living in a white neighborhood

in my last post i talked a little about the behemoth playground that i took my son to the other day. i took him back today and since he had a nap he was much better behaved. as i turned into the playground i realized that i had to tinkle so i decided to just hold it until i got home. but as walked to the toddler section, i actually saw a RESTROOM. that's right. and i'm not talking about a port-a-potty, i'm talking about an actual brick building. the restroom had a unisex bathroom, a men's bathroom and a women's bathroom. and get this- the bathroom was CLEAN. and it was fully stocked with TOILET TISSUE. none of the tissue was even on the ground. and they had automatic hand driers. GTFOH!!! i don't want to sound and act like i was raised in a cave (although some parts of college park, georgia could be compared to a cave) but when was the last time you saw a huge playground that had its own well maintained brick restroom, with working faucets, a water fountain that works, and a park ranger on duty? this free park had better amenities than half of the apartments i've lived in. there was even an area to skateboard and i didn't go all the way into the park, but i'm sure there's even a neighborhood pool. and needless to say there was no litter on the ground because they had TWO trash cans that appeared to be emptied on a regular basis. this got me to thinking about the what its like living in a white neighborhood. my observations:

* don't even THINK about looking for a jamaican restaurant
* not a wing shack in sight (sigh)
* the police are friendly and wave to you (unless you drive a hoopty, that's when they tail you until you leave or until your tag comes up dirty)
* the gas stations actually have gas and you don't have some dude trying to pump your gas for you despite you telling him no 12 times
* there are no good chinese restaurants. sure there are some chinese restaurants, but no good and greasy ones. i mean the stuff that's so greasy that it slides around on your little white plastic fork. did you know that panda express doesn't even do shrimp friend rice? WTF!
* beauty supply stores (except for sally's) run by asians that are nice and mean as hell at the same time are no where to be found so getting loc butter can be a mission
* people don't barbecue until 4 o'clock in the morning
* the automatic car washes at the gas stations work
* hardly any junk cars because they WILL tow those damned things
* grocery stores have fresh produce and they have a really cool ethnic sections for spices and whatnot
* the grocery stores sell sushi
* you don't have to worry about the police driving through your apartment complex all times of day or night
* there are no soul food restaurants, and if you do find one, the food is so bad its not worth mentioning
*the mcdonald's always puts too little salt on your fries, but the soda always has the right amount of syrup
* no need to be embarrassed by truly ghetto people because they don't live here. HA!!!
* people wave to you for no reason at all
* no ice cream man
* no one walks up to you and asks you if you know who sells weed just because your hair is in locs
* no tacky signs offering to buy foreclosed homes or advertising dna tests on every corner
* there are people that stand on the corner and sell the sunday newspaper so you don't even have to run to the store
* its okay to go to a grocery store and not look your best because the people there aren't trying to date or impress anyone, they just want to buy food and go home
* buses don't run through the neighborhoods, only the main roads (a gift and a curse)
* if your political ideas are a tad radical you can't just start talking to the guy next to you about issues because he's more than likely a tad more conservative than you are
* neighbors and people driving by aren't playing music at all times of day and night
* people don't just hang on the corner until 4 am
* you get tired of running to mcdonald's, taco bell, wendy's or burger king because that's the only thing open at midnight
* i have yet to hear about thefts, violence and break ins at my apartment complex (fingers crossed)
* they hire police officers to direct traffic after church rather than just letting traffic be a mess
* no pan handlers or crackheads to step over as you exit your car
* creepy looking people stand out, rather than blending in
* when i go to the grocery store i don't see one woman with 7 kids yelling at them telling them to put stuff back (instead its a middle aged woman begging her child, timmy, to behave instead of beating his deserving ass)
* no kids on the corner begging for money for football and/or basketball (its sad that its necessary to beg for that money in black neighborhoods)
* if you're a vegetarian there are plenty of restaurants to pick from and the grocery store is very accommodating
* i saw sidewalks on BOTH sides of the street and its even a ways back from the road so you don't have to worry about cars side swiping you if you're on it
* bike trails
* the farmer's market isn't a 2 hour trip away
* they keep their grass maintained
* a play land for kids just opened up the street and i'm actually seeing families go in and come out of there, not just bored teenagers
* no liquor stores, pawn shops, and tattoo parlors on every corner


i also want to add that i live in a predominately black apartment complex, but he area surrounding it is majority white. my complex is surprisingly quiet, not that i'm complaining. we black folks need to get it together so ALL of our neighborhoods are clean, safe and organized.