I am sitting at my new favorite little eatery, sipping on my Jameson. The rain pours down the streets. Pollen fills the edges of the roads. Hills are filled with cars. Parking meters scouring the walkways, Old New England seems to be losing its place here in the concrete kingdom. Folks are laughing and the Red Sox are playing against Baltimore. The coolness of the air and the bad POP music seem to be overstimulating at this point.
The conversations range from silly to serious and I sit here. Sipping my Jameson. It was a short day at work due to the rain. I am a stranger in a town that I lived near and worked in for 15 years. I do not know anyone here. Everyone has left. They left a town that overcharges on absolutely everything.
And a town that SWALLOWS people, whole.
The hipsters crawl through the bars and UNH is maybe 20 minutes away. CBD shops and Tattoo shops popping up like 711’s. Every corner there is some new fad. Some new Rock-a billy- style, 20 something pedestrians everywhere. There are several homeless around & trying to find a place that is dry. They are not drug addicts or crazy. This area has become a miniature Boston. Rents are crazy high and jobs are scarce.
This is a story that echos all throughout America. The land of the FREE and BRAVE. A Land that now swallows people whole. Taking away the very idea that they can be free. Offering very little to reach the age-old American dream. BUT for sure; making folks brave. Hardening dreamers heart so that the greedy can have larger accounts. Builders who are focused at making a quick buck and not caring for the consequence of overbuilding. Property Management companies hoarding properties for only those that fit some ideology and a city income. However, wages are not fitting that ideology. The streets are filled with those who are living second to second. Check to check. The Government is filled with those who look away. They are making far more then they should and still look away. A single mother can lose her children for simply working the two jobs or three that she needs just to pay rent. Larger? Her children are not raised with her guidance as she needs to work all the time. Social services are flooded and new laws pass that make it harder and harder to get that one hand up to get out of the ditch.
Well paying jobs are nepotisticaly offered and at times? If you are known to be a single mother, denied due to your inability to work endless hours. This is our America. A Machine that owns every aspect of our souls.
A punisher for non-complacency.
Folks have become far too busy to have time to protest. They need to rise but Rents are too high and jobs are so scarce. If you make too much of a noise, no one will rent to you. No one will hire you. Stay silent. Stay quiet. Allow them to build over you. Allow them to own you. allow them to be here. Dont vote. Dont speak. Just look at your TV. Race home to watch your distraction while someone is sitting down in this wet, dampness. They sit wondering how they failed. How they can get a shower. How they can change their shoes. Where will they eat? How will they get gas to drive to work. Shower? Coffee? How will they get their mail? Or if they can even pay for their phones.
My Best’ie’s new Landlord told me that I could stay for the remainder of my visit but my dogs had to go. I live 1600 miles away. Where am I to put my dogs? The new landlord didn’t care. So, am I to abandon my dogs on my trip to accommodate a landlord like that? They decided if I paid 200$ that would work for the 2 weeks I was to be there. Yup. THAT’S what folks are dealing with all over the country. Simple-non thinkers. Folks who are looking at the immediate gratification and not long term consequences.
Crushing.
We are crushing our communities and decreasing the value of our country by allowing this to continue.
Oh, goodness. I am late for my latest show.
Gotta run……
