not in my backyard

The bastards. I moved from Portland, Oregon to Boise, Idaho in hopes of finding a decent job back in my hometown and possibly the opening of a few new doors. So far, I’ve not had much luck, although I have been able to generate some small change via self-employment . In coming back, however, I can definitely say that I’ve noticed just how prejudiced the people of this town really are, regardless of how much they want to believe themselves otherwise. Here I live in a section of town supposedly the neighborhoods of all neighborhoods. A dense area full of interesting old houses, most of which are tightly packed with trees and historical structures. Right in the center lies an area with coffee shops, bars, restaurants, and other such places to waste time and money. Super-low living costs, lots of room for growth, a fucking suburban paradise, to say the least.

In downtown Boise, you rarely see a homeless or transient person and if you do you’ll soon come to recognize them or even know their name as the town can be that small. The drug addicts and Junkies mainly stay indoors, especially during this time of year when it can get to be over a hundred degrees outside and the heat is almost unbearable. When they think of Idaho, most people either think of potatoes or racism, one of the two if not both. Boise is no exception.

One block down from me, in the middle of this so-called paradise, sits a shelter housing seven women. This shelter has been there for years and is probably in better shape than most of the places that I have lived at in the last decade. This facility is soon to house seventy people, and not just pregnant women and teens as it did before, but regular folk, just like the Junktified you and me. The rest of the neighborhood is out of their heads about it. Letters and flyers have all made the rounds several times throughout the neighborhood, people have been on the news, cops are already trolling the area, looking for violators. Regardless of the fact that people don’t want it to happen, the people are coming (in fact, I saw a few today.) To say the very least, it pleases me to know that the rest of the neighborhood is losing sleep over thinking they’re about to lose their precious paradise. I’m intent on doing what I can to move things along…

On Monday, I’m heading down there to see about donating my services and technical resources, as well as to see if they have computers and Internet connectivity to use for finding work, passing time, (blogging?) etc. I’ve spent the last nine months trying to find a job in this shitty, fucked-up town and have had no luck. I can relate with the frustrations of not being able to find a job or generate an income and nothing pisses me off more than the “not in my backyard” mentality. I’m happy to help and hope they need it. I need the outlet.