Saturday I was standing in the front yard counting the pregnant feral cats when one of my neighbors walked past with a broom and dustbin on a stick. He swept up some cigarette butts from in front of my property and meandered along, sweeping as he went. I was dumbstruck with joy at his thoughtfullness. He continuted puttering around for the better part of an hour in a Roomba like fashion until the block had left the realm of "war torn shattered shadow of a once great city" and mosied on over to "only mostly filthy", packed up two trash bags full of refuse and left. It was as he was walking away that I noticed words, emblazoned across the orange safety vest he was wearing, that said: "philadelphia community court".
I tip my hat to some anonymous judge somewhere. We need more non-violent drug offenders in this neighborhood.
