And People Wonder Why I Carry....

[Mike S]

I used to live in CA and saw way to much of the "Crips and Bloods", watched it spread like a virus to the midwest, take root there, and spread East. Now it is here, in the Berkshires, Gang thuggery fueled by drugs and the sale of such, glamorized by hip hop culture.

The kids that buy into it make a choice to, especially the ones in Pittsfield as I highly doubt that they were "born into it" as a lot of the kids in S.Central L.A. are now second and third generation.

Makes me wonder, where the hell are the parents of these kids, letting them go down that road. Sad.

We can look at the system, and put the blame wherever you want but it really comes down to the parents.

Said it before and I'll say it again, "you need a license to drive a car but any idiot can have a kid"

 

[MassMark]

We can look at the system, and put the blame wherever you want but it really comes down to the parents.

Said it before and I'll say it again, "you need a license to drive a car but any idiot can have a kid"

And there it is...It's so easy to blame the police, the system, city council, liberals, conservatives. I could have said in my OP: "Where the hell were Pittsfield PD?". The reality is, they can't be everywhere and that's exactly why we as citizens cannot, (and should not) rely on the police to protect us - we must take this task on ourselves - even in the difficult: "The perp is really the victim" environment here in Massachusetts.


Oh and John at Remsport - I won't get into a pissing match about which city is the most complete thug environment, but you'd better be careful about your bandana colors on Columbus Avenue. You may think Pittsfield is a pushover compared to the "mean streets" of Springfield, but shitheads find their way to "East Columbus Ave" as well...There was a daylight shooting there not too long ago and a host of other fun events....I refuse to give the rag Berkshire Eagle a plug nickel, so I won't pay for their archives, but you can see some headlines on just how "soft and fluffy" Pittsfield is below:

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=list&p_topdoc=21

http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_action=list&p_topdoc=41


.

 

[Remsport Mfg]

No argument here.
I have lived in Springfield for almost 30 years and could write a sub-culture history on the changes over the years and what I have seen.

 

[MassMark]

No argument here.
I have lived in Springfield for almost 30 years and could write a sub-culture history on the changes over the years and what I have seen.

I hear you there. My aunt, (RIP Lillian) lived at Kimball Towers for over 50-years. She was a rare female high executive at New England Bell, after starting there as an operator at 15. Kimball Towers was not quite for the elite, but close. I remember as a boy running the hallways, dropping "stuff" down the trash chute and riding the elevators to the roof, where I managed to drop more "stuff". I remember the grand ballroom, polished marble floors, gleaming mahogany woodwork, elegant furniture and used to get snacks off the kitchen staff. Lilly would give me some money and send me up the Chestnut street to a small market for milk, cream and of course - penny candy. I remember walks to Stiegers, England Brothers and Bay State West. My mother used to put me on the B-Bus in Dalton and I'd get my own ticket at the bus station in Pittsfield. I'd ride Peter Pan into downtown and if Lilly wasn't there to meet me, Joe, (kind of an adopted uncle and ex-detective) would be.

The last time I was in Kimball Towers, was a year before Lilly's death in 2006. We had decided to move her in to our house in Tyringham, as at 89, her health was failing too much to stay on her own and my near daily trips from Tyringham to Springfield after work were exhausting. I went back several times to close up her apartment and pack up 55-years of her history. On my final trip, I was riding down the elevator with a stoned-out crackhead. No way to be sure initially, but her method of dress suggested prostitute and her asking me if I "wanted a date" confirmed it. Kimball Towers is now 80-90% Section 8 Housing. Where once a desk clerk sat to greet me and ring Lilly to announce my arrival, now sits a security guard gazing at monitors. He barely spoke English and I later found out he was from Namibia, which led to a few conversations, as I had spent some time there. The shiny marble floors now replaced by industrial carpet - though a few pieces of the elegand furniture remain.

I parked a Ryder truck where the delivery entrance was to the kitchen. I had to walk through what once was the dining room - the parquet tile torn up and stacked in a corner - wallpaper gone, chandeliers gone - the sounds of music and laughing diners faded with the paint on the grand columns. The ballroom was torn out for a parking area. I grabbed a piece of that tile on my last trip out and use it now as a plant stand for Lilly's violet which lives on like the memory of her Irish red hair and infectious laughter....

 

[Zombieoutfitters]

Hmmmm...sounds like a deal gone real sour.

 

[jds1971]

I used to live in CA and saw way to much of the "Crips and Bloods", watched it spread like a virus to the midwest, take root there, and spread East. Now it is here, in the Berkshires, Gang thuggery fueled by drugs and the sale of such, glamorized by hip hop culture.

The kids that buy into it make a choice to, especially the ones in Pittsfield as I highly doubt that they were "born into it" as a lot of the kids in S.Central L.A. are now second and third generation.

Makes me wonder, where the hell are the parents of these kids, letting them go down that road. Sad.

We can look at the system, and put the blame wherever you want but it really comes down to the parents.

Said it before and I'll say it again, "you need a license to drive a car but any idiot can have a kid"

amen brother.

i like to listen to hip hop sometimes (i have eminem's new cd in the car right now) but man it has had a horrible effect on our culture.