The worst traffic in Madison, Wisconsin is the Beltline at rush hour. It gets to be crawl and go and sometimes a dead stop if there's an accident. The interstate, I-90, which runs along the outskirts of Madison and some small cities surrounding it, sometimes gets to be equally as annoying. But in the large scheme of things, that turns out to be a minimal inconvenience compared to driving in other cities.
I'm thankful I learned to drive in Chicago when I was 16. It was scary learning to drive on the Dan Ryan Expressway back then, but it's nothing compared to the traffic here. Los Angeles is the worst traffic I have ever seen. Those people are insane, cutting you off between lanes, motorcycles flying down the perforated line between lanes (which just about gave me a heart attack when it happened to me) and motorists being just plain rude - even more rude than Chicago motorists, if you can believe that. But I'm talking about Stockton drivers - not Los Angeles ones today. It's as if every single person is late for an appointment, driving like a maniac and cutting you off for no reason. Not that I've never done that myself, mind you. I have - many times. But then, I am an ex-Chicago driver. I guess I just notice it more here than in Madison - maybe because Madison has limited highways and mostly city streets, where racing is not conducive. I don't know. But it does remind me of driving on the crazy roads in Chicago.
Speaking of highways, this thought just crossed my mind: when I was 17, I remember coming home from seeing my boyfriend on the south side of Chicago (which was and is mostly black), around 1:30 in the morning. A white girl driving on the Dan Ryan, coming off the ramp from an inner city neighborhood, in the middle of the night. It was raining and I wasn't speeding, but all of a sudden, the police were behind me with their lights flashing. They had me pull off an exit in a dark, secluded area and made me get out of my car to show them my license, which was in my wallet. They took my wallet and saw my boyfriend's picture in it and started to ridicule me because he was black: they were two white officers. They wanted to know why I was on the south side, and because I was very young and naive, I told them. I began to feel uneasy, standing out in the rain, waiting for them to give me my wallet back. I was a pretty tough kid back then and looked forward to a good fight, which felt like one here, but my good sense kept my mouth shut as I endured their smug racism. When they decided they were done, I was told to get home, where I belonged, which is what I did as fast as I could. I realized many years later, that God was protecting me that night. It would have been very easy for 2 men to overtake a young girl, especially in a dark, secluded place. He really did have His angels watching over me that night.
Stockton, in fact, reminds me a lot of Chicago. I live in a large apartment complex that is gated, which is a new experience for me. Almost every home in this city is protected by a fence around the perimeter of one's property. I've never seen anything like it. Fences back up to the neighbor's fence and it goes on like that around the block, so they're all self-contained. And to keep "undesirables" out, complexes like mine and even mobile home parks are gated and you have to know the code to enter through the gate. (Hmmm, there's a sermon in that...) In some neighborhoods, there are even bars on the windows and doors, which would be a real drag to look out from - but I guess it keeps the bad guys away. People also keep big dogs outside to ward off anyone who would dare break in their homes. At night, the weather is cool and the sky is clear and I can hear sirens from miles away, up and down the main street near where I live. It doesn't look like Chicago, but it sounds like it from where I'm standing. Loud cars screeching, sirens going off and dogs barking in the distance, is what I hear on a nightly basis. There are moments when it's quiet and peaceful, but then I wonder what's wrong - something's not right somewhere.
I've also noticed, well, it's hard not to notice, the number of homeless people there are in this city. In Chicago you just assume there is a large number of homeless people because the city is so large and expensive to live in. Stockton is about the size of Madison - maybe a little bigger - but you see far more homeless here than in Madison. It could be that the weather is mild through the winter here -I don't know, but maybe that's why. The homeless population in Venice, Florida was large too. I think down there the reason would be the weather and the fact that it's also an expensive place to live.
But what I encounter here, bothers me a whole lot. It bothers me because in this day and age and with all the countless services our cities provide, there should be no or very few homeless people. They seem to have fallen through the cracks of a system that's obviously not working well enough. It frustrates and angers me that this situation exists and I long to take them all home with me, give them warm soup, wrap them up with love and give them a place to rest. Alas, I am one person, in a one bedroom apartment on a fixed income - realistically not even that far from the position they find themselves in. Actually, this could happen to any one of us. People are way too quick to judge those they don't understand or can't relate to, but my response to them would be to thank God you have a place to rest your head after a long day, warmth, food and love from other people - you're very fortunate. Others may not be so fortunate. For a myriad of reasons, they've found themselves on the street just trying to stay alive, eating out of dumpsters and smoking discarded butts in ashtrays or on the sidewalk. I'm sorry for them. I'm sorry that they need help with their addictions, mental health and personal issues that they're not getting help for. I'm sorry we as a nation aren't do more to help them.
The homeless are old, young, women and men - it doesn't matter - there's no discrimination with that here. Usually, they are riding an old bike piled up high with bags, driving down the sidewalk. Or they have "borrowed" grocery carts and carry their belongings in those, pushing quickly down the street, and I wonder where all these people are going. I hope there are shelters around, although I have no idea if there are, because it can get very cold here at night. I imagine they find shelter in old, vacant buildings (I've seen a lot of those), under bridges or anywhere I guess, that provides some privacy and relief from the rain and cold.
I can hear in my mind what some of you are saying at this point. "Get a job," "Get an apartment," "Do SOMETHING for yourself and stop expecting a hand-out from someone else!" The reality of the situation is that many of these folks are seriously addicted to drugs and/or alcohol, have mental health issues from veterans to young people who were viciously abused and so many other reasons that you or I would have no clue about. I personally don't believe people should just sit around and collect welfare or disability if they're able to work, even if it's a minimum-wage job; they should be made to work. However, there are scores of others who don't even have the wherewithal to apply for these services, much less sit around on a comfortable sofa watching television. That's the population which needs our help and not our sarcastic criticism. Until we find ourselves in a similar situation, we have no right to judge them.
No comments:
Post a Comment