Warning: Rant enclosed.

[GreenScoutII]

Hey BigBear, sorry to hear you're having such a rough time right now. I can relate. This economy SUCKS. Financially, I'm worse off than I have ever been. I have worked since I was fifteen. In all of those years, I have never been out of work except for one 10 day period in 2001. I've been laid off 6 months out of the last 12. My wife has a pretty decent job, but she had to take a 10% pay cut as well. I'm so friggin broke, I can't afford to pay attention...

I hope to God in heaven I can get back to work at a wage at least comparable to what I usually make, otherwise.... Well, I don't want to get into that on a public forum....

As far as the first part of your rant, it made me laugh. I'll tell you a story:

A few years ago, I was doing a basement finish for this lady and her husband who I had done a bunch of work for previously. They live in one of the nicer neighborhoods in Colo Spgs. Very upper, upper middle class nice area of town. Anyway, I finished up about 10 pm, locked up the house and left. I stopped at a gas station in this same neighborhood to get a pack of smokes. As I was pulling in, I get cut off by a Cadillac Escalade which was going way to damn fast through the parking lot. Stereo was booming some kind of rap shit at full volume. As I pulled in behind the Caddy, I noticed it had a "my kid is an honor student at such and such elementary school" bumper sticker. Ah yes, rich whitey trying to look all "gangsta" while driving his mommy's Escalade.

I park and walk in to the Diamond Shamrock behind "G-Dog" and his pal "Money". G-Dog looks to be all of 16. This kid was Hyper-Caucasian. I mean, not just white, but borderline albino. Hes wearing an oversized basketball jersey, baggy running pants, and high top basketball sneakers. He has a gold chain the size of a Grant steering wheel around his neck. His buddy, Money, was dressed much the same except with a ball cap covering his right ear as you described in your post and the same stupid assed corn rows in his golden blonde hair. I'm sure their parrents were proud.

Anyhow, G-Dog approaches the clerk and says in the most exagerated, stereotyped black accent he can muster, "Uh, yeah, yeah, let me gets a pack a Cools yo".. The clerk, a cranky old dude who I immediately liked, says " Yo, can I sees some ID Yo?? Money then responds, "why you gots to be sweatin' us dog?" The clerk, a 60 something black guy, says "Don't be playin' me boy" "You aint gots no ID, I aint gots no smokes.."

As G-Dog and Money slinked away I was laughing my balls off. I offered to buy the clerk a beer. Funny shit man...

I guess I just don't see the appeal of a hard, urban life to priveledged white kids from the subburbs. I'm willing to bet any kids from the real "hood" would happily trade places in a heartbeat...