Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vilda on July 17, 2012 at 10:10am

REALLY surprised this thread is back and NOT REALLY surprised someone told a resident of the neighborhood in question that he's wrong. Proof we're wasting time on humanity??? People are dumber than I thought?

O said:

Corey Brooks is a pastor from the Inner City of Chicago. Rather than spending a good deal of his life on forums like this he has chosen to do something positive.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/15/rev-corey-brooks-rooftop-_...

Assigning labels to entire regions of the country, state or city based upon your limited experiences is regrettable. Spending so much time on swearing at one another and the usual "put down antics" some prevalent among those who feel a strong sense of entitlement is what makes this thread seem sorely in need of something real to talk about.

Rather than spending so much time churning around the North Side of Chicago during Critical Mass rides, why not come on down to the South Side or better yet ride the West Side en masse. Find a pastor whose church could be a stop on your journey and listen carefully and decide whether there is anything you can do to help.

But if you feel like telling him and his parishioners that they live in a "shithole" fine. You will have at least said it to the faces of those who matter.

Pat said:

After reading this entire post I realized that no one from the Westside has commented on what Gabe said. From living on this side my whole life, I can honestly say that it's the truth. I can't even understand why someone would even want to drive their car let along ride their bike down Lake street. It's dark and gloomy and just has too many places for someone to jump out and jack you. But I guess I think like that because I was born and raised over here and you have to think defense at all times. Take it from someone that lives in the middle of the hell whole, don't take Lake to Oak Park. If you call the police they take their time to get there because they really don't know what they are getting into. The police station was on 4 blocks from where this poor guy was attacked and it took them 10 mins to get there. That's a sign people. 

Permalink Reply by Vilda on July 17, 2012 at 10:40am

Humanity redeemed? Thanks Cam, i'll be laughin for awhile. ;-)

Permalink Reply by Dr. Doom on July 17, 2012 at 10:58am

O, I literally don't know what kind of point you're trying to make, but speaking just for myself, I'll take the charges of racism and such more seriously when they come from someone who actually lives in the city and has to deal with the shit hole parts of it while getting around town. It's a bit much to have someone simultaneously claiming Chicago is a deadly hellhole and chastising others for pointing out that parts of the city are dangerous.

Permalink Reply by Vilda on July 17, 2012 at 11:23am

Hahaha yeah i do! You tell me Cam! :)

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 17, 2012 at 11:35am

*giggle*

Cameron Puetz said:

Wait a minute, did you just cite a thread where you referred to Chicago as the "Murder Capital of the Midwest" while criticizing someone for making negative statements about a neighborhood?

 

Pot, I'd like to introduce you to my friend kettle.

O said:

In the thread http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/anyone-else-planning-on-au... the subject of our cities overall reputation for violence came up.

Dr. Doom asked about my reasoning when making the case that Chicago is fast becoming the Murder Capital of the Midwest in the eyes of many outside the city. After all if you don't live here or have much intimate knowledge about the city it is all one dangerous mass to you. But I think this thread apparently exposed a raw nerve where our cities reputation is concerned.

It puts the lie to the notion that you can point out inadequacies in the safety of an area without tarnishing the reputation of its denizens...

 

Permalink Reply by mike w. on July 17, 2012 at 12:01pm

Will someone please kill this thread?

Permalink Reply by Vilda on July 17, 2012 at 1:16pm

It's got more views than a peep show booth in Manhattan! Close what? :)

Permalink Reply by O on July 17, 2012 at 1:24pm

This is what I would like to see happen:

• Stop treating the ChainLink as if it were a bathroom wall. In short respect yourselves and others. You however cannot respect yourself if you cannot respect the opinions of others. Using profanity often enough it loses it shock value and becomes as inconsequential as the word "the". Calling people names is akin to the same sort of thing young gang bangers do. They call your Momma a 'Ho and dare you to respond. The verbal equivalent of this goes on here pretty much weekly and frankly it gets tiresome. Everything you write here lingers much beyond the heat of the moment. It becomes an embarrassment to those who are visiting for information and real networking.
• Stop the cyber-bullying routine. In neighborhoods where the adults fail to take control adolescents take over. They gravitate towards gangs. And in the process they learn to disrespect authority figures and the system. They instead adopt the mores of a different set of authority figures who do not necessarily have their best interests at heart. Kids in high crime areas learn to either avoid the gangs or find themselves swept up into them. That is exactly how this forum is functioning. Couple this with a tendency to have face-to-face encounters revolve around alcohol and you have a very tenuous situation.
• Be thoughtful in your messages. Too often I read about someone who is belittling another person on this forum for trying to approach a topic using good sentence structure and ordered thinking. There is generally a tendency to ridicule people who are trying to be cogent in their explanations. The point of attack on them is that they are being snooty, when in fact they are hopefully trying to function in an adult fashion. There is no need for anyone to have to rename a thread to warn others than a given individual is there and is being disrespectful of others as if that were "cool".
• Stop Being Flippant, It Is Not A Sign of Intelligence. Once in a great while a person like Steve Colbert or better yet Jon Stewart comes along and can make you laugh as they hurl zingers at their foes. But these guys are really rare. Most of the Jon Stewart wannabes on this forum are either entering a single word like "giggle" or trying to be ironic when it seldom works.
• Respect The Forum Community. In areas where lawlessness is rampant it is generally the case that gang members begin to have scorn for non-gangmembers. In fact you can tell who is in the gang because of the "colors" they wear. Girls in high school often are enamored with gang members because these are the guys with cars and money. But gangs are generally dismissive of anybody who is not in their membership. They disrespect the police and the community members as well. It takes men like Rev. Corey Brooks and Father Michael Pfleger to help turn the tide. If they don't stand in the gap then chaos prevails. If the adult members of this forum do not provide pushback this will become exactly what folks like Gabe describe as communities like Woodlawn and Lawndale, a "shit hole".
• Grow Up. In that thread I cited having to do with the L.A.T.E. Ride Audit one of the respondents probably said more succinctly than anyone else could that their intention was never to grow up. I know it was meant in a flippant and dismissive fashion but that is essentially what has overtaken much of this forum. People who rant about police being abusive and threaten to report them to the Internal Affairs office and then afterwards decide that this probably won't take place. Why, not? If you really and truly had something to report then report it. Otherwise think before you get the forum community into a lather and then wimp out later on. Act on this forum as though your eight your old son or daughter were going to have this forum be part of their school "show and tell". Is what they are likely to read here exactly what you would want them to see? Could you sit through a public hearing while someone was reading your words to the audience and the attendant representatives of the media?

