Wednesday, June 11, 2008

I'm so Hooooood......





"...If you get closer to my house, then you know what I'm talkin' bout"





Okay, fine.

I live in the hood (light-weight, as my brother says). I didn't want to admit it at first. I told my friends and family it is a neighborhood in a transition period.

I should have known, seeing that there are 2 Marta bus stops, each within a block of our place. But I denied it. Oh, those sneakers hanging over the telephone wire? That's nothing. Someone must have thrown up a pair by accident, I told myself.

Well, last night as I was repainting an old desk (I left the garage door open for ventilation), I realized that I definately live in the hood. A woman who may have been on crack or maybe she had some kind of mental disorder, stood at the bottom of my driveway asking me something. Her speech was slurred and unintelligible. At first I didn't know what she was doing or who she was talking to. So I stared at her for a minute. When I realized, I closed the garage door. So much for ventilation.

She probably thinks I am a rude heifer, and probably with good reason. That was the equivalent of slamming the door in someone's face, right? Well, she shouldn't have been at my driveway. What if she would have walked up in there?

That would have been really uncomfortable.

6 comments:

Steph said...

LOL- that would've been wayyy more than uncomfortable!!!

i highly suggest you get an alarm system and a bat by the bedside.

i also suggest you call the fire department and ask them to cut down the shoes on the wire... i've heard they represent that a "dope boy" lives in the area.

Ayana said...

Yeah, we got an alarm system. LOL about the bat. If they can get past the alarm system - I probably don't have a chance. Maybe a gun though....

I got that picture off the internet somewhere. The shoes that are up there are actually spray painted red. I think it means that it is the Blood's territory.

When I get a chance I am gonna ask one of the kid's in the neighborhood.

Jarrad said...

I guess I'm not 'hood' enough to tel you the exact meaning of the sneakers, although back home in Queens it seemed pretty common, even in areas where the dope boys didn't seem to frequent, which were few and far between. At any rate, you having a gun scares me immensely. Please don't shoot your husband in the butt in a fit of sugar-induced rage, or your husband's brother in the lip because of a disagreement about the meaning of some word in the dictionary. Just get more and brighter motion lights, be sure to fully utilize your alarm, hurry up and rent the other unit ('safety' in numbers), find and communicate with your progressive and like-minded neighbors (a stretch), call the police anonymously from your cell phone (don't leave your name and number; use the neighbors address; they log the calls and use them to direct more or less patrols) any time you notice something weird happening, and find out when and where your NPU (neighborhood planning unit) meets. That's the blueprint for changing (or promoting the gentrification) of an inner-city Atlanta neighborhood. I've personally witnessed it in the West End (Inman St.) and Fourth Ward (Winton Terrace). I'll help you. Let's get started... What's for dinner?
BTW- I still say I'm right about the definition of integrity. Why don't you 'blog' about it and let the court (or jury) of public opinion decide??

Steph said...

ask one of the kids in the neighborhood?!?!?!? really?!?!?!

LOL- i'd be too scared

Ayana said...

Steph,
they are little kids - maybe 8 or 10. I think they are safe.

jarrad, no one wants to hear an argument about the word "integrity". Leftover are for dinner tonight - Turkey meatloaf. Are you coming? Don't forget my fabric.

Jennifer said...

o my goodness, thank you for the laugh. your take on things and total bluntness are rather refreshing in a world of P.C. obsessed people. lol. honestly i think things today would be a lot less complex if everyone just said what they were really thinking rather than...well we all know. have a great night!
p.s. there are a pair of sneekers hanging on a wire down the street from my house too...i think we are safe from the sneeker bandit tonight. hee hee.