12.28.2010

....And then I remebered I was in Brooklyn.

My work neighborhood never really has much to offer me in regards to peaceful, scenic atmosphere. I do not get the warm fuzzies of safety walking to and from the train. I work in the Hood where people are aggressive, angry, and suspicious of any outsiders. It is a dirty neighborhood because the people that live here do not seem to care about the environment they live in and will dispose of anything (mostly used condoms and Chinese food) on the sidewalk or in the street. Don't get me wrong, I am sure there are many great people that live in this neighborhood, but lets face it, they live in a shit hole and don't seem to care. It is a neighborhood that the city does not send plows to in the middle of a blizzard, which I am convinced is because they will get their plows jacked. It is the neighborhood that is home to Jay-Z, Mos Def, Spike Lee, and The Notorious B.I.G. Need I say more?

Today I was taking a walk at lunch time, when I was stopped in my tracks by this little girl (about 5 or 6 years old) playing in the snow. I have never had the urge to stop and look at anything here, since Article 2 Paragraph 1 of "The Rules of the Hood Survival" state:

When you are asked a question on the street, the answer is ALWAYS
"I ain't seen nothin"
This rule is a lot easier to follow if you have in fact, not seen anything. So I stood on the corner with my back to nothing but a wall (This is also rule in the bylaws) and looked at how cute this little girl was. She was dressed in a cute little pink snow suit and looked completely content, working alone at building a snowman. She was oozing with childhood innocence and looked as though her parents hadn't messed her up too bad, yet. I stood and watched her as she methodically build her snowman. She seemed to think out ever step and would go back and correct anything she was not happy with. It appeared that she was a perfectionist building herself a perfect new friend. She finally finished and took a step back and appeared to be admiring her work.

It turns out admiring was what she APPEARED to be doing. By the time I could even process what was happening this "cute little girl" charged at the snowman, jumped in way she could land an elbow through the head of the snowman and then proceeded to punch and kick the snowman until he was a sad pile of broken dreams, all while screaming profanity at the snowman. It was like she was single handedly responsible for initiating Frosty into a gang. I realized it was time to get out of there when she spit on the pile of beat up snow. I walked away and pretended I had not seen anything (those are the rules after all) and thought happy thoughts that, no matter how bad the economy gets... I will ALWAYS have clients to work with.