Something good about the hood

So far all my posts about my neighborhood have been on a rather negative note, but just the other day I realized that there are some positive things that deserve recognition. And since I am a strong believer in giving credit where credit is due, I thought that it is high time to do exactly that.
I have noticed that more and more people on the two- block radius of my daily walks with Kitry and Fiby recognize me and actually show signs of politeness towards me and the Babies. In fact, walking them these days, I run into at least five people every day who take the time to say "Hello", ask me how I am, and wish me a good day! And to my surprise, I am not only talking about the nice neighbor three doors down, but actually about some rather rough guys I was kinda afraid of until recently. You know... the group of guys hanging out on their stoop at all hours of the day and night!? So - having exactly those guys greeting me and calling me "Buddy" gives me a whole new feeling of safety on the block. If I now run into shady people during my walk, I think to myself:" They better not touch me, or my "buddies" will be after them!" Even the arguing people behind our property are now nice to me, greet me and make a point to always be polite.
I think it is a great benefit for me to be seen on a regular basis now. I admit... walking two Shih- Tzus who I constantly talk to while walking ("good girls... good babies... that's my pretty girl!!!"), wearing either pajama pants and a tank top, or my clothes for work, I could tell in the beginning that those same guys who are now "buddies" of mine used to look at me funny. I mean; every scary neighbor and their Pit bull can see I am gay. But like I wrote in a previous post, all they needed was to be confronted with the same thing for a while, and the novelty wore off quickly. Now I am just another guy walking his dogs, not bothering anybody and just being part of the picture. I still wished those guys would conduct themselves in a somewhat more socially appropriate manner - such as not throwing their beer cans onto the sidewalk, not dumping their cat litter on the patch of grass between the street and the curb or keeping the noise down a bit. But I also don't want to forget that there are some good points here, and I wanted to make sure to express them. It is very easy for me to get into this mode of only seeing the bad stuff, but the truth is that I live here and that I have the choice to make it better or worse for myself in my own head. Really... all I can do is make my part of it as positive as possible. And I have made the decision to make the best of what we have here and now. I am not gonna be afraid to walk from our car to the house at night, and I am not gonna miss our walks after dark, just because the neighborhood is considered bad. We have to feel safe and comfortable in our home... after all, where else can we feel safe???
Anyway; I just wanted to share those good thoughts with you, and encourage everybody to see if there might be some good things in your hood that might help you feel better about the way things are. It is what it is, and I will certainly continue to complain about the things that bother me. But sometimes it is important to recognize the good stuff as well, and my "buddies" certainly deserve to be mentioned!!! (I wish you could see them... they are really, really scary!). So - don't mess with me! I have people now!!!