a bougie neighborhood thinking poor means you don't have two SUVs and a plasma screen in your bedroom, but if that means she doesn't have to grow up in a place like I did then it's a trade-off I'm willing to accept. My friends, air has never smelled so sweet nor sleep been so sound as when you aren't worrying about protecting the ones you love from the world outside your walls.
Things I will not miss about previous environments:
gunfire
police helicopters/searchlights
random house fires/arson
people breaking into your car to see if there's anything worth stealing
"Don't be a snitch." (I'm a snitch, MFer. Come get some.)
home break-ins
ignorant people ruining community property just because it's there
everyone smoking
people trying to order half a burrito at Chipotle (yes, really)
seven adults, two children, and a dog living in two bedroom apartments
no money for milk or vegetables, but we got money for cigarettes and Coogie clothes
every car being either a broke-#!! POS with a garbage bag taped over one window or a Chrysler 300 on 22's
people driving their damn cars through yards because they're too lazy to carry in shopping bags
doors and windows with bars on them
places with boarded up windows and satellite dishes
people stealing everything that isn't bolted down (i.e. a vegetable garden?!?)
Mom & pop grocery stores selling loosies to kids, charging a $1.50 for a can of generic pop, and selling Twinkies and batteries one at a time.
grown dudes looking at 13 year old girls like Sylvester looks at Tweety
people believing everything is a conspiracy (the food, the water, the economy, AIDS, vaccines, diabetes, etc.)
little kids wearing chains riding down the street yelling at cars to get the !+@$ out the way
empty shells in the street
Things I will miss:
culture (sort of)
a clean pair of Ones and you're good to go
knowing how to interact with people
All in all, I wish I'd done this years ago.
Well, it's taken over thirty years and more blood, sweat, and tears than anyone will ever know but last fall I closed on my own little piece of sanctity out in hideyhttp://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2009/snapshots/PL3983342.html-ho-neighborino suburbia. This is a different world. People introduce themselves and say hello when they pass you on the street. People cut the grass and rake the yard. They collect recyclables with the trash. Yesterday was sunny and there were parents at the playground with their kids. Spent 10 minutes watching a dad teach a kid how to shoot free throws like I was watching a documentary on parenting. The schools and libraries are INCREDIBLE.
After everything I've been through to get where I am in life today, I am DONE with living in the hood. People talk about home prices like they're strictly an investment vehicle and I am here to tell you that the intangible benefits of where you live go far beyond the dollar value someone places on your home. The sense of peace that I feel coming home every night to a safe place surrounded by people that care about their neighborhood and city is both entirely new and deeply comforting. My daughter is going to grow up in a bougie neighborhood thinking poor means you don't have two SUVs and a plasma screen in your bedroom, but if that means she doesn't have to grow up in a place like I did then it's a trade-off I'm willing to accept. My friends, air has never smelled so sweet nor sleep been so sound as when you aren't worrying about protecting the ones you love from the world outside your walls.
Things I will not miss about previous environments:
gunfire
police helicopters/searchlights
random house fires/arson
people breaking into your car to see if there's anything worth stealing
"Don't be a snitch." (I'm a snitch, MFer. Come get some.)
home break-ins
ignorant people ruining community property just because it's there
everyone smoking
people trying to order half a burrito at Chipotle (yes, really)
seven adults, two children, and a dog living in two bedroom apartments
no money for milk or vegetables, but we got money for cigarettes and Coogie clothes
every car being either a broke-#!! POS with a garbage bag taped over one window or a Chrysler 300 on 22's
people driving their damn cars through yards because they're too lazy to carry in shopping bags
doors and windows with bars on them
places with boarded up windows and satellite dishes
people stealing everything that isn't bolted down (i.e. a vegetable garden?!?)
Mom & pop grocery stores selling loosies to kids, charging a $1.50 for a can of generic pop, and selling Twinkies and batteries one at a time.
grown dudes looking at 13 year old girls like Sylvester looks at Tweety
people believing everything is a conspiracy (the food, the water, the economy, AIDS, vaccines, diabetes, etc.)
little kids wearing chains riding down the street yelling at cars to get the !+@$ out the way
empty shells in the street
Things I will miss:
culture (sort of)
a clean pair of Ones and you're good to go
knowing how to interact with people
All in all, I wish I'd done this years ago.