I Beg Your Pardon

We have all seen them at some point. Some people fear them, while others detest them and wish they'd go away. Some people even laugh at them, but many more feel sorry for them. It doesn't matter if it's day time or night. They walk amongst us every day. Nor does it matter if it's downtown, in the city, in the ghettos, or the suburbs. They are every where. Although they are not extraordinarily abundant in numbers, you can't seem to avoid them. Whether you're walking down the street, coming out of the store, or even driving in your car. The "signs" of their presence is apparent. Regardless of how you feel about them they're not going anywhere.


By now you're probably all curious as to who or what I am talking about. Well if you haven't yet figured it out this blog is dedicated to the Homeless. Also known as bums, panhandlers, and hobos.

The homeless are the poorest of the poor. So poor that in some instances, they have no choice but to live outdoors even in cold climates. So poor that they're only income and or meals usually come from begging. It is very sad when a person becomes homeless and has no roof over their head or food to eat. I am actually one of the individuals that at times feels sorry for these individuals especially when they are children or disabled. We can debate all day about the homeless and the role the government should play in helping to assist them. But that's not what I'm focusing on. In this blog I want to discuss the panhandling tactics of some homeless individuals.


Although I do empathize with the homeless, I guess the skeptic in me won't always allow me to give to the homeless panhandlers. I guess bottom line I don't always trust my hard earned change is going to food or shelter or whatever they've told me they need the money for. In fact, I have the perfect example. One cold winter night I was in the hood and I had a taste for White Castle's chicken rings. So, I stopped at the drive through. As I'm placing my order a homeless man comes up to the car and said "If you have any change after you pay can you help me out with getting something to eat?" Now again, anyone that knows me knows I'm a big skeptic (Ask my cousin about Cris Angel. LoL). However, since he mentioned food and it was cold out I felt I should help him out. So, I went ahead and ordered my chicken rings, an order of fries, and a White Castle's Burger aka a slider. So, I proceed to window 2 and pay and receive my food. As I get ready to pull off the man is waiting right there after the window 2. As I drive past I reach in my bag, roll down my window, and hand the man the burger.


Now I can't calculate how much change I would have had without buying that burger but it's safe to say that a $0.59 cent white castle burger was about equivalent, and possibly a little more. Well as I hand this man the burger I have the slight feeling that I've done something good. Not really to better the world but at least in this man's life for right now. But that feeling quickly turned to anger when I noticed the look on the man's face as I handed him the burger. The look on his face was almost in disgust that I gave him food as opposed to money. He just looked at me and didn't even say thank you. I was comptemplating going snatching my burger back. But I was so pissed that I said "yeah you're welcome" and just rolled up my window and quickly sped off.


I don't know about any of you, but the 2 things I hate wasting the most are time and money. I was upset that I wasted my money on this homeless man. Some may be thinking it's only $0.59 cents what's the big deal? Well the change I spent won't make or break me but it's really a matter of principal. That change could have gone into my son's piggy bank like the rest of my change usually does. But no I wasted it on a burger for someone that didn't even appreciate my effort. I hate to sound cliche but "beggars can't be choosers!!" No pun intended of course.


But that's just one experience, but I can't lie it definitely didn't make it any easier for another homeless person to get my spare change out of me. Likewise, I saw a segment on an episode of Manswers on Spike TV that had to do with professional begging. In that segment I saw some statistics that made me damn near blow a gasket. It stated that some professional beggars can earn up to $49 an hour, $300 a day, and even $78,000 a year. I was floored to think that as hard as I work it would take me almost twice as long to earn what some of the top professional beggars do. After hearing this story I was done with helping panhandlers. That 50 cents can stay in my own pocket as opposed to helping someone live better than me for free. Watch the video below.

However, there are some homeless individuals that I would consider giving to. For instance, here in Chicago a lot of the homeless will sell a newspaper called The Defender. This is a homeless publication and I believe the proceeds go to help the homeless. Now I don't have a problem giving these guys a buck from time to time. At least they're working for their money, and at least I get a newspaper for my dollar. Also, the homeless that will clean your window I sometimes don't mind giving money. Again they're working for their money. If my window is dirty and they're willing to clean it for some change then it's a fair enough deal. But I will admit that I do hate when they just come up to your car without asking and clean the windshield then expect some money. No one gave you permission to clean my window man. Maybe I wanted that bird crap stain to stay there for a while.

