Chi Trib has a very well-reported and -written story for tomorrow about life with madmen on the South Side:
“People will fight over a dollar,” said Lawrence, 16. “If you’re in one gang and you flip to another gang, people fight over that. Or if you even just look at somebody crazy, they’ll fight you over that too.”
The code calls for fighting (as it has in tough city neighborhoods for decades if not centuries):
“If somebody wants to fight you, you know you’re going to fight,” Rudy said. “This happens so often; violence is always there.”
And avoiding it carries its own risks.
“If you talk it out, you’re a punk . . . someone who always backs down, who doesn’t know how to defend themselves,” said Nathaniel Hayes, a Clemente 10th grader. “If you’re a coward, you’re nothing, you’re low-class.”
How you wear your hat matters:
“If you have a hat cocked to the left, they shoot you. If it’s cocked to the right, they shoot you,” he said. “You have to keep it straight to the front. You can’t even wear it to the back no more.”
Don’t try to get away:
“People, they get jealous,” said Michael, his voice weary. “They see you trying to go somewhere, trying to get out, and they hate on you. Then they try to fight. It’s frustrating. You try to do right, but there’s always someone trying to pull you back.”
In other words, it’s hopeless. That’s the story, like it or not. Nothing anyone can do about it.
The story is good in large part because it just tells it, without apparent slant. It’s presented as a purely personal issue, life tribal style, without a smidgeon of rationality. A crazy community.
Blithe Spirit 