Whatever Happened to Community Pride?
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Are you tired of your neighborhood looking like a dump? I know I am. Too often people blame others for their condition rather than just taking responsibility and standing up for their community and themselves.
Case in point, about three weeks ago, I was backing my car out of my driveway and noticed an older model four-door brown vehicle driving slowly down the street. As I waited for it to pass, I noticed a folded cardboard box on the trunk of the car. Naturally that appeared odd. As the car drove further down the street, I noticed the brake lights come on and the car appeared to pull over to the side of the road. Now I’ve seen that before, there was about to be some garbage dumping going on.
I slowed the pace of my vehicle enough for the driver of the brown vehicle to see me seeing him. As he pulled from the side of the road back into the street the box fell off of the trunk of the car. The driver hesitated and then drove off.
As I passed the box in the street, I slowed down to see what was in it and without getting out of the car, I could see the long nose and two eyes of a small animal. It appeared to be a dog but those kinds of things creep me out so I didn’t dawdle there.
So you know I’m really pissed off by the time I saw that. How dare he use my neighborhood as a dumping ground?!
I followed the car as it did one of those O.J. Simpson-Al Cowling white Bronco slow speed chase scenes. To make a long story short, the driver went back to the box that had fallen off of the car. I parked in the street and told one of my neighbors what happened so we both could watch him. The driver got out, picked up the box and put it back on the trunk of his car and drove off. He was a tall, slim to medium build black man in his mid-thirties to early forties.
I know that I probably shouldn’t have followed that car like that but I was angry. I called my mom as this was occurring so she’d know what was going on. I lost him in traffic but I’m willing to bet that he dropped that animal off in another predominantly-black neighborhood. That’s what my dad calls black-on-black crime.
I’m really angry with myself for not getting his tag number and taking a picture of his car. From here on out, whenever possible, I’m putting those kinds of people on blast. Photos…tag numbers…whatever it takes to keep my community safe and clean. Feel free to submit your own photos and information on folks that don’t keep our community clean. Enough is enough.
Miami is far from a perfect place but I really like living here. If we keep running north and don’t try to salvage our community, what legacy do we leave for future generations? Furthermore, what a message of ingratitude we send to our ancestors who made tremendous sacrifices for this community.
So, to all of you who have trash piles in your neighborood, shopping carts in front of your houses and throw trash out of your car windows or on the ground as you walk...pick that s_ _ _ up! Call Solid Waste to pick up bulky items. Call Team Metro to report violations. It's our community, let's have some community pride.
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