I've been wanting to write this thread for the last couple of weeks but something always held me back. I know I shouldn't blame a class of people but I am certainly beginning to understand it. (Kind of like Sam Kinnison back in the day. I don't condone spousal beating but I understand it. I can see what turns Mr. Hand into Mr. Fist. Does anybody else remember that? I loved Kenison but I digress.)

Cleveland Ohio is FULL of treasure. I can honestly say I have been amazed at what you can do here. I've vacationed in Chicago, but other than that I haven't really lived or been around a city. President Garfield's tomb is absolutely phenomenal. We visited it two weeks ago and my kid's still talk about it. The restaurants and parks are GREAT. Now why does Cleveland get such a bad rap? The industrial decay. The abject POVERTY? It's a combination of both. People just stand on street corners. For the first time in my life I want to SHOUT at complete strangers to get a f'in job. I've had numerous incidents over the past couple of weeks that makes me understand how a person can become a racist. I know it's poverty and their is white trash too. Just watch a Springer episode, but if your caucasian in a predominantly dark area. You can cut the racial tension with a knife.

Incident 1

Cameron. Nice...... intelligent........... HYPER FCKIN ACTIVE kid who has no freakin training on how to play with others and share.

On my daughter's NICU floor they have a playroom for siblings and patients that can actually make it. Now every child under 12 is supposed to monitored by their parent or gaurdian. Well Cameron's "grandpa" would rather watch television then monitor Cameron as he plays and I've never seen the daughter and Grandma is AWOL. I have a son who is 5 and going to enter kidnergarten and a daughter who is going into the fourth grade. For about two weeks they have been playing with Cameron. He's OK when his Granpa is there but the majority of time they're not and they expect you to watch over the kid. The kid is hell on wheels. Jumps off ****. Decibel levels off the charts every ten seconds. They have these Nintendo games in cases where you can put your hand through to switch games but you can't fit the disk through so people won't steal them. Cameron has broken two of them in my prescence by tring to bend them through so he can play it on the other console.

So last Sunday my kid's are playing nicely together on a Nintendo game cube and Cameron comes right over and gives Kaden a playful slap in the face and takes over the game. Not wanting to start the next Watts riots I go over and get them all to sit down and try to get them all to share the game. I'm trying to let them play in ten minute shifts. Well when it's Cameron's turn to give it up he doesnt want to. He wants to clear the level. (It's not my g damn place to babysit the fckin kid and I'm starting to get pissed off when he doesn't hand the game over) Well about seven minutes later Cam clears the level and hands the controller to my daughter. It's on the next level and she's getting frustrated because she can't do it very well and bam!!! a hard plastic fastball to the head of my daughter for not playing the game very well. It's about Vesuvious time.... Thank God a nurse just happens to walk as my daughter's crying and begins to question Cameron where his parents are at..... He has no idea. So I pull the nurse out and explain how this kid is acting. She says she will go and get the head nurse. Cameron knows the gig is up and takes off. So I take my kid's down to the Ronald McDonald room on the floor for some cartoons and snacks. It's about 50/50 in the room when the head nurse comes into the room with Cameron. She asks me in front of every parent if this is the kid who was acting up in the play room. Every black parent in the roomi s glaring bullets in me like I'm the nark who just gave up the goods. I just sheepishly say yeah that's Cameron. Was there a complaint? I'm trying to act like I'm not the one who complained but the head Nurse says "Oh don't worry about it we've had complaints about this kid for over a month". I just want to crawl into a wall. I tell my wife about it and she says If she was there she would of went all Rambo and said, "Yeah where in the Hell are his parents line" I give her the "Yeah Right Look".



Incident 2.

My wife needs a bathing suit. We plan on going to a water park at Geauga Lake. Give the kid's a day off from the hospital. So we stop off at shopping center called the Severance Center. You can tell thirty years ago this was probably an upscale area but it's starting to go down. So I get the bright idea to kill two bird's with one stone. While the wife shops for the swim suit I'll go and order BK drive thru for the family. I ask her watch she wants. She wants an original chicken with extra mayo on the side. I tell her to just put it on the sandwich but she wants to dip her fries in the mayo and when you order the extra mayo on the sandwich sometimes they go overboard. I give her the look like that's going to be too complicated she gives me the look you better damn do it. So knowing that look I order her the extra mayo on the side.

