I also noticed that I wasn't really able to walk more than 10ft without tripping over a homeless person or being asked for change from someone else on the street. The first couple of times I was asked I gave change to those that asked for it when I had it, because, despite the fact I'm in law school, I'm not completely heartless. I find no problem in helping people that are legitimately hungry, but there are also those that will promptly use the money for cigarettes/booze/drugs. I soon developed a litmus test for those that are seeking money for illicit reasons.1. They begin their pitch with "Can I talk to you a minute..."
2. or incorporate "My mother just died and I need money to buy a train
ticket..."
3. "I'm not a bum" --> then you're a crackhead
4. They walk by past a crowd of people but only ask the white
people for money... if you were really hungry you would ask everyone
5. They persist trying to get money from you after you offer them the
address of a shelter that offers a meal and a bed for the night
The psychology of this impressed me, because who couldn't sympathize with someone that lost their mother. But when you hear that 10 people in a 1 block radius had mothers that died in like 3 days I'm sorry but I would like to speak with your crackhead union officials that gave you this line so that I can call shenanigans. They don't even work to perfect the argument, because once I realized what was going on I began to mess with them. "Oh that's terrible, what did she die from?" If they manage to answer I just keep bombarding them with follow up question after follow up question, inventing sub-categories of the disease to get them to admit the are lying. Even used car dealers develop their sales pitch to sell you that 1990 POS you just bought. You may say that I am cruel for putting them through this, but by this point in the pitch I have directed them to a shelter for food/place to sleep and said I have no change on me. I usually don't have any change on me anyway because everything at school is really overpriced and I try not to buy anything there, if I have to I use my credit card and this actually serves a dual purpose on top of not wasting money, it also allows me to answer truthfully to the fact that I don't have any change on me when approached in the street.
Also, I am currently living off loan money that I receive at about 8,000,000% interest so that .25 or whatever it is that you think I can spare for this person who is down on their luck, or off of their high, when it comes time to pay back my loan, will cost me about $3.50. I refuse to feel bad when you know damn well that you would not give out paper money to someone on the street. This is not a case of borrowing money, I'll never get it back, and if I caved to everyone that asked me for money in Newark i would not be able to pay my tuition. If someone actually walked up to me and said "hey can I have $5 so that I can get I high" I would give it to them as a reward for their honesty. I also think that the CU (Crackhead Union) has assigned its members the corners upon which they ask for money, so that when the professionals leave their building for lunch they can conveniently dispose of their change after buying their food. I, however, do not have income, only debt accruing, rapidly. I cannot afford to give change to the same 5 people every day on my way to and from school.
I have also recently learned that there is a 0 tolerance policy for people
caught dealing drugs in the "downtown" area of Newark, which consists of the area between broad street and Newark Penn Station (my apt, school and the prudential center), and promises a trip to the emergency room before they go to the holding cell. So the drug dealers, like lions hiding in the tall grass to stalk the gazelle, stand at the bus stops camouflaging themselves with the people who actually are waiting for the bus on broad street, buttressing themselves up against the border but not daring to cross it, not unlike the Hamsterdam set up in "The Wire." I'm sure by now the police have noticed that the same 5-10 guys are standing at the bus stop all day, when every bus for that stop has passed several times over. 
When I am forced to walk in that area I'm asked if I am "up" several times and all I can say is "There is a cop not 50 ft from you directing traffic, what are you thinking?" This was the essence of Hamsterdam in the show, stay in these low impact areas without being violent and you can do whatever else you like with impunity. All I know is that tomorrow when Newark riots down broad street, in celebration of Obama's inauguration, the dealers and the crackheads both will either get trampled or have a feeding frenzy on their hands. So good luck to Corey Booker in continuing to improve Newark and hail to our newly elected Overlord Obama.
1 comment:
OMAR COMIN'!
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