[Cadre-politics] So why is Lowell so "Ghetto"

[Dan MacNeil]

At my day job, I work with a good natured, industrious, superficially 
cynical [1], rich [2] boy [3] from parts well north of here. He has the 
job because he has nearly perfect grades. While he knows little about 
LINUX, he is learning more and is cheerful about putting paper in the 
printer and creating accounts.

Yesterday, he innocently asked:

	"So why is Lowell, so 'ghetto' ?"

Partly because I wanted to quickly move our latest donation (thank you 
MELLOW NEON and LAVA CROSSES GLACIER) out of PaPal and into our bank, 
partly because I wanted to resume procrastinating about the LowellDeeds 
stuff and partly because I sensed:

	"WELL, YOUNG SHIT-WIT, MAYBE NOT EVERYONE IN LOWILL IS RICH"

...wasn't going to win a heart or mind. I asked for a bit more detail 
and muttered:

	"Well, downtown is probably a lot more to your taste."

On reflection, I think his question was not as shallow as I first thought.

Some more context:

The question came after his first (and last?) 200 yard walk up the hill 
to Jo-ann's Deli  (aka the "Fontane family variety store"). This is a 
journey that few students make. I might not have made it myself, if 
Eduardo C had not been my guide.

If I understand correctly, symptoms of "ghetto" are:

	Cheesy old store signs paid for by Coca-cola corporation.

	Garbage strewn about the sidewalks.

Obviously, outside the bubble that encapsulates the North Capmus section 
of Pawtucketville there are parts of Lowell that are not at all "Ghetto".

Downtown, 3-4 guys in khaki shirts [4] walk around, pick up litter and 
empty trash cans. Downtown has quaint street lights and regulations 
against cheesy cola signs. In the middle highlands many people own their 
homes and pick up trash blown into their small yards.  The low income 
housing run by CBA [5] is spotless on the outside.  I see servants 
maintaining the estates in the upper highlands and in upper belividere.

But all this is tangential. There are times and places in Lowell where 
garbage drifts like dirty snow against the sides of buildings.

The signs are probably easiest to explain. Swank new signs cost money. 
In the pawtucketville mercantile exchange, lowering the retail price of 
a "Jo-Ann's special steak sandwich" from $4.95 to $4.75 will enhance 
revenues more surely than a swank sign. The choice is apparently obvious.

A little deeper, I'm not so sure. Downtown there is a coffee shop. A 
machinist at my church refused to patronize it. He vastly prefers Dunk'n 
Donuts, despite the fact that DD's management occasionally removes the 
few tables to discourage heron addicts from swapping needles. (A 
customer once found a needle taped below a table.)

My machinist friend's complaints are "too pricy" and "too fancy" I'll 
admit that Andy's place [6] is is a tiny, tiny little bit precious but 
the reality is that he charges 35 cents less for a cup of coffee than 
Dunk'n Donuts.

My guess is that Jo-Ann's would hesitate to take a swank sign even if it 
was free. I doubt her customers see themselves as "ghetto". They are 
"regular neighborhood people"  Jo-Ann's kinfolk will cheerfully take the 
rich boy's money, provide some almost home cooked food in a simple but 
clean shop and (if they are in a good mood) extend a sincere and 
cheerful greeting. However, I doubt their identity includes "classy", or 
"up-scale" and I can't fault them for that.

As to the garbage, that is a tougher question. As, (you faithful and 
attentive readers) know, most days, I walk through the infamous Acre to 
get to work. There are parts (not maintained by CBA [5] ) where the 
strewn garbage is disgusting.

Until today, my reaction was primarily:

	"Those people have no pride, how can they live like that?".

The PC answer to this question might amount to "stick it to the man.", a 
sort of dirty protest [7]

Examining my own conscience, the actual answer might be simpler. Unless, 
I trip over it, I don't pick up the trash in the acre. I don't own 
property there. I'm just passing through. My guess is that the people 
who live there feel the same way.

---
[1] Superficially cynical: Jon Stewart fan.

[2] Rich: "not eligible for financial aid" or  "U.S citizen",
     either applies.

[3] Men and woman pay their own bills or get married.
     Boys and girls have their bills paid by parents.

[4] Khaki shirts are workers.  Khaki pants are yuppies

[5] http://cbacre.org

[6] http://brewdawakening.com/

[7]http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/troubles/hungerstrikes/blanket.shtml