Here's a new thread that I will try very hard not to make into a rant about my corner. I am interested in opinions about how an environment (such as a particular neighborhood) affects one's personal attitude toward the space, toward others, etc.
Here's the example: My husband totally refuses to clean up after our dog. (He tries to convince me that it's biodegradable and I respond that the grass will be dead way before that but whatever.) So I do all the cleaning up, particularly on walks. Anyway, one time we went to Sebastian Joe's for an ice cream and a walk down to Lake of the Isles with the dog. My husband finished his treat while I was still working on mine, and the dog decided to, um, do her thing. I informed my beloved that while I may not be terribly squeamish, I certainly could not combine clean-up efforts with chocolate ice-cream savoring, and that's that. His response? "Okay, gimme the baggie, but I'm only doing this because we're in KENWOOD and it would be a terrible thing to mess this place up!" This is fascinating to me. In my neighborhood, people throw trash, let their dogs do stuff all over my front lawn, (daily) walk through my flowers, and even urinate on my steps. (I'm beginning to think this last one is personal because it's so gross and unbelievable, but anyway...) I know some people who literally told me that they feel it's not so bad to litter or whatever if the place already seems dirty. Maybe this is the key. I don't know though, because I pick up the trash on my corner regularly, along with other peoples' dog evidence, and have planted two large boulevard gardens. It hasn't really worked in terms of making people less likely to mess it up. Oh yes, and I almost forgot the most agregious offense! Some of you may remember me complaining a couple of years ago about how I planted three baby apple trees on my boulevard, and two of them were literally ripped out of the ground and thrashed to death. Well we still have the third, but it's a sad sight. Someone has actually been snapping branches off, one at a time, all summer so that now it is a little stump with one piddly branch remaining. (The top shoot got snapped too, so it's practically like a bonsai these days.) So I'll stop complaining now, but does anyone have any thoughts on this? Is this a psychological thing related to poor neighborhoods? I think it's not just the people living here, and it's not just kids. (They have kids in Kenwood, right??) I'm convinced that there is a deeper root to this issue, and perhaps many. Connie Nompelis Ventura Village __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! SiteBuilder - Free, easy-to-use web site design software http://sitebuilder.yahoo.com TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
