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December 5, 2015
Happy Acres: "I pulled off at Vallejo. It was the saddest experience I’ve had in a long time."
I pulled off at Vallejo. It was the saddest experience I’ve had in a long time. An old, historic, picture postcard town…now a set in the Walking Dead. At the top of the map, where Redwood intersects 29, beggars man the four corners, like unspeakably dirty bridge trolls. You intuit they’re permanent fixtures. All around in every direction, your eyes see nothing but dirt, decay, neglect, enshamblement, coarsening, rust – like civilization & intelligence up & left and the jungle is reclaiming the place. But the jungle is reclaiming it SLOWLY, as if to prolong the torture. Hints of the genteel past make it excruciatingly painful to witness.
Graffiti covers every surface. White faces are rare. I did see a regal white matron walking down the Main Street sidewalk who acted like it was all normal around her. Further down Old Main Street - which must have resemble a picturebook not so long ago - quaint storefronts are tarted up like a mockery of their former selves: check-cashing, tattoos, gov’t welfare, pawn Enterprising old black men were pushing garbage containers, scavenging I guess. On every block, always in pairs, dressed in rags. A mob of black teens startled us as they appeared from nowhere, pedalling bikes against the traffic, weaving between cars, chased by other screaming black kids on foot, all in the middle of downtown in the middle of the day. It was chaos. HappyAcres
Posted by gerardvanderleun at December 5, 2015 10:58 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Ghetto President + Ghetto Politics = Ghetto Economy
Posted by: Neither more nor less ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://americandigest.org/sidelines/nav-commenters.gif)
at December 5, 2015 11:43 AM
Diversity and multiculturalism.
They kill everything, everywhere they go.
Will you be next?
Posted by: ghostsniper at December 5, 2015 1:13 PM
That's sad.
I've had it happen to me a couple of times and it's a real belt in the gut.
Nice things require work.
We're in the process of selling our 200 year ols farmhouse.
This feedback from a showing last week sums up life perfectly.
Erica,
They really love the house, especially the property with all of the cool outbuildings stonewalls and trellises. The home showed beautifully. We appreciated the warm stove and candle! Their decision will be based on whether they want to purchase an older home that needs a lot of upkeep, or a newer one…
Thanks, Jane
Posted by: bilejones at December 5, 2015 3:25 PM