The bottom line is that if they're trying to get money out of me they have to do much more than just hold out a cup or tell me a sob story. In addition, just holding up a sign saying something like "Homeless please help. God Bless" isn't good enough for me either. Perhaps some of you would/will give based on these things and God Bless you for that. However, I'm talking about me here. You want this change you better come with it. LoL. I mean if you're at the strip club and a girl just stands there in front of you and doesn't even take off her clothes or dance is that enough to make you want to make it rain? Well maybe some of ya'll but not me LoL. I worked hard for this money so you're going to have to convince me that it's worth my dollar is all I'm saying. It's no different than any other transaction. Again, no pun intended but maybe they need to try to think "out of the box." LoL. But, I took the time to find a bunch of panhandling signs that are all very unique. I've commented below on them and explained how much I would give and why.

This is a very creative sign. Very colorful and attention getting. The caption is actually funny. I love how they wrote out vibrator as if the letters themselves are vibrating. I'm not too sure if I empathize with the guy though. And I'm not down with contributing to someone else's inner freak especially if I don't benefit. LoL. Maybe he should have included a picture of his wife. If she's ugly then I can understand him wanting to get her a new vibrator asap. LoL. But just based on the comedy factor I'd give him 50 cents. $1-$2 if he could produce a picture of an ugly wife. LoL.

Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a gambling man. So I wouldn't be able to resist taking this guy up on his bet. I'd bet about $1. He doesn't look that fast and his knee looks to be injured so I would even be willing to give him 2:1 odds on this bet. But I believe in paying up on bets so if I lose I would definitely pay up and even let him keep the quarter. I'm sure it's probably a scam though. I would get ready to throw the quarter and his ass would be dodging quarters like The Matrix. LoL. But if I did win I couldn't see taking his money. But I would let him keep the winning quarter for being a good sport.

Man this guy has my attention already. I feel him 100%. I have been there before. When my divorce finalized I had to give up the house I had bought, fixed up and lived in for almost 5 years to my ex-wife. I was essentially homeless. Thank God my grandmother let me crash on her couch for a few weeks until I found me a new place to live. But when I think back I also thank God I had a job because if I had neither I would have been homeless for real. So to this guy I'd give him at least $5 just because I feel his pain. As the song says sometimes it's "cheaper to keep her." LoL.

This is another comical sign. We all know the story behind New York Governor Elliot Spitzer and his prostitution bust. I'm assuming this guy is in New York. So if I was in New York and saw this guy and his sign I'd give him at least $0.60 just for the laugh. I would give more but I'm not trying to contribute to his prostitution addiction especially not at that astronomical price. If I had a condom in my wallet I would throw that in the plate as well. He will need it if he ever reaches his goal.

First off is it just me or does this guy bare an eerie resemblance to the late great Issac Hayes? Well as for his sign. Depending on how my day has been going I may have to take him up on his offer and tell him off for $2. So for $2 I'd go ahead and get my vent on. First off are you hot or cold? I mean you have a leather coat with the fur on the collar but yet you have no shirt on under it and the coat is unzipped. So make up your damn mind!! Put on a shirt and cover up that taco meat on your chest. Next, get a job stop begging and work for your money!! Lastly, wake yo ass up!! LoL. I mean what have you done to make you so damn tired? It's not like you just worked a 9-5 so you have no reason to be sleep in the middle of the day. And put on some socks man!! Okay I feel better now. That was actually worth my $2. Thanks.

Well if you've ever read any of my blogs and their titles then you know that I like to use the play on words. So this sign is right up my alley. First off the guy is a big guy so he definitely looks as if he can get his eat on. So, just off the funny factor of the sign I would be willing to give him about a buck for a burger or something. He definitely doesn't look to have missed too many meals so his sign must be working. Also, is it me or is he dressed like he works at a Target? I don't know he could be suspect. Maybe he's just on his lunch break and forgot his lunch or something. I would have to pull the sign back if I see a name tag he gets nothing from me. I'm not giving anything to someone that is gainfully employed.

