In a recent trip back to the Bronx in NYC I had quite a bit of time to think back and reminisce about the good old days.
My Cousin Duffy informed me that all of the small specialty shops in Manhattan are closing their doors and business Downtown is just horrible. This coming from a guy who has been a Bartender for more than 30 years and has spent his entire life in NYC.
Growing up in the Bronx, moving to New Jersey and then going back to the City each and every weekend until I was 9 years old, only to return three years later and visiting the City every single opportunity we could, this provided memories, wisdom and experiences most have never experienced. Not here anyway.
We played stick ball in the streets. We read newspapers with information daily most of you would cringe at. We rode trains with people of all walks of life. If we sat at a McDonald's or any other cafe, five and dime, you sat with strangers at the same table and you always cleaned up after yourselves.
I personally grew up with a Family who's past involved the Mafia. Lots of funerals back in the day, very few from natural causes. I can recall being a child in New Jersey and learning to read and write with my Uncle Donald who had been beaten so badly he had to start all over again.
I can remember being a kid on Fordham Road & Valentine Avenue where the Fordham Baldies hung out. We could walk right up to them and say hello and we had no fear whatsoever. They knew not to mess with the Italian kids in the neighborhood. The Soprano's show on HBO was very mild, let me assure you of that.
All that being said, what's so different about growing up in a big city versus the Eastern Shore. Well, we'll start with, we lived in apartments so small, you ate breakfast in the morning and you were expected to only return for lunch and you better make damn sure you were home on time for dinner. You didn't hang out in your room playing DS, Nintendo or watch TV. You hooked up with everyone in the neighborhood and played hide and seek, stick ball, marco/polo, you name it.
OMG, the smell from one floor to the other as you walked up four flights of stairs, UNBELIEVABLE! The women stayed home and spent half of their day preparing dinner. In NYC you walked to the grocery store and you only purchased what you needed and or could carry home and fight the exhausting trip up four flights of stairs with whatever you had in your hands. Imagine, (back in the day) the monstrous carriages being pulled up four flights with a baby in it, one step at a time. Oh, you got your exercise, believe me when I tell you.
Then there was the restaurants and bars on every corner. In between was a deli, a bakery, a pawn shop, you name it. Dysfunctional families were everywhere. You had Jews, Catholics, Polish, Italian, Irish, Hispanic, Black, White, Chinese, you name it, we ALL got along.
I personally believe the experience of growing up in such a diverse surrounding, knowing we could all get along, prepared me for my adult life. Today when someone says something negative about Obama, we're a racist. Let me tell you something people, until you grow up like I did, you have no clue what a racist is. Today's example of racism is whenever you disagree. Racism back in my day was the KKK. It was killing black people, forcing man to the back of the bus. Forcing people to drink out of a different water fountain. Refusing to allow people into any and all schools. Hosing people down with fire hydrant hoses at full pressure to keep them away. If you pulled any of this crap on any one of my friends growing up, you'd get your A$$ kicked by not one of us but by ten of us.
Brotherhood was another thing we grew up with. I did grow up in an Italian Mafia Family but Brotherhood was not owned by just the Italians. It was owned by everyone. Today when I hear Police Officers and Firefighters using the term Brotherhood, in most cases I immediately think, they have absolutely no clue. Yeah, it sounds good in Hollywood and even in most suburbs but try saying such a thing in New York and ever try turning on one of your own. They didn't need cops back in the day to take care of business like that and if you screwed up and you were lucky enough to be alive after the got to you, believe me, you never did it again. Not here.
As times changed, many of us relocated out of the City to raise families where it was less expensive. Granted, you had a drive and a half to get to work but neighborhoods started changing fast and ultimately started to become territories. This wasn't the case in Jersey and upstate New York. We grew up in neighborhoods that had no street lights and many of them still today don't.
Were we run over by cars, no. Were we jumped and mugged, absolutely not. Did they close entire blocks down several times per summer for a local block party without any complaints, absolutely. Did we have snowball fights in the winter and cream the neighbors without any fights, absolutely. You knew each and every one of the people in the entire community, not just your immediate neighbors. There were no "clicks" and everyone was considered equal. When you went trick or treating, every single home had their lights on. We grew up with UNICEF and we had no problem at all getting a penny for our treat, then donate every penny for a great cause.
On Christmas Day you'd keep peaking out the window to see who would be the first one outside with their new toy, not toys. We could say, Mom, Guido and Luigi are outside playing, can we go out too. You'd always hear, go ask your Father. Why, because that was one day out of the year your Father would be home and not at work.
How could we ever forget Sunday mornings. Sunday would mean you had to put on a suit and tie, yes, even at 5 years old and head off to Church. Dad was usually up way ahead of everyone else to make his Sunday morning trip to the Bakery to bring home fresh bagels, sesame buns and everything was still warm. We'd dunk those rolls into our sunny side eggs, just like Dad always did.
As times continued to change, man, did we Americans ever screw up. The Albero Family didn't own a color TV until 1979. I can remember seeing All In The Family in color, M*A*S*H*, Carol Brunette and yes, even the Jackson's, Donnie & Marie, Happy Days and so many other cool shows. However, one thing that was different in our household was the fact that Mom made sure every single day that we were outside playing. We'd use old socks for gloves in the winter to make snowballs and it was very rare we had a complete pair of socks with the same colored stripes. Man, remember those days!
