This is what will happen to our town if we don't clean up that SPI Boulevards right now! Those T-shirt shops need to be repaired NOW! It has been four months after Hurricane Dolly, and if we don't fix up these old shops we're doomed. Cousin Jed shown in the picture will move in, and that shack has wheels, baby. It'll be squatter city before you know what hit ya.
Actually, that's a half famous Smithsonian picture of a Hooverville dwelling during the Great Depression, which was quite a find - and a popular topic these days as the economy lurches along, swooning. There were Hoovervilles all over the country and at its worse, 25 percent of working men were unemployed - they didn't count women in the working force back then.
Funny, right when many cities and counties are running out of money, we want to fix everything up all spiffy, spend a few million, and by doing so, people will shower out town in coins and hundred dollar bills. I really don't know who these people are, or how many there are, but they sure are vocal pests. Of course the Main Drag looks a little frumpy - we just had a hurricane here. Of course they're supposed to secure their property a little better. I think it takes time and insurance money but these folks are definitely chomping at the bits. I just saw three condo roof jobs being started last week, for crying out loud.
And that's exactly why I picked the Hooverville picture. The well-heeled, conservative, and richer townsfolk kept trying to run off the poor people, and the attitudes are just the same. Where is that compassion, that ability to reach out and help?
And gosh, now I think about it, I have about 3-4 months I can make it if I loose all my income and I'll be just like ole Jed up there in the picture. But let us not talk about how close we live to the dark side with the poverty, the hurricanes, and all that. We're on South Padre Island! Yay!
3 comments:
O the horror!
Truthfully, I feel kinda bad for those folks lying awake at night, obsessing about our "ugly" main drag and taking it all so horribly, terribly personally. That kind of single-minded obsession can lead to all kinds of health problems (mental and otherwise) -- not to mention turning the obsessor into a person no one else wants to be around.
I for one have other things to worry about. (I know, just another example of my selfishness....)
I really can't picture it as a Vegas strip which is now what it seems they want to create with all the lights and fantasy. People are doing what they can with what they have and those who continue to constantly moan about it should quit because it gets old.
The economy scares me and I hate to hear the news. Death, doom and destruction. I hate it, especially when my husband turns it on first thing in the morning. AAUUGHH! The sky is falling. I hope and pray everything will be okay. This is people's livelihood and it would be horrible to lose a house and then wonder, "What am I going to do?" or "How am I going to provide for my family?" This is happening in other cities. When will it reach paradise?
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