I can't think of what's next, Gentle Reader, only what's now. My neighbourhood is as irritating as ever, but this happens when you live in a depressed area of downtown, as I do. I live in the Downtown South of Vancouver which has long been a needy neighbourhood, full of drugs, poverty, survival sex work, and more recently homelessness. It is not a bad as the Downtown Eastside, nowhere near, but still troubled enough.
More recently, just as homelessness was on the ascent in my city, and public compassion was hitting a historical low, they also began building luxury condo towers in this area. Yes. Gentrification. There has been growing and ongoing conflict in my neighbourhood between haves and have-nots. The moneyed newcomers and the impoverished indigents. Well-off condo owners don't like to see homelessness or open drug use and drug dealing so close to their front door. I don't like it either. However, the people who sleep on sidewalks and openly use were here a lot longer than they were. They did not buy into this neighbourhood blindfolded. And when I hear yet another news item about one of the posh newcomers circulating petitions against an emergency homeless shelter down the street, I simply hum or even sing right out loud Cry Me A River.
Noise is always a problem here, though there are ways of coping, like keeping the window closed, the fan on, and turning on the kitchen fan for white noise, and if that isn't quite enough, then earplugs can also do the trick, as in right now . Some people are comfortable living with this kind of ambiental racket. Me, no. Previous landlords have told me that I have a problem with noise, I think there are a lot of people like me who don't enjoy being plagued by someone else's thudding bass invading our homes, but we are often stigmatized as whiners and complainers. People who tell us we have a problem with noise, are the same people are almost always the same kind of people who have trouble with compassion and empathy. They simply do not have any.
Fortunately, the managers of my apartment building are a lot more supportive and compassionate. The problem is the building next door, which is full of hard to house and previously homeless folk, many of whom still are using addictive drugs, and others with a whole plethora of issues that make it difficult for them to be good neighbours. The people who manage this building are also little help. Though some of their staff have been helpful, but they also get burned-out after a while, and I can understand why. Offending tenants aren't always cooperative, and some of them get downright foul-mouthed ornery. Pity that the staff in the Granville Residence next door allow themselves to be held hostage like that. Neither can they simply be turfed out for being bad tenants in most cases, because the whole purpose of this kind of facility is to try to keep people off the street. The people living with these need levels can be exhausting, and after a while all one can do is simply put up with them, cope and there is not much else that can be done.
If the noise does get really bad, especially in the evenings, now I just call the police and the problem usually gets taken care of. Still, I would rather see those same people housed than homeless. I don't like having to live near them, but this can't be helped. Being myself on a low income and without housing options, as well as having my own experience of homelessness, I know that we are in the same boat, and even if I can be a bit of a NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) at times, I would still prefer that they keep their housing. Maybe the current managers could be all fired and replaced with more reasonable individuals, but that probably is not going to happen.
Now what does this all have to do with getting ready for my next step? I really don't know. But there is something about what we do to accept or change or modify or cope with our current circumstances that often gets us ready for what ever is coming for us tomorrow. And this current step is very likely going to be also my next step on this changing and shifting journey I am on.
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