Chatter

I belong to a parents' group on-line in my neighborhood, I tend to lurk around the emails- offering things to people privately and generally trying to stay off the radar. My hubby always asks why I don't just make friends with the women who use the forum, he thinks it would be a good neighborhood connection and make me feel less lonely as a mom. BUT what he doesn't realize is that they are all crazy lunatics.

Take for instance recent posts pondering why the parks department can't designate time just for little kids in the playgrounds. That's right these women wanted to lobby for hours that older kids (and by older I mean like 10-15 year olds) could not be in the playground. Seems like a good idea at first, until you read further along and see that they wanted those times to be the after school hours in a park directly across the street from a middle school! It seems lots of folks think that the tween/teen element in our park is a bad one- sure I've seen more pre teen make out sessions than I am comfy with but it's not like they are shooting heroin under the climbing structure!

Or the myriad of posts asking why older folks in the neighborhood would not give up their library knitting time to add another children's story hour. The knitting hour is for charity yes, but shouldn't the children of the area come first? I should add that the knitters knit for children in the local hospital....

Further proof of the crazy: 

"Why are so many of the upscale restaurants just not child friendly" (maybe because if I am paying $32 for steak or pasta I don't want it to come with a side of child?)

And now to my generalization of crazy I can add a generalization of racist too...

There is a raging debate over illegal immigrants. One mom lives on a block that apparently is the mecca for illegal immigration. She cites such things as police activity, sexual harassment in two languages, drugs, vagrants and drunks in the grass; her child is in danger everyday because of these illegals! She is a lifelong resident of the neighborhood and is outraged over the turn for the worst!

There was a very politely worded response from a dad who suggested that the woman was assuming these folks were illegals (and here he corrected her by asking if maybe she thought they were undocumented) because of the color of their skin, and that on the whole many undocumented workers are the complete opposite of what she is recounting due to the fact that they DO NOT WANT TO BE NOTICED! He also took offense at her generalization that this particular group of people had no family values and had no positive contribution to the neighborhood.

Mom in question responded that she was not merely suggesting they are illegal, it is a fact that they are undocumented, and she knows because she has taken time to talk to them about their status in this country! How dare dad of same culture as these people think she is racist?! She too is a child of immigrants!

I hope the dad responds again and calls the woman an ass.

The neighborhood in question, the block in particular is one where there is a stretch of grass under the highway. LOTS of people sleep one off under the trees, or finish their brown bagged beer after work there. I've known some undocumented workers in my time both here in NYC and when I was in MT, and never once was that info shared casually just because someone asked. The neighborhood in question also used to be a hotbed of Irish Illegals, so much so that the FBI used to stake out a bar looking for gun runners, and now the undocumented Irish play football in the summer in between their construction gigs. But no one talks about that, since they are white and "upstanding contributors to the community" and god forbid anyone in this area speak ill of the Irish (or the Italians or the Norwegians or marginally the Greeks). 

Now I must continue lurking to watch this debate... and also pondering where I can move to doesn't have crazy moms...