On Wednesday morning my semi-monthly cleaning lady called me to let me
know that she would not be coming that day. "I have to go to a Funeral",
she said sadly. When I asked her who it was, she told me that it was the
son of a neighbor friend of hers who was killed in a drive-by shooting.
The son lived in Pacoima where there is a lot of gang related crimes.
The day before I was on my way to an appointment in South Central L. A.
The appointment was with a teacher who worked for L.A. Unified School
District. She told me that instead of taking the Vernon St. exit off the
Harbor Freeway, that it would be faster to get off at the 51st exit of
which I was less familiar. And although I had been in this part of town
before, 51st St. just wasn't a main throughfare that I knew. I drove a
few blocks and suddenly came upon a police crime scene yellow tape
stretched across the street. Up ahead at the intersection were several
L.A.P.D. cars. Overhead a couple of helicopters flew close over the
intersection and surrounding streets in ever increasing wider circles.
Needless to say I couldn't go any further. I pulled into a driveway and
got out of the car to see what was happening. I asked a woman who was
standing off to the side of the driveway at the entrance to a small
Park. "Someone's been shot," she said very sternly, glancing at me
swiftly and turning way. I got back into my car and made a u-turn behind
the other cars that had come on the scene as I had, and were now trying
to get out of the dead-end traffic jam. I made many turns in and out of
different streets before I finally made it to my destination. I was
surprised that I didn't feel nervous or the slightest bit concerned.
Maybe because it had happened to me before. It felt somewhat strange
however, as I could still hear the droning of the helicopters over my
head all the way to the school. I am sitting here wondering about all
the drive-bys and the Gangs connected with them. How do you make joining
a gang repugnant to a young person who wants desperately to belong and
to be cool? There have been many ad campaigns in the media and even in
local schools about the use of tobacco and the negative aspects of
smoking. There were ads that were released many years ago with Brooke
Shields as a spokesperson for anti-smoking campaign slogans and ad
posters that were distributed in the schools and shown on t.v. There has
also been an ongoing anti-drug program called DARE that is circulating
in many school districts with the local police 'teaching' classes to
children as young as elementary school age. I also happened to see an
ad(not sure who sponsored it) in YM Magazine for young adults concerning
a girl who was grounded for smoking weed. It showed the teenager sulking
at home by herself while four of her friends were out enjoying
themselves at the local hang-out. The message was obvious and very
simple. It occurred to me that while much has been done to reach out to
the Y generation, that it seems nothing has been thought of to deter
kids from joining gangs and the ultimate event that occurs because of
it: premature death by guns. If there is some sort of program or
campaign, I am unaware of it. Maybe there is someone out there with a
similar idea who has already started something or has even organized a
group. I just haven't seen anything being done on a wide scale. And it's
really bad. This has been going on for as long as I can remember. Maybe
it's easier said than done. It is just so darn disheartening and so
terribly sad. It is scary to think that as much of gang related
shootings occur, that it has become the 'norm' and that the newspapers
just can't report all of them. Something that happens every day in our
community and becomes so routine that we have all become oblivious to
it's tragedies. THINK ABOUT IT Peach

Two women get on an elevator. A man gets on seconds later. One of the
women I'll call the 'Bitch'. The other woman we'll simply refer to as
the 'non-bitch'. It is known by all who work in this particular
Department that the elevator in this building has a mind of it's own. No
matter who gets on first or what button is pushed it will always go
'down' to the Basement level. When the man enters the elevator Non-Bitch
says that she thinks "the elevator is going up". At this point the man
either presses the button for the basement or he says "'no" and presses
the button. The story is sort of murky here and I believe he just turned
and pressed the button for going down. As the elevator is going down to
the Lower Level the Bitch makes comments pertaining to the integrity of
the man and although I do not know what words were used it was basically
to say that he was a jerk. (She may have even whispered loud on purpose
to Non-Bitch so he would be sure to hear her.) This was a while ago.
Yesterday this man was invited to a Department Luncheon where the Bitch
was a Supervisor and of course she showed up. She snubbed him at the
luncheon and has been doing so ever since the Elevator incident. The
story was related to me by the man. He told me of the kind of behavior
she has displayed over the past 2 or 3 years or however long ago this
happened. And that her attitude towards him is one of indifference and
coldness. Not that he really wanted to have anything to do with her
anyway. Upon hearing the story I expressed my understanding of what a
'bitch' she was as he called her and what I thought of the elevator
occurrence. I said that I thought that her behavior was not acceptable.
But I also told him that I thought that when Non-Bitch said that she
thought the elevator was going up, that she meant they were planning on
going up. I said he probably should have waited for them to go up before
he pressed the button to go down(knowing of course that the elevator's
dysfunction would bring it down anyway if he pressed the Basement
button) I thought this was the right thing to do. It would have been the
polite gesture to make in regards to the facts that were relayed to me.
