I should probably move

[mellowtigger]

My yard this year has been a mess. I haven't been outdoors much to work on it.

• There was the abscess on my back, the open wound, that kept me indoors to avoid any possible contamination with dirt or bugs. Even after that, though, it was the local social environment that kept me indoors and away from humanity.
• There was the time I stepped into the back yard and was soon asked to call 911 because the apparently gay guy there in the fancy car (expensive car but no cell phone?) was worried about his boyfriend inside who wasn't responding to texts after a very angry argument with the landlord the previous night. *sigh* I called 911 and handed my phone over to him. Then went back indoors to avoid humanity.
• There were the times I stepped outside and heard the arguing in the house next door. Yes, the usual house. So I went back indoors to avoid humanity.
• And the other time I called 911 for arguments outside that house. And then I went back indoors to avoid humanity.

So my yard has been quite terrible this year. This weekend, for instance, I stayed inside the walls of my house Friday through Sunday. Avoiding humanity is good. Around 10am on Monday, though, I decided to finally go pull some weeds that were going to seed. It'll be quiet at 10am on Monday, right?

Within 2 minutes (yes, just 120 seconds) of stepping into my front yard, the drama began. A woman kept yelling about her $7,000 of Jordan shoes being gone. She was on her phone calling someone else, who eventually drove up. The drama continued outdoors, then indoors, then outdoors again. Accusations were made of smoking crack in the house and inviting unsavory people to do drugs in the house with the kids. Threats were made to call Child Protective Services. Why does anyone living "sometimes" in an agency controlled house have $7,000 worth of shoes to begin with? I don't want to think these things. I really don't.

The angry woman deliberately looped me into the discussion more than once, while I'm trying just to pull weeds in my overgrown yard. Eventually I said, "I've called police too many times this year already." It's true, I suppose. I should be calling them exactly zero times each year. But I don't.

Because I step outside the walls of my house. My mistake.

It's bad enough that I can't open my window at night because I have to listen to all of the violence out there. Arguments, screeching cars, honking car horns, fireworks (still, even in September), and gunshots. Here's the latest gunfire map just for the last 30 days. 
I live near that central red star (confirmed shooting) in the top left.



Drama. I'm better off staying indoors, away from humanity. Maybe I should live someplace where a yard wouldn't suffer from neglect.

Comments

[foeclan]

Honestly, regardless of living situation, I can't imagine owning $7000 worth of shoes. I can't even envision what $7000 worth of shoes would even look like. The most expensive shoes I've ever owned were $180 steel-toed hiking/work boots that were the only things I could find that fit properly. I would need 39 pairs of them to get to $7000, and I haven't owned that many pairs or spent that much on shoes in 43 years.

[mellowtigger]

I have to wonder if it's somehow the poor person's equivalent to gold bullion? She specifically called them "Jordan" shoes.
https://financesonline.com/top-10-most-expensive-air-jordan-sneakers-ever-sold-michael-jordans-flu-game-shoes-top-the-list/

And only an hour later, there was a white unmarked van in front of the house, working to measure the glass pane they broke during the argument. How? It's been months, and I'm still waiting for my windows. And who? An unmarked white van. Really.

The crack house north of me got sold to very quiet old people, so that's good. There are still about 3 houses on this block, though, that would benefit from quieter tenants. The house south of me is one of them.

[mtbc]

Might moving be a practical proposition? I guess it's all tradeoffs but it sounds as if this is truly an ongoing drain on you, and understandably so.

[mellowtigger]

I am quite poor, so "moving" is not practical in any situation. I do have some small savings, but I simply don't have the down payment money now that I had several years ago. But, yeah... "an ongoing drain" is a good description. :( I'd have to go back to renting, which has the continuing problem of affordability.

[threemeninaboat]

... I just read in the New Yorker that Prince said there are no bad people in Minneapolis...

[mellowtigger]

Ah, found it. :) Maybe he was here when it really was nice? If you just take a walk around on a quiet morning, it really does look like a nice neighborhood. An old lady across the street (died many months ago) told me that they'd lived there for decades and her grown kids were finally trying to talk her into leaving the area because it was so much more dangerous now.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/09/09/the-book-of-prince

I can't find any historical summary explaining exactly when/how this area became the concentration of deadly activity for the whole city. I know it wasn't this way a century ago, but it definitely is now.
https://www.twincities.com/2019/08/16/minneapolis-police-investigate-3rd-homicide-this-week/

If Facebook is to be believed, someone up here has put barbed wire around their yard.
(Caution: this forum is a racist, ammosexual cesspool, so be forewarned. Close the browser window when it starts to stress you out.)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/true.north.minneapolis/permalink/1813782462101054/

[mrdreamjeans]

A friend of mine lives in North Minneapolis and a person was shot and killed in the house behind her two days ago. :(