When I move forward to today, the story starts getting pretty sad all of a sudden. Back in the day, we looked up to our President. We trusted that man more so than anyone in the world. We didn't have to challenge his actions, we simply went along with it. We bought War Bonds, no questions asked. Then the 70's came along, Nixon was just a screwball and things quickly went downhill. The Press wasn't telling Americans the truth and lawsuits started changing this entire Country.
You know what gets me the most though. Today I look at the City of Salisbury, (as an example) and I see a Police Chief who's job is gravy. Just look at the job it takes for a Police Chief in the Bronx these days, then look at Salisbury. Our crime is so through the roof, even the Mayor sits idol, scratches his head and says, I wonder why things are so bad. We have a Mayor so afraid of the Police Chief suing the City, he just won't fire him because he sucks at what he does. Heck, if this community was anything like the communities I grew up in back in the day, Webster would have resigned long ago. He would have resigned just as soon as crime increased and the Mayor refused to provide the money to support public safety.
Today, while we live in a City that could require sprinkler heads in ALL commercial and residential properties but refuses to do so in order to increase the size of their Fire department and not give a crap about saving lives WITHOUT them, it's simply a shame. I can't tell you just how many millions of people live in New York City, setting the bar for what to do and what not to do, yet Salisbury sits idol, depending on a hand full of Idiots running the show who have absolutely no history of living in a place like NYC.
While a hand full of people have challenged me many different times on how I think I'm so special that I could be a Mayor, a Police Chief and or a Fire Chief, at 47 years old I personally believe I could do so right here and now and do a much better job at the actual title than what these clowns do in positions that are more photo opportunities than actually doing their job.
Bigger is better, even though the buildings are built with old seasoned wood, prime material for horrible fires. Although we all moved here to the Eastern Shore to get away from the big city life, look what we've got. Murders, bank robberies, violent crime, you name it, we've got it. You're safer in the Bronx than you are right here in Salisbury.
Today we get in our cars and load the trunk up with groceries, more than we'll ever actually use. We've forgotten what it's like to walk the 1/2 to a mile to the grocery store and then walk back loaded with cans of food, milk and bare necessities. Kids don't play outside because there's gunshots, drive by shootings or others trying to yank someone into their car even as young adults.
Think about it like this. How many of you would ever consider using the Shore Bus Transit to get to and from work today? Don't call me a racist when I speak the truth but think about this. How many white people would use that transit system, yet millions use it every single day in NYC.
We've become a throw away society. We have groceries in our cabinets that are past the shelf life date. Man, I can remember being a kid and Mom would have restaurant night. She's write down a new menu once a week, most of which was leftovers. However, the pancake mix might be getting old and if you wanted pancakes for dinner, you got it. It was whatever we could do to clean out the cabinets and eat what was bought. Think about it. All of you know I'm right.
However, today we have very few sidewalks to actually walk to a grocery store, unless you're near the University. There was a better day, a better way of life, we've simply forgotten where we came from. It's a beautiful thing when communities come together but isn't it a shame that when we do, it's usually more so about a child with cancer than it is a family who's home just burned down and they had no insurance. 2009 was the year I wanted to give back and I have done so to my very best ability and I will continue to do so. However, I can't do it alone. My hope is that this information brings all of you back to a time when everyone volunteered. Are you listening Fire department! Go back to when you were hurt on the job, that was a part of life, the profession you chose. It's not up to the taxpayers to pay you off or insurance companies. When you're raised in the right environment, your Family will take care of you.
Crime is out of control and we have a Police Chief who has proven day after day the he cannot provide the service we as taxpayers deserve. We cannot walk the streets at night. We cannot play stick ball in the street. We cannot walk to a grocery store and hell, we can't even go to school without someone trying to abduct us. We are being driven into the dungeons of our own homes and closing the blinds, not able to see who's playing outside, even on Christmas Day.
It's time we fight back and take our City back. It's time we make some demands on this Mayor and other politicians to make things right or get the hell out of office. It's time to shame these people and respect others like Sheriff Mike Lewis who not only lives in the community he represents, if he screwed up he'd have everyone looking at him for the rest of his life, kind of like Ray Lewis will experience. It won't happen because Mike is a good, honest, caring man.
I want to raise my Grandson in a better place. I/We pay enough taxes that now our County Executive and citizens want to complain about Crossing Guards. Move to the Bronx you Idiots and you'll see all kids crossing at Cross Walks with the light. As my Grandmothers used to say, "It will only happen once." She'd then motion to a kid in a wheel chair and say, see what happens when you don't cross with the light at a Cross Walk. Yeah, you got the picture loud and clear then. Today we're dealing with, OMG, how will my children cross the street. How can Rick Pollitt take this away! I'll answer that question for each one of you very easily and quickly. They'll get across that street, yes, even at 5 years old with ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER. They'll survive.
It's time to let our limited staff of Police do their job and not hold your kids hands. If you have a problem with it, walk your own damn kids to school. If you can't, STOP having them as you're clearly not qualified.
While bigger shouldn't be better, it clearly shows just how screwed up Salisbury is when you can feel safer in the Bronx than you can on the Eastern Shore. Start making Department Heads and Public Officials accountable, yet get off their backs on stupid things like crossing guards.
