I firmly believe that when you grow up in the streets up north in the city, you never lose your “street smarts”. They stay with you and they even come in handy in your daily life, especially at work. There is something about being from the inner city and having many interactions with all sorts of people, places and things. I firmly believe that I can pretty much size up anyone’s intentions good or bad within a 3 minute conversation. It has worked well for me, I trust and rely on this gift from the streets.
Watching your back was a full time job, in the city, you needed to size someone and or situations up quickly, lest you be robbed or even worse.
I just remember everything being so close and cramped. Everything on top of everybody. I always joked with my mom about living in our Triple Decker......
and saying that if you sneeze, our neighbor would say god bless you. We were forced to have good relations with everybody; we had to, they were all right there with us.
The street you lived on had a “vibe” a certain feel and tempo. When you opened your door to go out, you took a deep breath and gritted your teeth a bit, getting ready for the city cycle and making it a point on surviving the day Or just seeing what mischief you could get in to and out of.
Most of my southern friends don’t get this mentality, I just say to them like they say to me, you have to experience it to understand. It wasn't something we actually liked. it was just the way it was - from birth.
We did have plenty of fun times though….
Stick ball was the game of choice…
You know how it went, that red dodge dart is first base, the manhole cover is second base Charlie's mom is third and home is where I am standing. The ball we used was a classic:
Pimple Ball:
And when we wanted a different game, we would toss baseball cards against our front stoops to see who got closer to the bottom steps…the person who threw the card the closest won all the cards on the ground..the more that played ..the more cards there were for the taken..
And when it got REALLY hot, the city via the fire department would open up the hydrants.
It was amazing to watch a city literally cool off collectively and see the tensions ease by this little deed. I can remember the whole neighborhood being out in the streets and enjoying a hot summers day - wet.
Window fans did not cut it!
and noisy too !
So different is the lifestyle of growing up in the city versus now living in the rural south. It's more laid back and not intimidating for starters, more emphasis is placed on hunting and fishing than stick ball or baseball card throwing.
I don't do either, the only thing I ever "hunted" for was my reading glasses.
You really don’t have to watch your back as much down here, not all are out to get you. Don’t get me wrong, we have crime, but not 24/7. I did stop joking about the local news reports of cats stuck up in trees because I realized that this news was far better than the 11:00pm news in Boston.
Fact: Northerners NEVER lose their impatience for all things:
There is one pet peeve I have developed down here though. At work up North, I remember asking a tough business question via e-mail and always getting a response, a response that I may not like but I still received one. Down here. on numerous occasions, I would ask a business question via e-mail and get no response at all - zip, zero. nothing.
And the interesting part of this for me is that I would meet the person I questioned via e-mail in the hallway later the same day or next and there would be no reaction at all. Not even the standard , “oh, I am sorry I haven’t gotten back to you yet” or “about that e-mail” I get nothing-If they don’t want to answer or if they think the answer is going to start a dust up, they do not respond. ~ maybe I am a tad impatient? :)
I do think my Northern attitude comes across as confrontational.
It’s probably from growing up in the surroundings I mentioned above. Up north we communicate with the in your face method down here its step back and don’t be so rude.
I am a nice guy, really. And if you don’t like it, you can kiss my......................(just kidding)
What do my streets look like now?
My blood pressure eases just looking at this.....
The experience from both worlds have left me a little richer in thought, my attitude is a little less confrontational down here, although my friends and co-workers don't think so. I liken it to being on prozac and speed at the same time.
