Dear PoPville

Photo by PoPville flickr user Jennifer

“Dear PoPville,

A contractor is beginning work on a row house next door to me in Columbia Heights. He has requested a meeting for this evening. They plan on popping up and popping back and asking for roof access. Are there steps I should take or negotiate with the contractor to make sure my property is protected?”

9th and I Street, NW. Rendering via CityCenterDC

“Dear PoPville,

A question someone sent in about legal construction hours has led me to a question of my own. I live in city center next to the new Conrad Hilton construction project on I st. Generally the noise has not been terrible and I’ve been able to deal with it but now they have added all night lighting that shines directly towards the building and is extremely bright. The lights are on literally until sunrise during hours there is definitely no work going on – is there any restriction on this?

The apartments come with built in shades that are semi transparent and let in a lot of light as it is. They are more difficult to replace than you’d imagine so changing them isn’t an option due to the design of the apt.”

“Dear PoPville,

I can’t imagine I’m the only one who finds these Metro ads disturbing as all hell after an election was won by the KKK’s chosen candidate.

I know this is just an ad for a TV show, but for far more people in this country that I would have thought just a month ago, this is what Making America Great Again looks like. The Metro is terrible enough without having to be reminded of white nationalists’ rise to power.”

Ed. Note: In November of 2015 Amazon pulled some ads from the NYC Subway. There is also a similar debate going on about this statue of liberty ad after a huge one was placed in Times Square.

Photo by PoPville flickr user nevermindtheend

“Dear PoPville,

On Tuesday I flew on Southwest from BWI in a race to be at my fathers bedside before he died. I wasn’t myself…on accident, I left my laptop at the TSA security. When I boarded the plane I realized I hadn’t slipped it back in my bag. I disembarked and the Southwest folks told me I had 4 minutes to get it. I took off running. I did not have the presence of mind to tell them about my father’s imminent death. The laptop was not at the security. I ran back to the gate to watch my plane leave without me. I left on a later flight and did not make it home prior to my father’s passing.

I am a small business owner. That laptop is the core of my business life. I do have it backed up, but it will still be painful in the extreme for me to recreate things that fall into the gap from my last back up.

It goes down as one of the worst days of my life. (more…)

Photo by PoPville flickr user Ted Eytan

Ed. Note: To be honest, I’m still processing this whole thing. OP explains to me in response to my query:

Regardless of how it happened, as far as the conclusion: “White Americans cannot sit idly by and let People of Color do all of the work to bridge the undeniable racial divide in this nation.” To that I do agree.

“Dear PoPville,

Realizing my White Privilege on a Sunday Run

Two miles into this run and I’m really in a groove. I have made it a habit of going on a long run in downtown DC on Sunday afternoons as a chance to reflect and get some good exercise in before kicking off the work week. Today’s air is especially crisp and clear, and I am relishing every step of this run, as I know today could very well be the last mild Sunday before the polar vortex descends upon the city and hovers above for what will feel like eternity (i.e. until March).

The two mile mark on my usual path happens to be at the Trump International Hotel, a sight that, over the past few months, has generally elicited visceral responses of anger, disgust and disappointment considering the divisive state of affairs in our country. Today, my mindset is different. Perhaps I have been moved by a rush of Thanksgiving-induced gratitude over the past few days. As a gay, white man, life has moved forward pretty much as normal after the election, despite my worst fears. I wasn’t laid off. The stock market didn’t crash. No one is calling for gays to be rounded up into camps (yet). Washington hasn’t descended into chaos. I am feeling cautiously optimistic that a Trump presidency won’t have as much of an impact on my day-to-day life as I initially thought during my post-election grieving period.

As I trot passed the hotel entrance, I notice a young (early 20’s), female, black woman begin to jog alongside me. At first, I think that our paths have coincidentally overlapped for a few moments, but then I see that the woman is wearing dress slacks and a sweater, and she is carrying a messenger bag – definitely not your typical DC jogging attire. I skip to the other side of the sidewalk, and it becomes apparent that the woman is following me. She skips alongside me and begins mirroring my every move. A little unnerved, I ask “Can I help you?”

She replies, staring straight into my soul, “I don’t know, can you?” (more…)