Okay I'm going to walk lightly on this one because I know the secret service may be reading. All I must say is that this man has some balls. So I admire his boldness. However, he was smart enough to make sure his face was blurred out of this pic. But to even whisper those words like the Ying Yang Twins can get your ass locked up if the wrong person hears you. I'm not even going to type them. The picture is clearly not of a black man so to the C.I.A. it's not me. I don't know the date of this picture but if it was recent he wouldn't get anything from me Bush will be out soon anyway. But just for saying what I'm sure a lot of Americans want to say. I'm not saying me personally for Big Brother that's watching. But to this guy I'd give him about $3 buck for his boldness alone.

Now this is another bold move. However, if I was driving along this road I'd have to thank this guy. Apparently the Sheriff's Department are doing some sort of traffic sting and this guy is giving motorist a fair warning to be prepared. So now you can slow down, buckle up, and toss any illegal drugs or guns in the stash spot. If you were ticketed for speeding or no seat belt you're looking at a ticket of at least $25 or more. And if you're riding dirty well you already know that's going to cost you your freedom. Therefore, just on potentially saving me money I'd give this guy $5. And his friend at least a dollar I'm feeling the shirt (see blog entitled 9-1-1 Is a Joke). LoL .

I don't know if this was a shameless plug or what. But I tried to put in this website address and got nothing. So maybe he was just trying to be creative. However, I'm not trying to be funny but he should have put http://www.spareteeth.com/. I see him needing that more than the change. Maybe the tooth fairy will fly past and drop something off in ya boys' cup. LoL. But he seems to be in good spirits about his situation so I would help him out with a dollar.

Okay finally!! This is what I been waiting for. Finally a panhandler that's keeping it real. No sob story here about being down on his luck or nothing to eat. He's putting it out there that he's trying to get money for not just beer, but also pot, and a hooker. Well if I came out of the liquor store from buying a case of beer and saw this sign I'd help him out. One ice cold beer from my case. About $0.75 value. Just a token of my appreciation for this man not wasting my time with a bullshit story in order to get my spare change. Enjoy the ice cold refreshing beer my friend. You'll have to get someone else to help you out with the hookers and weed.

Okay this guy is really going to the extremes to get his panhandle on. I have 2 problems with this guy's tactics. First, this guy is out of order for portraying himself as Jesus.
The robe and collection plate are way too much. Secondly, this sign is way too extreme. It's bad enough I have to worry about eternal damnation when I'm in church and pass the collection plate without contributing. But now I got this guy out on the street trying to condemn me to hell fire if I don't give to him. This guy wouldn't get a dime from me. If you read my blog (E-Mail and Text Forwards) I don't respond to scare tactics especially dealing with Hell. LoL. Also, being a black man white Jesus doesn't scare me much anyways. So, if his collection plate passed my way I'd most likely drop some chicken bones in it like Arsenio Hall on Coming To America. LoL.





So you mean to tell me someone kidnapped your wife and demanded a large ransom or they would harm your wife? Then you scraped and collected all this money to give for the ransom and when you counted it you were exactly $0.98 cents short? Man get the hell outta here. LoL. Even if that was the case if you're going to hold a sign that says your wife was kidnapped then you may as well have gone to the police. Then they would be handling the kidnapping and negotiations so you wouldn't have to be out begging for $0.98 cents. Although I give him props for attempting to be creative, he didn't think his story out well enough for him to get any money out of me. If his wife was really kidnapped I may let him use my phone to call 9-1-1 that's about it.






Hey doesn't this guy look familiar? And wait doesn't the sign look familiar too? I think it's our friend with the kidnapped wife. It's obviously a different day as he's changed clothes. Hey look even his sign has changed. He now needs $0.99 as opposed to the $0.98 cents he needed on the sign before. So did he somehow lose a penny during his attempt to scrape up the ransom money? Oh I get it, the kidnappers called and decided that the ransom wasn't high enough and decided to up it by a whole penny right? Man get this sign out of my face! I didn't fall for it the first time and now that I see you again with the same sign you're definitely not getting even that penny from me.





