One of our HVAC guys drives in from Baton Rouge every morning. "I'm afraid to work here," he said. "All of those Mexicans get paid in cash and then people rob them." I nodded thinking of the recent murder of Pablo Mejia Jr., a builder, killed in New Orleans East -- and he was local. I also thought of the couple slain in their home recently during a robbery."Yeah, it's rough in the lightly populated areas," I said. "But it's ok around here." Then I trailed off remembering Anthony White, killed only blocks away.
A friend chastised me the other night for not owning a gun. I told him, half jokingly, that our neighborhood crack head looks out for us. He didn't seem impressed.
The days of summer preceding Katrina were rough. It was a terribly violent summer. I don't know which summer saw more murders, 2005 or 2007 but it's looking pretty bad this year and we all suffer. People already on the edge start to pack up their belongings and those who want to rebuild are running into laborers terrified to do work here. Meanwhile, Pelosi and crew are visiting or fair city to assess our worth. I have feeling that she's just going to bow out quietly like Bush or urge Blanco declare martial law complete with firing squads. Just make sure that you are in by curfew. Won't that be good for tourism?
Anyway, back to my original point: people are afraid to work here. The recovery is already going slow. What will happen when the builders start to leave? Sure some will stay but they will be demanding hazard pay in addition to already inflated prices.
I am critical of the way that Jefferson and St. Tammany Parishes stomp on the rights of their citizens -- especially those of color. I don't want New Orleans to become that and while I don't have problem with people smoking a joint while walking down the sidewalk, it might be in our best interest to implement a Giuliani-type crackdown. I don't know why it's not in place already.
I recently found a quote online from someone else's blog. Unfortunately I can't remember just which local blogger dug it up so if anyone wants to claim credit, please do. I found it on a day when I was struggling with this city -- which is just about every odd day and a couple of evens too. I sent it out in an email to a few people but I think that I might paint it on my ceiling.
In 1877, correspondent Lafcadio Hearn wrote this to his buddy back in Cincinnati regarding the state of New Orleans:
"Times are not good here. The city is crumbling into ashes. It has been buried under a lava flood of taxes and frauds and maladministrations so that it has become only a study for archaeologists. Its condition is so bad that when I write about it, as I intend to do soon, nobody will believe I am telling the truth. But it is better to live here in sackcloth and ashes than to own the whole state of Ohio."
1. I have friends who try that same ploy with me about owning a gun. It's just them trying to convince them self that they need one. They choose to own firearms. That's fine, why they want to impose that on the rest of us I don't understand.
Posted at 11:00PM on Aug 14th 2007 by Varg