Greenpoint
Lorven Pharmacy
Culture on the Cheap
(please write your response)
I found the above poster on Moore Street after patronizing one of the “ghetto Starbucks” I have heard so much buzz about lately. After searching high and low for an eightball, all I got was a lousy bottle of seltzer and a little repartee instead.
9 Year Old Boy: Anyone who has hair that color looks like they came from the circus.
Me: (circus escapee, turning around)
10 Year Old Girl: I think it’s pretty.
Me (smiling to the store owner and children): Thank you. I am not from the circus, by the way. I am from Greenpoint.
(laughter)
It has long been my experience that having a sense of humor and treating people with respect can turn almost any situation around. I am not so stupid or arrogant as to believe there are no legitimate reasons why this child (or the author of the above missive which, THANK GOD, is NOT a haiku) harbors a belligerent attitude towards “white people”. Speaking as one such “white person” who has had a fair amount of abuse leveled at her from other “white people” over the years— usually for the way I looked— I empathize with them.
A little compassion goes a long way. Too bad there aren’t more “white people” who practice it. The world would be a much nicer place if they did.*
Miss Heather
*Then again, what would I know? I live in the big top that is Greenpoint after all. Our need for over-priced and over-sweetened coffee has been filled by a corporate entity: we have a Starbucks.
Comments
2 Comments on (please write your response)
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rowan on
Thu, 13th Sep 2007 7:43 am
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GioAtFreemanStreet on
Wed, 19th Sep 2007 12:47 pm
that we do. but brooklyn label is better! yum yum. keep it local. even their day-olds ($2 for 3-4 big bagels) are delicious. seriously, their coffee is terrific and the staff are always nice.
First of all Bushwick is super ghetto, it will never ever upscale. Too many thugs, and they start at 8 years old dealing on the streets.
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