I was not expecting his outraged response at all. He was very angry with
me, and said I did not support him or even care. I sort of took this in,
thought about what he had said and then tried to convince him again why
I thought the women should have gone up first before he went
down.............. I am not sure why this conversation got out of
control but it did. I have not spoken with him since yesterday. He is
still very angry with me and I am even afraid to e-mail him. I am very
hurt and feel betrayed. I cried last night and again this morning.
Yesterday a kind of numbness took over in which I was silent. Then I
went through an anger stage in which I wanted to scream. I also wrote a
'poor me' letter that I was hoping would be found 'accidentally'. How
could this have happened? Is there something I'm missing here? Is it
necessary to climb inside his psyche to see where he is coming from? Is
this just about having a 'bad day at the office'? I may not be sure
where he is coming from but I certainly know of what my position is.
Although many people complain about the lack of this, I do find that men
still will open doors for a woman . And if two people come to a door or
entrance at the same time, there are those, (men and women too), who
will step aside and allow the other person to go through first. It is a
nice gesture; and I cannot understand why, in this busy world, people
cannot perform a chivalrous act and think about someone else for a small
millisecond in time besides themselves. My attitude about the 'elevator'
is very simple. I still believe what I told him. But my thinking of what
elevator etiquette really is should not be interpreted in a way that my
disagreement means that I am not supportive of him and who he is, and
that I really do care very much how he feels. My intention was not to
insult him or otherwise try to demean him; just that I'm entitled to my
opinion . I only know that my sensitive heart is hurting and that I do
not know the way back. And that the discussion over who has the right of
way in an elevator should not be the cause, today, of a man's anger and
a woman's painful hanging out to dry and of love's precious lost
moments. Peach

"Wow, Double Click, are you still out there ?" " Hey, Peach are you
gonna update this thing before 2003?" Yup I'm back. Yes I'm 'gonna
update this thing before 2003.' I'm not sure I understand how people get
bored, or that they have 'time on their hands'. I have too much to do ,
too much to think about and too much 'stuff' that needs to get taken
care of. I just saw a movie last week-end called "Changing Lanes."
Samuel Jackson is, among other things, a participant in a Twelve Step
Program (Alcoholics Anonymous). His Facilitator(WillliamHurt ) tells him
at one point that his problem is not drinking. He says his drug of
choice is chaos. He basically tells Jackson that he lives on drama and
thrives on chaos. And in a gesture that defines both a frustrated friend
and helper, and a kick in the but to get his act together, Hurt turns
around and storms off. I'm not sure if chaos is my drug of choice. But I
am beginning to believe that my drug might be "staying busy", which
actually does make my life a kind of chaos. I never seem to get anything
done. My father was just in a car accident and , although he is o.k., I
am trying to see if I can be of any help as the idiot who rear-ended him
at 60 miles an hour claims it's my Dad's fault.......I am working on
three, no, make that four projects simultaneously..... I am taking care
of a sick Kitty..( as I am sitting here my business phone is ringing at
8:30 at night!) AND...and I would like to 'blog' once in a while.
Actually I had planned on staying on top of this weblog at least every
other day. O.K......so ......I went on a business appointment yesterday
. I sat down at this guy's desk across from him and listened to his
spiel. At his back were these very open, clear glass Church type windows
going up about six feet at the corner of his 'corner ' office. He had a
great view of all the corners at the street intersection. All of a
sudden a lonely ladder with no apparent human attached falls gently
against the windows. In a few seconds a man in uniform climbs up the
rungs and begins to wash the windows. My Business colleague turned for a
second to look at the window washer. "Can't look" he said "I'm afraid of
heights," and then turned towards me to continue his discussion. I was,
of course, facing the window all the time. It was somehow funny that two
very upstanding business suit kind of people were carrying on a serious
conversation while a very intent window washer was doing his thing less
than two feet away as though we weren't even there. I mean this guy was
really into it and concentrating directly on those picture windows even
though he was practically on top of us. Kind of intimate. And if the
windows had been open, he could have heard every word , even if we had
been whispering.............very bizarre, at least from my vantage
point. Luigi just came in to show me a small saucepan he had taken from
the refrigerator. "What is this puke?" he says pointing to my half eaten
oatmeal from yesterday's breakfast. He needed the pan to cook something
. "I guess you can throw it out", I said. But as he went back to the
kitchen I called after him to explain to him that I really like oatmeal
and it made my nipples hard. ( I don't think he heard me. ) Results not
guaranteed. Neither are the absurdist comments made on this program.
Hey, don't go suing this website if it doesn't work for you. See Ya,
(before 2003) Peach