Here's my order. Two kid's meal chese burgers One plain and the other with just ketchup. An original chicken sandwich with extra mayo on the side. A veggie burger upsize the Diet Coke and fries.(My wife and I split the drink and fries)


I get back one kids' meal with a reg cheeseburger with everything. Onion pickle mustard ketchup. An upgraded girls kid's meal a dbl cheseburger with extra mayonaise. I am asked to pull to the side for my original chicken and veggie burger. I am also given a upsized REGULAR coke. It tastes to me like sugar water and there is no way I can drink it after I'm used to Diet. So I think I'll just exchange it when the guy comes out and gives me the veggie burger and original chicken. You can't change ****. A menial little task is like the Marshall plan.


So ten minutes later a guy comes out and gives me the two sandwiches with no extra mayo on the side. I ask him about the mayo and exchanging my drink and he gives me the look "like not today cracker". You need to go back through the drive thru. So I just bow my head in disgust and drive off. I go and pick up the wife and she begins to ask me why she didn't get the extra mayo. I breathe deeply. I just want to go to Geauga lake. I'll drink some of the kid's Orange Drink if I get too thirsty. She then goes on the "if it was you who wanted the extra mayo we would have gotten it". So I then think I could go inside the BK get MY OWN diet coke and grab a couple of packets of mayo for the misses. SO I agree. This is where it gets interesting. I go to the machine on the side pour out the regular and refill with Diet. No mayo packets, so I go to the side where they give you what you order.... the pick up side. I would have went throught the line but it was like 20 people deep. So I say Excuse me...... Excuse me........ I'm Mr. Freakin Invisible. One old guy comes up and asks for salt the manager turns around and gives him a packet. Another young man comes up and asks Shalaila for his check. Shaila acknowledges the young man and says she will get it for him. Meanwhile I just stand there. I have NEVER BEEN in this situation my whole life. I'm actually invisible. So I look over at "Bones Thug and Harmony" and ask him if he could get Shalaila to get me a couple of packets of mayo when she gives him his check. I'm not getting you no G damn mayonaise. So I just bow my head in disgust and walk out.


Incident 3

15 minutes Later at Wal Mart

We need to buy swim suits for the rest of the family. I go into a rest room to try on swim suits for my boy and I. They both fit so we take them off and head to the register. As we go out a teenage African America walks in. Not five steps out the door I reach from my wallet and I notice I don't have my cell phone. I must of dropped it when I took off my shorts. So I hurry back in the bathroom and guess what freakin stall Coolio just happens to choose. Out of 8 stalls he's in the g' damn one I was in. So I wait for this kid to come out and I'm panicked. I ask him if he saw a cell phone in there. He acts a little wierd (in my eyes) and says no and just leaves. So i start following this kid looking for my wife. I see my wife two aisles over. This kid keeps lookin back at me. I run over to my wife and tell her to call my cell phone. She gives me this wierd freakin look and what's to know why? I'm about ready to blow a gasket when I see my man heading for the exit. I tell her to just call it and hand off my kid. I run for the door waiting for my ring. It doesn't come. Fcker turned it off. It's a 600 dollar HTC personal computer with the contract. Has the internet and all. I love my freakin phone. I run to my car...... I'm debating whether to chase the guy and in the front seat.................. my phone, I left it in the car. There is no way I act like that at home. No WAY. It's just the racial tension up here.


Incident 4.

The worker's hide out in the bathrooms. They'll spend like 15 minutes in one and that's from the time when you walk up. I about **** my pants because a girl decides to get her extra 15 minutes of break in the bathroom. I know they are hanging out in there. One bathroom on the floor. ( One of the nurses let me in on where they go to the bathroom. They were having the same problem)



I could go on and on. I can honestly say I am not racist, but I can certainly understand how a person can become one now. I know it's poverty. It's not race, but how can you help people who have zero fckin skills or ambition. If I was brought up in this area I know I would be a different person. There are sooo many ignorant and lazy people. I have no idea how we change it, but we should get rid of any financial incentive for having more children. I just wonder how many people are on welfare here. Cleveland John Hay high school is a block from me. I know you can get the numbers of how many kid's are below the poverty line. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if it is over 70%. Cleveland Glenville is a couple of blocks from me. That's where the Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith was from. Anybody who tries to make a difference in these kid's lives are truly angels. I have more respect for Ted Ginn Sr. now than I ever have.


Poverty is a ***** boys! Maybe 1 out 20 of these kids escape it!