This sign is a nice attempt of this guy to be clever. However, the one thing he's not thinking about is that on every alcoholic beverage there is a disclaimer from the Government. "(1)According to The Surgeon General, women should not drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects. (2) Consumption of alcoholic beverages impairs your ability to drive a car or operate machinery, and may cause health problems." So in other words if you drink you will get drunk and your liver will look like a raisin in the sun if you drink too much. So the Government has done all the research necessary on alcohol and they don't need your help. Nice try though. You get an E for effort, but no money from me.

Now this sign is funny for a couple of reasons. First, I'm picturing big man here in a tight karate
outfit trying to learn kung-fu. Next, I'm trying to imagine a bunch of ninjas coming to the hood to kill this guys' family. I've been to enough hoods to know that even trained ninjas won't go there. So, if a group of individuals wearing all black killed his family I guarantee they weren't ninjas. Now if you subtract the nj from ninjas and add gg in it's place then the sign would be much more believable to me. I know I'm joking about someone's family being killed but I'm following his lead he's the one with smiley faces on the sign. I got a good laugh on this one $0.60 cents from me.

Another keeping it real sign. "Why lie I need a beer." Truer words could not have been spoken. I have to feel him on this one. Who doesn't need a beer from time to time? Again, if I had a beer on me I would definitely be willing to share with this man. Plus it looks hot out so I'm sure the cold beer would cool him off.

Again this guy is keeping it real. However, beer is one thing. I'm not going to support someone's drug habit. I know you're probably like you'll help destroy someone's liver but not their brain from drugs. Well yes it's a double standard but I have that right to choose where my money goes. I'm not forcing the beer down the man's throat. LoL. But back to this sign. I like the fact he is admitting he's not even homeless. If I were homeless and saw his sign I'd come over there and kick his ass. He's taking away from me being able to eat when he just wants to get high.

So the moral to this story a panhandler must be clever and creative to maximize their opportunity for getting money, especially from me. But hell, if a top notch professional beggar can make $78,000 a year then I'm definitely in the wrong profession. I am actually in the process of looking for a new job. So, Don't be surprised if you're walking downtown one day and you see me holding a "Will Rap For Food" sign. I'll have a portable CD player playing my debut CD "Ripped from the Headlines" and have copies of the album for sale (album coming soon, shameless plug I know). But at least I'll be selling you something and not just begging. But for real if you see your boy out there show me a little bit of support. Even if you don't buy a cd I'll spit a hot 16 for you for your spare change. LoL.

--C-Recks--

(Crank Dat Homeless Man)

Man Up!! Part 9

What time is it?? It's Man Up Time!! So with no further ado let's get right into it. Remember this blog represents what we consider to be Man Up Rules. So, each week we'll add to the list just based off of our observations and perspectives. So be sure to check back weekly. Note: Most rules apply to men/boys age 13 and older (except where noted). Also, the rules are in no particular order.

Man Up Rule #34:
Sports Athletes are truly gifted individuals that have abilities to run faster, hit harder, throw farther, and jump higher than the average person can. However, if you can't excel in a particular sport by training, practicing, and working hard then you don't deserve to really play. For those of you men that feel you have to use performance enhancing drugs in order to get stronger we say Man The Hell Up!! You're tainting the sports we've come to love since young boys and you're ruining them for the younger generations coming up. But then again, go ahead keep it up we hope your balls shrink up on you. LoL.

(This is just damn ridiculous!!)

Man Up Rule #35:

It may have been cool when the Fonz (Image 1) did it back when happy days was still on the air. But for some reason guys have started flipping their collars up again. This look is a no go. There is no reason for your collar to be flipped up. It looks ridiculous and it may be an unknown indicator of your status. So, please do not adopt this look even if you see it being done on TV. If you look at Image 2 and 3 they're actually double violations. The Pink Shirt/collar flipped (Image 2), and The unbuttoned shirt/collar flipped (Image 3).

