quality of life

photo by Luis

“Dear PoP,

I live on the southwest corner of Harvard and 14th and, like the couple of shootings and the one stabbing I have read about at my corner over the last two years, this again strikes too close to home for me. You seem to have kept a remarkably cool head about this whole thing. I get mad and upset just thinking about the “what-ifs” of these situations, but it actually happened to you and in just one day’s time you are able to think clearly about it and are trying to bring a sense of calm to all of your regular commenters.

This has thoroughly bummed me out today. What is your secret? How are you able to keep your perspective in tact so soon after the fact? Did you just continue to Commonwealth and then drown the memory away with pint after pint (I might have)?

Help me see the beautiful life again.”

Getting hit by a rock is most definitely an unpleasant experience. But I try to keep things in perspective. Fortunately, the throw was weak and I was not injured. I was absolutely pissed off and fuming for about 20 minutes. For the record, I only had one glass of Bushmills after the fact.

I try and live my life by a certain philosophy. There is a Hebrew expression that says, Gam Zeh Ya’avor. This basically means – This too shall pass. It’s funny re-reading some of the comments from yesterday. I’m really not a naive person. Nor am I goofy optimist. I’m not saying that I’m going to wake up one morning to a crime free world. But I do think over time and with hard work the situation will improve, in this case in Columbia Heights. I also know that life, while often beautiful, is not perfect. Far from it. This relates to work, personal life, health, you name it. So I thought about getting hit by the rock. I recognized that, thankfully, I wasn’t injured and I realized the “good” people that I encounter far outnumber the “bad”.

Also I try and remember the things I love about living in the city. And I also think about the many folks out there, volunteering and working to improve the situation in the city. Another reader wrote me (more to come on that Friday) suggesting that 50% of people want to embrace the beautiful life and see what they can do to make it better while the other 50% (not necessarily through any fault) have decided the situation will never improve. Well, I’d like to think I fall in the former.

And you know, I listened to some good music, had an interesting interview with a British journalist, ate a good dinner and admired the homes of Columbia Heights after dinner. As I’ve said many times, some days are better than others. I’m not saying you should ignore the negative aspects. It’s ok to get angry. Hopefully that anger can be channeled to do some positive things. I know I was fucking pissed. But it all depends on what you decide to focus on. An example I’ve given before is when you see some trash on the street near some flowers. You can focus on the trash and get really pissed off. Or you can look at the garden and say, those are some beautiful fucking flowers. Ideally, you’ll pick up the trash while admiring the flowers. Sometimes I pick up the trash and sometimes I don’t. But whenever I walk away the thought I always to chose to keep is that those are some beautiful fucking flowers.

If you focus on the unpleasant aspect, sure you’ll probably want to move. I chose to focus on the happier times. And I know that there are going to be some shitty days in the future and I know there are going to be some awesome days in the future. It is the decision to focus on the positive aspects of living where we live that will help you capture the beautiful life. And remember whatever happens – This too shall pass.

“Hello Prince of Petworth!

Forgive me if you have already covered this guy and his “deal”. I work in the office across the street – for over a week now, there’s a guy who blares (I mean BLARES) music and sells “wares” on 14th street NW, across from the Tivoli Building. It’s not really a huge issue – except his music is extremely loud and not my particular taste in music ;). But, freedom of speech (music), I guess. He definitely likes to boogie and dance around – it’s just simply amusing. I am surprised though, that no one has complained about the noise level. He might make for an interesting interview subject.”

I’ve been looking for this guy ever since I recieved this email last week but I’m not sure I found him. I did however find a boogying dude (photographed in the white shirt with his arm outstretched). across outside the liquor store singing and dancing and spinning and asking for money. But I’m guessing that’s not who you were talking about. So I guess I’ll open up this Dear PoP to any readers familiar with the “boogying dude” in the original question.

But I’m also interesting to hear what you guys think about panhandlers. I rarely encounter them in Petworth, Columbia Heights or really any neighborhood except for downtown. I asked a cop I saw on a segway if the panhandler photographed above was a problem and he said he had not received any complaints. So have you guys noticed any panhandlers in your neighborhoods? Are they overly aggressive or generally polite?

photo by Jon

“So, this is a “how to get along” question…I’m new to Petworth (2.5 mos), moved from Virginia and am enjoying learning my way around (thanks to the many contributors). I wasn’t naive when I bought my place (row house on an alley), but I’m having trouble understanding something going on in my alley. I live in a safe-ish area and as the days have gone by, I’m learning the patterns of foot traffic. A number of times (six I’ve witnessed before this weekend), people piss on my house, on my fence, etc. day, night, drunk or not (as far as I can tell). I’ve been pretty appalled, but have said nothing to the offender (as I’m kind of in hidden from view when I’ve seen it happening being behind my fence; also, I’m a woman living alone). This past weekend as the weather was nice and my neighbors had people over to hang on the front porch, I saw that the friends also use the alley as their port-a-john. I have no idea why they are not using the toilet in the house…So, my question is, how do I handle this? As my neighbors’ friends are not the only offenders, not to mention that I DON”T want to have that conversation with them (b/c no one should have to), how do I go about addressing/resolving this situation? Lights won’t make a difference as there are three street lights within arm’s length of my house and in alley. A flood light won’t bring any more light to the offense. Seriously, has anyone else had a problem that wasn’t really a safety issue but more of a (gross) nuisance and how did you resolve?”

Holy cow, what a brutal situation. I’m super curious to hear what the readers think because I’m not sure exactly what I’d do. But this is definitely unacceptable. I’d like to think I’d yell, “Hey, Oh, Don’t Do That There!!!”. I’m afraid you may need to have that uncomfortable conversation with the neighbors. Because, really, it seems like the only other alternative is to call the cops and the cops are not likely to get there in time. Maybe you could put a sign up that says “Not a Toilet”, or something like that. What do you think about this idea – talk to the neighbors but say something like “hey, I need your advice. I’ve been noticing lots of folks pissing in the alley, do you have any suggestions on how we can remedy the situation?”. In a really polite way of course. Yeah, that’s what I’d do. And if it still persists, I’d call the cops if it is a regular occurrence. Any other ideas?

Ed. Note: I found this photo on Flickr which says, “Do not urinate, fine 3,000 francs”.