It’s a Wonderful Day in the Neighborhood

As my story progresses, it will become apparent that the drug activity here is deeply rooted. It involves numerous people who live in the immediate area, as well as many of their family and friends. In fact, the reputation for this street, and even this particular corner, is known in other cities. It is not an overstatement to say that this is a drug neighborhood, rather than just a neighborhood with a little drug activity.

As bad as all that might sound, you should also realize that there are a lot of good people who live here. They work full time jobs, or are retired. They grow gardens, and keep their homes looking nice. They’ll mow a neighbor’s lawn when she’s ill, or give him a ride when his car won’t start. If something suspicious is happening on your property, your neighbors here will let you know about it. They share their time, their tools, their food and their friendship with others. It would be significantly misleading to define this neighborhood only by it’s bad elements.

The story gets more interesting when you realize that these two groups (good neighbors and drug dealers) are neither mutually exclusive nor are they coterminous. There are several dealers here who, in many other respects, qualify as good neighbors. And among the many good neighbors, there are widely varying degrees of involvement with the drug. The situation here is far more complex than some people might think.

Therefore, before I start focusing on the drug activities here, I want to introduce you to some of my good neighbors. I don’t expect that most people will read each of these posts completely. But if you do plan on following my story, at least read a bit to help you understand my perspective better. I did not keep strict records on most of these accounts, so they are a bit vague. But they do help to personalize the situation, and they might make for helpful reference tools later.

I will write about many individuals eventually, but as for these first three, I can honestly say that I would be a lesser person today if I had never known Abby, Ben and Arlen. No matter where I go or where they’ve already gone, I will always consider them to be my friends and my neighbors.