Lock Down

Sitting here, mini-pizza in the oven waiting for Jo but apparently he can't leave the school. I guess its the first lock-down of the school year and I'm hoping he's ok and not too hungry. The news on the street (and CBC) says that this morning a man had gone out to shoo some gang boys away from his back alley..they doused him with fuel and put him to light. 1st and 2nd degree burns....One of his neighbors said just last week, he was telling some guys to leave the neighborhood and got an eight ball in the eye (in a sock) for the trouble. Will he get up and move out, fed up with a neighborhood gone to pot? I doubt it, from the sounds of it, that's why he's there...being a voice for reason and safety. In a supposedly quiet neighborhood a friend stabs another in the chest and he's charged for murder...these are 15-16 yr old guys. Steve talked to a staff member in a local community centre who himself is one who used to be in trouble but now is giving back some positive life. With eyes watering up (it probably wasn't the smell of the onions in his sandwich) he shared with Steve the frustration and helplessness he feels when he hears stories like the one this morning.

Why are we here? Why is this young community worker striving for peace and a positive presence where he works? Mad Cow (name of an African led gang here) disease is biting feriously this fall, the anxst of young lives lived in anger, power hungry, making a scene...might be heart-pumping excitment for them but you could easily predict thier future. Hospitals, addiction programs, jails are full of the shake down at the end of that road. The big WHY looms, its not only in the West End...world wide there is alot of fear of terrorism and big crisis that affects us all. So do we move off the planet for a better neighborhood? There is no where else to go....and guess what, even astronauts probably personal junk they need to deal with too. We take it with us!

God forbid we loose hope, that h-word is the most underated one we have. "from a hopeless dope addict to a dopeless hope addict" one Teen Challenge ad has it. Hope still happens, its here, we are living it right now....that's why we live here (amoung other reasons, we happen to like lots of action). Hope in an ultimate frisbee game in the park next door with 10-15 kids coming out of the wood work, or a girl saying..."Can you hold my barbies while I swing?" and she doesn't know me worth beans, an encouraging chat with a friend trying to figure out her computer glitches, another friend has intentionally bought a house next to his that needs major repair and a couple is ready to move in out of a bed bug infested apartment....this is all in the West End, we grab and embrace hope here all the time. Meanwhile, Jo's school is still in lock down and I'm sure he's gonna be hungry when he gets home. I know he probably hoping for a good snack.....