my last rant on bronx-bashing was NOT, even if it appeared to be, targeting one person. this one however, IS. i’ve already let you in on how much uneducated slagging on the bronx irritates me, as well as how much stupid fucking people who don’t seem to give a toss who knows how fucking stupid they are irritate me. and yippee-ki-yay!...this here addition to my bronx rant has a bit of both. i call it a codicil cos it’s not quite a rant in itself...not long enough...but it needs to be said anyway. so here goes...
i am not going to mention any names, so don’t
ask, but i was talking to SOMEONE the other day about my flat, which is, by the
way, a great place...3 of us in it normally and 6 OF US in it now...long story...but
at any rate there’s more than enough room, which is what i was telling HER about.
she asked me how much i’m paying and i told her. i also expressed with the
price my opinion that we’re making out like bandits. she apparently disagreed,
and ejected THIS at me... "i wouldn’t pay that much to live in THE BRONX".
"right", i replied. "as if you could find ANYPLACE else for that little". i
realised shortly after i said that she really wouldn’t know, as i don’t think
she’s ever had to pay her own rent. expressed interest in getting her own
place, sure...many times...but never even went so far as to go out and look. (and
fyi, this is no little girl we’re talking about either...not by a long shot) now,
as if this wasn’t enough, she then threw out THIS gem...and yes, i remember it
word-for-word, as i have a great memory, especially for things this fucking
bizarre..."i might pay that much to live someplace NICE like QUEENS, but not
someplace i’d be afraid i’d get shot."
someplace NICE? LIKE QUEENS??? (don’t yell at
me, i’m not BASHING queens, just being...errm...how you say...REALISTIC??) okay.
queens is a big place. loads of neighbourhoods, both good and bad, not unlike...THE
BRONX! that’s right, cos if you know your way around both boros like i do, you
know you have yer flushing for morris park, bayside for edgewater, woodside and
sunnyside for woodlawn, and a coupla unsavoury places thrown in for good
measure. no, queens is not a bad place, but i laugh in the face of anyone who
says it’s overall better than the bronx.
then of course we have to get back to the
subject of getting shot. YES people get shot in the bronx. but newsflash,
sunshine, they get shot in queens as well...and in brooklyn, and manhattan and
even (gasp!) staten island. but we RESEARCH neighbourhoods before we move into
them, and we try NOT to move into places where we’re more likely than not going
to get blown to hell. i will admit i am a cheap bastard, but give me a bit of
credit PLEASE! do you really think i am going to live someplace DANGEROUS just
to save a coupla bucks? i think not. dead presidents aren’t worth shit when you’re
dead yourself.
this bitch making the generalisations, despite being a native new yorker, has never set foot in my neck of the woods. she’s been in the bronx, but not in MY neighbourhood, and she’s never been into my building, let alone my apartment. she should only hear how bloody thick she sounds going on about how she "knows" what a "depressed area" woodlawn is, and how there are just soooo many murders here. i really would like to know where she got her information from. i’m guessing the new york press.