So, it seems that my main social interactions these days are at Walgreens.
Yesterday, I was looking at the easter candy and a woman started talking to me.
"It's coming up so soon," she said. "We just took down the Valentine's Day stuff."
"I know! It seemed like it was just Easter last year."
"Oh I know," she said. "The time goes by so fast."
"No kidding, that means my birthday is coming up." I said.
Then, I wandered over to the liquor store, which only sells by the pint and half pint (all the better for drinking in an alleyway, I say) and got two half pints of southern comfort. The liquor store is a trip.It has a little bar in it and always has loud Spanish music playing. It's always the same old man behind the counter, this senior citizen that runs the place. If you're in there late enough, you'll find old drunks dancing in the middle of the store.
Today I went out to Walgreens for some more stuff. As usual, they're understocked but I saw they had an ab slider and almost bought it. I restrained, then hurried into line while it was short. A woman pushed her cart through the line, bumping into me. I "accidentally" bumped her with my ryo-ohki backpack as I got into my wallet."Excuse me," I said as I bumped her. "See, it's not that hard."
"Some people are so rude," the cashier said.
"I know. She didn't even say excuse me!"
"I know. People are really rude, especially around here."
She paused. "not all but some."
"Yeah...well I'm moving out of the city soon." I said. "I try to ignore it but after awhile it's just too much."
" Oh, I know. There's so much of it. Not everybody, but...."
She gave me my change.
"Thanks," I said. "Have a good day,"
"I'll try," she sighed.
"Yeah and it's a holiday, too."
I walked home. That's the most social interaction I've had outside my boyfriend in awhile. Not that I mind, as going out seemed to result in less quality interactions every time.
But I started thinking how in a weird way, I'll sort of miss Humboldt Park. I mean, I won't miss the crappy landlords, or the noisy neighbors or the gangs. But the whole family/community feel is nice and when the weather is warm, you can actually get into pleasant exchanges with your neighbors in a way that you couldn't in the trendy parts of the city. I've always liked that about this area.
But that's all going to change anyways. The area is becoming upscaled which is both good and bad. It's good because it means it's a better place to live, a better place for families to run their kids, it's safer and less threats from gangs. But unfortunately, this city knows no moderation. It seldom cleans up an area to help the people who live in the neighborhood and generally only does so because of pressure from developers who want to build condos. So, overnight you'll go from gangland to being so expensive that a lot of the folks who grew up here will have to move out. The little neighborhood bars will get run out in lieu of neighboring yuppie bars.
And, frankly, I won't miss the rents here. I mean, I look around at the condition of this apartment and think of how much I pay and how much I'll pay to live in Kalamazoo. I will miss the community feeling here but I won't miss the inaccessibility of decent transit or not being able to get a cab around here.
But, as I walk around with the weather being a balmy forty five degrees outside, looking at all the nice old brownstones and the park nearby, watching the neighborhood kids doing tricks on their skateboard, I can't help but get a good feeling...

february        pontifications