(Image 1)
(Image 2)(Image 3)

Man Up Rule #36:

The V-Neck T-Shirt doesn't make to much sense. Especially when you have the option to wear just a regular crew neck t-shirt. I guess if you're wearing like a V-Neck sweater then you should wear a v-neck t-shirt. But regardless we are banning them. I mean what's damn the V for anyway? Men don't have cleavage or anything to show off so why not just wear a regular t-shirt?

(Johnathan Rhys-Meyers)

To Be Continued...

Brothers' Perspective

--DrizaDre--

--C-Recks--

Generation "Next"

Dear Lil Cory and Javon,

Nephews, I want to start by saying, of course, that I Love you tremendously. There's a lot that I know you will never understand about me as your uncle, but I write this to you so that I do my job as an uncle. And so that one day, you will be able to do the same for your nieces and nephews.

The responsibility of being an uncle is tremendous. A lot of aunts and uncles either shirk their responsibilities or don't fully comprehend just how important they are in the development of their nieces and nephews. And to this point, it took me entirely too long to begin to live up to mine. So this little letter is to make sure that no matter what happens, you'll always have a lasting image of the lessons that I hope to impart to the both of you.

First, drugs are bad! I know it sounds cliche, but they are. There is absolutely no excuse for you to live your life addicted to them in any way. If you do start down that path, please do all that you can to ween yourself from them. (Ask any of us for help. We will not judge you, and will do all in our power to assist you). I know that there are a lot of negative forces in this world that may try and draw you down that path, but I guarantee you that your life will always be better served by confronting your problems head on. It won't be easy, but you will be a better Man for it.
Second, and along the same lines, don't deal drugs. As young black men, don't give the system the opportunity to throw your black asses in jail. I know that the allure of the fast money and women that being a drug dealer brings may seem appealing at first. But in the long run, you only expose yourself to more negativity and despair. And trust me, from what I know, you only wind in 2 places from it: jail, or the cemetary. (Watch Scarface or New Jack City for a visual reference). And I don't want to see you in either place. Anything in this life worth having is worth working for!

Third, white people will pay you to do some of anything for them. All you have to do is humble yourself, and not live your life saying what you won't do. Too often, our people are heard saying I would NEVER. And that's fine if we're talking about truly compromising yourself and your principles. But there's no shame in an honest living. NONE! And don't ever let anyone tell you differently.

Fourth, if at all possible, go to college. Not just for the education, college will provide you the opportunity to expose yourself to all different walks of life. Don't live your life inside a bubble. Some of my greatest experiences have been when I stepped outside of what would be considered my norm. And besides, you will never have more of an opportunity to meet women as you will while you're in college. Oh, and if you can, stay in the dorms for at least a year. Trust me, you'll love it. Which brings me to #5.

Fifth, do not settle down before your time. Nephews, this is one of the most important lessons that I learned the hard way. Love is wonderful. But just because you discover love at 17, 18, 19, does not mean that the love endures until you're 21, 22, 23. If she's the one for you, you'll truly know. But please do not feel as though because the two of you like Mexican food, or that you are both scorpios, that somehow that girl is the perfect girl for you. I know you will hear it a million times, but know your Uncle Dre said it first, you will meet tons of girls. And you will find great qualities in many of them. That doesn't mean that you need to settle down with any of them. As I was told that my Grandfather John said to my father, get all the gusto you can. (Gusto meaning P. And by the time you understand this, you'll know what P is).

But sixth, if you make a baby, take care of it! Being a real man has nothing to do with the number of babies you can make. Being a real man has everything to do with living up to your responsibilities. If you and a young lady make a baby, you are OBLIGATED to help her raise that child. Both financially and emotionally. And on this one, like no other rule, I will physically kick your asses if you try to dodge this responsibility. (So I don't wanna hear any shit when I start swinging on you, you'll already know why).

And last, for now, family is the most important thing in life. (Next to God). Let me tell you that no people in this world will ever piss you off like your family. However, no other people in this world will ever have your back like your family. Always make sure that you reciprocate. Spending time with friends is cool, but in the end, blood is thicker than water. (Sorry, but you will hear that one a million times too). And the time spent with your family will always stand out in your mind. No matter what.

