[MD] some "good"

[X Acto]

Been workin,

Late most evenings.

North west philadelphia....Dauphin st. to be exact.

Humbeling experience...burnt out..old abandon ...victorian row homes.
beautiful..
the people..proud..resiliant...smart.



Black community....no....."American" community...
yes..

yes

just like everyone else...good folks..

I mean we see the drug deals and the prostitution..

broad daylight

us .. me and my Bulgarian freind... my crew cheif.,,,,,

We were told by our immediate supervisors not to talk to them,
"just do the job".

But like real folks..we're real folks. an we talk to 'em.. every day.
Explain what we are doing..we're not taking pictures.....literally..
we're taking measurements.
(the transit looks like a camera) they hate cameras..especially
held by whites in "gear"..

So I explain, in advance..(much to my crew cheifs reluctance) that we are
there to measure and prepare a map of the street, so the water company can plan
to replace water and sewer pipes. Not to take pictures and harrass them.

So heads up, I say..city is going to be tearing up the street, in the next year.

OH!  is what I usually get..ok..we really need new water pipes..it's bad..about time!

thats when it really hits ...how bad these people have it. yet they all live happily
and in a communal way.

People really working, on a day to day existence, on makin it better.

I've met some "good" folks...