h' said:

Eric, what exactly do you want? If there's an "ask" in there somewhere, maybe if you just come out and say "this is what I'd like to see happen" you may be pleasantly surprised?

Permalink Reply by Far'arned Retrogrumpalunkus #63 on July 17, 2012 at 1:42pm

That's got sort of a Neil Young Old Black look to it. 

I approve.  

h' said:

Permalink Reply by Vilda on July 17, 2012 at 2:45pm

Is there a Cliff Notes version of the above???

Permalink Reply by Doug Haynes on July 17, 2012 at 2:49pm

Life must be very hard for somebody with skin as thin as yours.

Grow up.

Grow a pair.

Leave me a lone.

O said:

This is what I would like to see happen:

• Stop treating the ChainLink as if it were a bathroom wall. In short respect yourselves and others. You however cannot respect yourself if you cannot respect the opinions of others. Using profanity often enough it loses it shock value and becomes as inconsequential as the word "the". Calling people names is akin to the same sort of thing young gang bangers do. They call your Momma a 'Ho and dare you to respond. The verbal equivalent of this goes on here pretty much weekly and frankly it gets tiresome. Everything you write here lingers much beyond the heat of the moment. It becomes an embarrassment to those who are visiting for information and real networking.
• Stop the cyber-bullying routine. In neighborhoods where the adults fail to take control adolescents take over. They gravitate towards gangs. And in the process they learn to disrespect authority figures and the system. They instead adopt the mores of a different set of authority figures who do not necessarily have their best interests at heart. Kids in high crime areas learn to either avoid the gangs or find themselves swept up into them. That is exactly how this forum is functioning. Couple this with a tendency to have face-to-face encounters revolve around alcohol and you have a very tenuous situation.
• Be thoughtful in your messages. Too often I read about someone who is belittling another person on this forum for trying to approach a topic using good sentence structure and ordered thinking. There is generally a tendency to ridicule people who are trying to be cogent in their explanations. The point of attack on them is that they are being snooty, when in fact they are hopefully trying to function in an adult fashion. There is no need for anyone to have to rename a thread to warn others than a given individual is there and is being disrespectful of others as if that were "cool".
• Stop Being Flippant, It Is Not A Sign of Intelligence. Once in a great while a person like Steve Colbert or better yet Jon Stewart comes along and can make you laugh as they hurl zingers at their foes. But these guys are really rare. Most of the Jon Stewart wannabes on this forum are either entering a single word like "giggle" or trying to be ironic when it seldom works.
• Respect The Forum Community. In areas where lawlessness is rampant it is generally the case that gang members begin to have scorn for non-gangmembers. In fact you can tell who is in the gang because of the "colors" they wear. Girls in high school often are enamored with gang members because these are the guys with cars and money. But gangs are generally dismissive of anybody who is not in their membership. They disrespect the police and the community members as well. It takes men like Rev. Corey Brooks and Father Michael Pfleger to help turn the tide. If they don't stand in the gap then chaos prevails. If the adult members of this forum do not provide pushback this will become exactly what folks like Gabe describe as communities like Woodlawn and Lawndale, a "shit hole".
• Grow Up. In that thread I cited having to do with the L.A.T.E. Ride Audit one of the respondents probably said more succinctly than anyone else could that their intention was never to grow up. I know it was meant in a flippant and dismissive fashion but that is essentially what has overtaken much of this forum. People who rant about police being abusive and threaten to report them to the Internal Affairs office and then afterwards decide that this probably won't take place. Why, not? If you really and truly had something to report then report it. Otherwise think before you get the forum community into a lather and then wimp out later on. Act on this forum as though your eight your old son or daughter were going to have this forum be part of their school "show and tell". Is what they are likely to read here exactly what you would want them to see? Could you sit through a public hearing while someone was reading your words to the audience and the attendant representatives of the media?

h' said:

Eric, what exactly do you want? If there's an "ask" in there somewhere, maybe if you just come out and say "this is what I'd like to see happen" you may be pleasantly surprised?

Permalink Reply by Lanterne Rouge on July 17, 2012 at 3:50pm

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