I hope to have the opportunity to update this list as time goes on. I know you cats are just 4, but I don't ever want the chance to impart wisdom into your lives to ever slip past me. And just know that as long as I'm here, I will always be available to you guys for anything. And even if you don't feel like your parents will understand, I will. Live life to the fullest! (Again, expect another million times).

I Love You,

Uncle Dre

I D.A.R.E. You

I can recall back to being in 4th grade when I was first introduced to something that was brand new to me in so many ways. Somehow my parents had managed to basically never expose me to the knowledge that such a thing even existed up until this point. What is it that I'm speaking of you ask? Well the answer would be Drugs. Well I know that it seems odd in today's times that a 10 year old not know anything about drugs. But I can honestly say I don't ever recall knowing or hearing about them until this point in my life (However, alcohol I knew very well growing up with my Grandfather John). Well that was until my teacher 4th Grade Teacher Ms. Bernier (I had a crush on her. lol) announced that we would be having a D.A.R.E. assembly later that day. My young mind immediately began to wonder what is D.A.R.E.?

Well later that day an L.A.P.D. officer quickly explained what D.A.R.E. was to myself and an auditorium full of other 3rd, 4th and 5th graders. I don't recall what exactly what happen specifically next but I'm sure I ran home with all kinds of questions for my parents. Also, I remember later being selected as a finalist to read my speech I wrote about D.A.R.E. during the D.A.R.E. graduation program. Ironically, I can remember my father sitting up the night before helping me to write this speech. If you knew my father's history you would also appreciate the irony. Well I went on to deliver my speech and graduate from the D.A.R.E. program with my dad in the audience to congratulate me. I received my D.A.R.E. t-shirt, button, hat, bumper sticker, key chain and knowledge about drugs and gangs that I supposed helped to keep me somewhat on the straight path.

So good job ex LAPD Police Chief Darryl Gates on your D.A.R.E. Program, and good job President Reagan on your diligence on the "War on Drugs."

However, I decided to do just a little history on D.A.R.E. beyond what I learned from the officers in the 4th grade. Well in case you've been reading D.A.R.E. and either don't remember or are wondering what the acronym stands for it's Drug Abuse Resistance Education. Well according to Wikipedia D.A.R.E. was founded in 1983 and "Students who enter the program sign a pledge not to use drugs or join gangs and are taught by local law enforcement about the dangers of drug use in an interactive in-school curriculum which lasts ten weeks. DARE is popular and well-funded, at least in the United States. However, numerous scientific studies of the program report that D.A.R.E. does not actually decrease drug use among graduates. Some studies have even indicated that there is an increased rate of drug use among D.A.R.E. graduates. In 2001, the Surgeon General of the United States placed the D.A.R.E. program in the category of "Does Not Work".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Abuse_Resistance_Education

Well when I read this I was truly in shock. So you mean to tell me that all those weeks of studying about drugs and drug awareness and prevention was all for nothing? You mean I stayed up late wrote that speech delivered it to an audience full of my peers for nothing? I walked around wearing a t-shirt and hat promoting D.A.R.E. all for nothing? Well how DARE you waste my precious time!! I could have been at recess or some other 4th grade activity instead of hour long assemblies. LOL. J/k. But of course it was not a total waste of time because I did believe in what I was learning at the time and again I am a successful product of the D.A.R.E. campaign and although many have taken the pledge and broken their word I'm sure there are many other success stories that came/come from D.A.R.E.

In fact, Wiki reports that "According to the D.A.R.E. website, 36 million children around the world — 26 million in the U.S. — are part of the program. The program is implemented in 80% of the nation's school districts, and 54 countries around the world. D.A.R.E. was one of the first national programs promoting zero tolerance. The D.A.R.E. program has received numerous accolades and awards for delivering the message to keep "kids off drugs" and remains widely popular and well funded, receiving over $1 billion per year in the United States alone."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Drugs

Well while we're on the subject of the supposed war on drugs I was curious to know how far we've come in this fight. According to the trusty Wiki "This total was estimated by the federal U.S. government's cost report on drug control to be roughly $12 billion in 2005. Additionally, in a separate report, the U.S. government reports that the cost of incarcerating drug law offenders was $30.1 billion—$9.1 billion for police protection, $4.5 billion for legal adjudication, and $11.0 billion for state and federal corrections. In total, roughly $45.5 billion was spent in 2005 for these factors." Now I am sure that there are many tactics implemented by the DEA to stop drugs from entering the country and hitting the inner city streets. And I'm not here to knock the DEA by any means because I know their job is not an easy task.

