streetview

so, i was on my way through the 'hood to my tutoring job at portland community college. driving down killingsworth, at about 16th avenue when traffic stopped for some reason and i found myself sitting in front of some "entrepreneurs". there was a little setup on the sidewalk next to a building with about 4 black guys selling pre-made easter gift baskets. from my view, they didn't look that great.

so these guys-sorry to say, looked trifling. one of them was standing in the vicinity with what i call "gangsta gear"- ultra sagging pants, and an oversized plaid, short sleeved button up shirt. AND he's smoking a teeny tiny cigarette. i don't know if it was a cigarette or a joint. but he looked foul. and his friends sitting closer to the display looked pitiful. i mean, they looked tired and worn out-as if they had been out there ALL day and to top it off, they looked dirty, raggedy and desperate.

and then had the nerve to have some handwritten sign that read "fundraising". fundraising for what? WEED? who did they think was going to get out and buy their stuff? i looked at the products and suddenly i just had this vision in my head of some hoodrats in a dirty apartment piecing it all together, trying to make it look nice, hoping someone would buy it.

i'm all for people trying to make a creative living. but these guys just looked so....so...trashy. no one wants to buy crap from people who look like trash. clean yourself up, put on some decent clothing. how about nice pants that fit with a decent shirt to start? how about tossing that nasty ciggaweed?

some black men really need to try harder. stop aiming for the minimum.

and don't even get me started on the "hand car wash" not far away. where a group of black men sit around all day waiting to hand-wash your car. really? how can they pay the rent with five dollars a car wash? everytime i drive by, there they are, sitting around shooting the shit with each other. the only cars i ever see are the owner's and employees of the business. pimped out cadillacs, mercedes, and other cars with $10k rims and tires polished to a tee. that is SO 1992.

get a real job! cut off your braids! find clothing that fits! speak proper english!