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Last Updated: Nov 14, 2008 - 12:49:26 PM |
It may seem as though I’m always unhappy about something here in Chesterfield, but in fact, it has become my home and I’m quite happy here. I’ve settled into a house just off Osborne Rd. and it’s become a sanctuary of sorts. It’s not a McMansion, it’s more of a McNugget, but it’s home.
As I write this, I’m sitting on the screened-in porch, in a worn wicker chair; the ceiling fan provides a breeze and the trees bordering the back yard offer their best dress. Carlos Castaneda said that one finds his place, a place where his spirit is at rest and that is the place he should be and will stay.
It’s not perfect, this little place that seems like it’s on the way to somewhere else; it needs work, but all good things need tending. And that’s what I try to do – tend. I tend to my wife and family. I tend to myself. I tend to the newspaper and through an unexpected charge, tend to other things in the community because I am here and this is the place where I should be and will stay.
As the evening wears on and before I nod off in this old chair, let’s talk a little about what one sees if one has the access and the time to look around; the things that inspire me to want to work for a better quality of life in our community.
Some would call me a liberal or a progressive; some don’t see that at all, but what I think is that those of us who have a certain access or a bit of time to spend looking at that which surrounds us may lean to a more liberal point of view – or it might look that way to someone who doesn’t know better.
A case in point: recently I was allowed to tour a certain mobile home park. The folks there will be asked to move soon to make way for a new business. I knew going in that the park had some issues, not the fault of those who live there, but neglect by the owner.
The people I met as we walked through the little community were nice enough, though some of the living conditions were quite rough.
Chesterfield County had laid down the law and gave the park 60 days to comply with county ordinances, including safety access and cleaning up raw sewage that had pooled behind a group of trailers. This was not the fault of the residents. Their only error was that they needed an inexpensive place to live, and under an I-95 bridge was not what they wanted. Some have disabilities, some are elderly; some don’t have the credit or income to get anything better.
Some of the homes were well-kept, those whose residents owned them. The rental units, which the park proprietor owned, were not. The safety issue had to do with how the owner had parked two units in a fire department access lane, keeping trucks from entering one side of the park. The sewage issue was a quick fix; a clogged pipe had backed up, causing sewage to overflow into what may once have been a place for kids to play.
Meanwhile, I learned that the park owner didn’t live there. He lived in a half-a-million-dollar McMansion miles from his mobile home property. He couldn’t smell the sewage from his house.
The so-called liberal media sees these types of things regularly. They see both sides of the tracks, both sides of the issues, and you can see how sometimes they lean toward sympathy for those being taken advantage of for the sake of profit. Slum lords. Big oil profiteers. Those who prey on those weaker than themselves.
I love this place and as far as social issues are concerned, it’s probably not much different anywhere else. It has a lot to do with human nature, survival of the fittest, richest, or most powerful.
So who is there to tell the story of the preyed upon? The money has the spin machine. The rest have only the occasional media story that shines a little light on their plight.
I have a unique opportunity sometimes to see the comings and goings of the movers and shakers and those who can’t afford to move or shake.
I’m no saint, just a regular guy who has the opportunity to see the clouds from both sides. There are times when it’s heavy, times when the manipulation sends me into a rage, and times when I am buoyed by those who remained unaffected and continue to do the good work.
If taking the side of those who are down, taken advantage of, or finagled means being a liberal, then I guess I can be labeled. But I think labels are printed by those who can afford them and are the first to judge and the last to care.
This is my home, I am here, and this is the place where I should be and will stay.
mfausz@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421
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