A Brief Memphis Rant, aka-Get the HELL Out of My City

I went to look at the picture of the new KROC Center in Memphis.

What bothered me is how many Memphians were making comments such as "the urban demographic will destroy it" and "it won't be nice long".

With all due respect, if you hate the damn city that much, please leave.  Yes, I just pulled a Willie Wilbert Herenton.

If you don't like it, please move away. Seriously.

Here is a little bit of my reasoning.  Pardon me if the vernacular is a bit "touched". I'm a wee pissy right now. Got my pressure all up...

1. Crime is everywhere. Yeah, crime is better some places and other places is like the Wild Wild damn West. Some of the biggest complainers about crime will NOT call the proper authorities as long as the crime is not committed against them or near where they reside.  So yeah, it's okay to see crime committed at Southland Mall because you don't go there.  But when someone's car is broken into at Collierville Town Center, you're ready to lay in the floor!  Just because you don't frequent the area, it doesn't mean nobody else does.

2. Stop being so selfish. Again, just because you don't frequent the area, it doesn't mean nobody else does.  It's easy to be moderately self-centered because we are human.  Naturally, we are thinking about our homes and investments.  In spite of this selfishness, unless you never leave your Thicket of Solitude, you should be a little more concerned about your city beyond your mailbox.  I live in a very safe area (*crosses fingers*), but on a daily basis, I hit Castalia, Whitehaven, Nob Hill, and The Mound.  I tend to go Yard Sale thugging weekly, so that can take me from Hickory Hill all the way to Lakeland.  I also think of my grandma and mom, who stay in different corners of the county.  I think of my daughter being outside playing at school and my son at daycare.  I want ALL of us to be comfortable.  I shouldn't be in fear anywhere I go.

3. This isn't Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.  Anyone who has ever played that game without cheat codes knows that you can't go to certain parts of the city until you complete certain things. Memphis is more than just your circle that you take from home to work and your place of worship.  You never know when you'll need to take a detour.  Just yesterday, I was coming from Holmes and Airways heading towards Shelby Drive.  A wreck had traffic backed up, so I made a left onto Wilson, a right onto Boeingshire, took it to Raines, then got back on Airways to get to work.  I felt comfortable taking those detours, but others do not.  "I don't know that area" or "it ain't safe". Well, I was born in the Red Oaks area, so that's nothing to me.  This city is full of hidden treasures, and nobody should be afraid to get lost to find them.

4. Since we don't all have rich relatives...we might not have the means to move.  Even if money is not a problem, shouldn't you move where you want?  I remember being told on a comment board once "it's not MY problem if YOU choose to live in the hood instead of investing somewhere safe".  Dang, son...maybe I lived where I did because it was where I could afford?  Maybe I slick liked the apartment enough to put my Jane Hancock on the lease for a second time. How about the fact that I was on a financial mission and decided to forgo the costs of moving?  Nobody ever thinks about those little tidbits.  My dream neighborhoods are not in the county.  I actually would love to stay in the 38117 or 38119 zip codes.  I want to live somewhere affordable and safe.  Why do I have to "pick one"?  Why can't my kids be safe and in a quality school WHEREVER we live? Is it only reserved for those with more funds?

5. You can't run forever.  Why should you?  If money isn't an issue, you probably could move further up 385 to get away from the "undesirables".  However, to us everyday people, why should we run?  I will not let you destroy where my family calls home.  I'll beat the hell out of you first.  Seriously.  I will defend my home with the finest of weaponry available.  Be it butcher knife, bat, plunger, wayward encyclopedia or even "Earl the Ruger", you will not get the best of me. Anyone with a little anger should feel the same way.  Why should we run from crime? I say fight it.

Sorry for the long rant that was supposed to be a brief rant, but I'm getting so sick of the negativity.  I know the internet gives people a place to say what they won't say in public, thus meaning some people are just getting a rise out of fokes.  But I am at wit's end!  Memphis is my home and quite honestly, I don't plan on leaving.  Even if I did, I still have family and friends here, which means that I still care about my city.  I don't think people really understand that we have more power in our hands than we know.  WE need to take control of our city's well-being.  Don't drive past the trash with your COGIC face, pick it up.  If you see illegal activity, report it. Don't start condemning the KROC Center to damnation, make sure it stays right. Volunteer to patrol. Do something other than roll your eyes and say "oh well, THEY are going to ruin it".

This city needs positivity and focus.  We damn sure don't need elitists, racists, pessimists and lazy people who just sit around with an "I told you so" mentality.  If you hate it, go away. If you don't like it here, let's work together and fix it.  I be damned if some fool (or fools) will take away my piece of mind.

Now.

Put THAT in your hookah and toke it.