Last week, when the weather was warmer and Jennifer and I were out on our bicycles, as we were returning home, a man shouted to us from across the street. I couldn't tell what he was saying the first time around, but it turned out, the young man walking the dog across the vacant lot was propositioning us:
"You wanna buy some dope?"
He shouted this several times. We ignored him, but I had this urge to tell the young man with the dog: the white folks on the bicycles, probably not the best customers for your wares. They are not here to acquire illicit substances. You will also have a much a longer, and more successful career, if you do not shout "you wanna buy some dope" across open streets.
A couple of summers ago, I spent some time wandering around the South Side of Chicago on my bicycle, about as far south as 85th st. I saw a lot of nice cars stop at street corners, windows roll down, and people walk off those street corners to talk with the drivers of cars. No, I never actually saw anything change hands (when on a bicycle on a busy, pothole-filled city street, attention is wisely fixed elsewhere). When I stopped at those same corners for red lights, no one ever wanted to talk to me. And I have a very nice, custom-built bike (built it myself!). But nothing about that bike, or me in my cycling gear, screams "narcotics buyer!" If anything, it screams "bike cop." Which I was mistaken for, once, in DC. Even though I have no cop gear around my waist.
1 comments:
As I read your story I guess I was trying to figure out a point of the story. Are you trying to be sarcastic about the fact that a young man (lost apparently) should know not to yell an illegal transaction across the street because it could possible land him in jail. I would not necessarily approach referring to drug sale as a job let along having a employee handbook. That is a serious social issue and should never be discussed in the content of this note. There is a deeper and much more productive approach to addressing these issues. Honestly, the young man is not alone in his assumption that white people are only in a predominately 'black' neighborhood to buy drugs. I have friends 'white' that have also been stopped by the police who also questioned the reason for them being in a predominately 'black' neighborhood.
Also, I would like to ask why do you feel they should ask you about your bike?
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