I looked out my window this afternoon and saw some people shopping in the dumpster behind my house. I know the dumpster was just emptied yesterday, but as it happens, a nice coffee table was placed in the dumpster shortly after it was emptied. So, this afternoon we had some interest in the dumpster contents. As I was watching, the lucky shoppers pulled the coffee table out, set it down on the ground, got a good grip on it, and walked it down the back lane to it's new home.
A few minutes later, the same people were back collecting another furniture item. It had been placed by one of the other dumpsters in the lane a few days ago. The item in question had not been picked up by the garbage trucks as it was not placed inside a dumpster. The furniture item was sitting on the ground beside the dumpster, and was on display when these people were shopping for furniture.
I am not sure if the scrounging was for their own personal use in their residence, or if they were doing their Christmas shopping. But I guess they were saving money either way.
Here in the hood we practice the three R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Not only did these people save money during the Christmas season, they helped reduce the carbon footprint.
Later tonight there was a different sort of action happening on the front street. As we were coming home from a quick trip to the store we noticed three police cars parked down the street. One of the police cars was stopped in the parking lane, facing the wrong way. The other two were in front of the house in question, and blocking traffic.
It's winter in the hood, and we still have our police presence much like we do in the summer. The police still show up on the street, and they are still visiting the same few houses. I can't say for sure how often they are on the street during the winter because I am not outside as often. My windows are covered more in the winter, and on really cold days they are frosted over. But I am often surprised looking out of the window, seeing police cars on the street, or driving down the road finding them close by.
I am not sure if the scrounging was for their own personal use in their residence, or if they were doing their Christmas shopping. But I guess they were saving money either way.
Here in the hood we practice the three R's, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Not only did these people save money during the Christmas season, they helped reduce the carbon footprint.
Later tonight there was a different sort of action happening on the front street. As we were coming home from a quick trip to the store we noticed three police cars parked down the street. One of the police cars was stopped in the parking lane, facing the wrong way. The other two were in front of the house in question, and blocking traffic.
It's winter in the hood, and we still have our police presence much like we do in the summer. The police still show up on the street, and they are still visiting the same few houses. I can't say for sure how often they are on the street during the winter because I am not outside as often. My windows are covered more in the winter, and on really cold days they are frosted over. But I am often surprised looking out of the window, seeing police cars on the street, or driving down the road finding them close by.
I took a photo of the Police Cars on the street tonight, but it's hard to see them because it was dark outside at the time. As I was taking the picture of the police cars, I noticed our great eye in the sky helicopter flying high overhead. I guess they are doing some night training. Thankfully they were fairly high up and did not make a lot of noise.
Nice blog, but why do you use a derogatory name to refer to your neighborhood? People in St. James or East Kildonan don't call their area the hood, why do you?
ReplyDeleteOne of the definitions at the urban dictionary (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hood) for "hood" is "A ganster slang word derrived from neighborhood, usually talking about the ghetto or where all the gangsters and thugs live."
ReplyDeleteI use the term for my street and the area where I live because it fits my feeling of an area filled with police presence, sirens, illegal activities, and a fear of going out after dark, among other atributes.
I look forward to the day that I refer to my block and the North End as a neighbourhood, that no longer feels like "The Hood".
Because Rae is a realist maybe?
ReplyDelete