I got a call yesterday from a girl I knew in college. She's a law student and she said I should sue my management company. She had been through a similar situation in Harlem with a building that was falling apart. I appreciated her help, but I didn't intend to call back. Because really, none of this is the management company's fault. Maybe I could say the Super should do more, but he already works pretty hard cleaning the place up. Most of the problems with my building, and the area in general is the people who live there - no one is going to fix that.
There's a man who lives in my building who's lived there for 46 years. He once talked to Jarett and I about growing up there and how beautiful the building used to be, and how much worse it was a few years ago. We asked him why people feel the need to pee in the elevator or throw their half eaten food everywhere? He said it was because half the people in the building just didn't care. That sums it up.
The girl who called, then posted on this blog implying I had some nerve and I should be able to fix this because of my Communications degree from NYU? While Neil Postman would love to hang out at my place, I don't really think that's it. You can't make people care. This isn't about race, or even economics. It might start there - but that's not what this is. Half of the people living on my floor - the Ecuadorian Babysitter living next door or the Trinidadian lady living by the stairs - are the nicest people ever. The women who scream through the hallway, throwing food everywhere, and don't watch their children- show nonstop apathy. Am I supposed to make them care about where they live? No, I'm not. I can, however, complain about their apathy on this blog if I so choose.
None of that is going to make my dog any better though, is it?
1 comment:
I can't believe it took me this long to find your blog. I love your writing style and tell J I also love how you tell stories.
Can I tell you something from experience?
When you are in your 20's and fresh out of whatever it was you did with the last four years of your life, you really do have the puffed out chest, standing on a cliff with your cape blowing behind you with a crushing musical crescendo in the background mentality. You actually feel like you can take on (and change) the entire world around you for the better.
Sure you can! Well...maybe you can start the ball rolling in a positive direction.
But as you get older you learn to scale down your aspirations and goals to ones that immediately affect the people around you. The ones you love. Because in the end unless you are devoting your life to being Mother Teresa (or Angelina Jolie), if you don't keep your focus on the ones you love and your family (and yourself), you will lose them along the way. THIS I know.
I can't see how you have all this free time to become a white Al Sharpton....no....a white Jesse Jackson (Al's fucking crazy). You aren't going to be able to change that building for the better unless you buy it and evict everyone in there and start over....or blow it up. (Moving out when you can is probably the best option.)
I mean what does she expect you to do? Communicate with everyone to death until they do what you want? Hold building meetings every 3rd Wednesday of the month? Yeah...okay. Wake up blonde friend who posted on this blog...it ain't happening! Until those people move out, you aren't going to see any major change. The trick was to not let it get to this point in the first place! DUH.
BTW...life lesson #1: YOU CANNOT CHANGE PEOPLE. No matter where your degree is from. Trust me.
PS: I am keeping Caliope in my thoughts DAILY. Luv u!
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