Unfortunately, it's not working too well at least from what my eyes detect. I've been throughout the "hood" sections of Chicago and needless to say you won't drive too far before someone throws up the universal "I got weed sign." For those of you unfamiliar it's simply putting your fingers to your mouth as if imitating you're smoking. So just in case you ever find yourself lost and driving through the "hood" if you see someone doing this don't worry it's not a gang sign. They just want you to know that if you're looking to buy weed, marijuana, green or whatever clever nickname you want to call it they got it. Funny thing is that I work and live in the suburbs but I was recently walking home from work and I walked past a Caucasian young man and heard him yelling "Hey!" Not knowing who he was talking to I kept walking he then yelled louder and I looked back and noticed he was talking to me. So I stopped and asked "what's up?" The guy then proceeds to ask if I have or know where he can get weed from? I quickly answered no to both and proceeded to take my black ass home. Well the black ass part was I'm sure part of why he chose to assume I had weed or knew where he could get some. I could go deeper into this stereotyping but that's probably best fit for another blog all by itself. But just goes to show you that you don't have to be in the heart of the ghetto to be confronted with drugs and drug use.

So back to the war on drugs, that's where we were. Well there's one tactic that I've discussed with my brother and a few others that I don't believe the DEA has used in their efforts to keep drugs off the streets. What I continue to say is we need to find out who makes and supplies the "baggies." Yes those small bags that fit only a nickel or dimes worth of drugs in them is exactly what I'm referring to. I'm no drug expert so please don't take what I'm saying as evidence I deal or use drugs because I don't. But being young and black and having lived in the inner city and still knowing people that do you get exposed to some things. Therefore, I know that to make certain drugs there are certain products you can use such as a scale, baking soda, razor blades. Well those are common items that you can basically pick up at any grocery store. However, I've never seen the little "baggies" in aisle 3 of the grocery store along with the sandwich bags and foil. Or maybe it's just me they are pretty small so maybe I've just missed them, but I doubt it. I just have never seen them used for anything else ever, so if they had another practical use then I could understand them being produced but I just don't have one. Then some even dare to have the marijuana leaf symbol on the outside of the bag. Come on now you can't tell me there is another use for such a bag. I mean it's bad enough that drug users are getting swindled as is. Well so I've heard, my parents have occasionally mention how a nickel bag back in the day was a sandwich bag full of weed now they're reduced to this small ass "baggy." Talk about inflation LOL.

But basically my theory is wherever dealers are getting these baggies from can lead to someone that has a connection with a lot of dealers. Now will it work or not I don't know, but to me if you haven't at least tried it then hell it's worth a try. But perhaps they have and figured the baggies were irrelevant to stopping the war on drugs. Now yes I'm positive that if they eliminate the suppliers of the little "baggies" that the dealers will use something else to package their drugs in. Anything from sandwich bags, to foil, to paper, plastic wrap, to tissue, bubble gum wrappers, etc. By no means am I saying it will solve the war on drugs single handedly but I think it would maybe give them inside access to some of the low level people and perhaps give them a chance to move their way up the ladder.

Well all in all I feel that drugs will always be in our society no matter how many billions the Government spends on the war on drugs. So ultimately there is nothing D.A.R.E. or removing little baggies can or will do to stop drugs and drug usage. However, when my child is as of age I do hope that programs like D.A.R.E. still exist. Although I don't expect them to my job as a parent, but I think it's a great way to begin the prevention and awareness especially in school where I won't be. But as a parent I will do the best I can to keep him as far away from drugs as I can.


C-Recks.