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RANT -Highpoint hooligans

Started 9 months ago by wssort
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wssort
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I'm late on this, almost passed it off, but still reeling from it so I gotta vent. I was crossing at 35th and Morgan last Wednesday night headed to the new farmer's market with my three year old daughter and my best friend and her toddler daughter. It was a beautiful evening and we were just remarking what a beautiful neighborhood Highpoint is. As we passed the bus stop in front of the food bank a group of youths were throwing a tennis ball back and forth over heavy traffic and the ball hit a car. One of the kids strolled out into the street to retrieve it and my friend remarked that they should be more careful. The kid in turn threw the ball at us as hard as he could and it hit me in my forearm causing quite a sting. We were startled and ran into the food bank because we were with our little ones and there were so many of them and they were all LAUGHING at what had just happened. We dialed 911 and the dispatcher told us some officers were on the way. We waited half an hour before the kids got on a bus and disappeared and no show from the officers. We called back and they said officers had not even been dispatched yet and would we like to wait. We said no because the garden would be closing soon and we still wanted to get there. We left and made it there on time but our evening was clearly ruined and my husband was so angry later when we returned because we didn't wait for the officers to make a report. Let me say I also have a son the same age and if I knew he were out acting like this I would have his butt confined to the house for however long it took him to get it through his head that it's not okay to assault someone for shits and grins. What the heck is wrong with Highpoint? Throughout the rest of the evening we saw more gangs of unruly kids. Really sad because the neighborhood is lovely and so is the garden, one of the most beautiful I've seen in Seattle.

Posted 9 months ago #
KBear
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These are the kinds of people that like to hang their laundry out to dry and put solar panels on their roofs. Good thing High Point has rules, or there would be more of their type hanging around. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

Posted 9 months ago #
DP
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Laugh it up, KBear. I see you sitting there in front of your computer screen, helpless to stop photons from escaping in their trillions.

Fools! I will use your wasted photons to MAKE MORE POWER . . . for MYSELF.

(Igor, point the solar panels skyward.)

Mwah-ha-ha-ha.

Ha-ha.

Ha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7edeOEuXdMU

**************************************************************************************

wssort: Got a cell phone or digital camera? Next time HP punks threaten, take some pix and send them to High Point Community Council or whoever rules the roost over there at the complex. If those kids are actually living at the property and can be identified, their parents can be notified of the kind of thuggery they've been up to.

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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I had a run in last weekend at the Marination Station. After turning off 35th to park and pulling my daughter out into her stroller, I had a group of young men ( ranging from what I would think of 11 to 17) come up on us and said, with way more profanity, "Bitches gotta earn the street". While I'm not fluent in street jive slang I ignored it and walked toward the food cart. They sat next to my car for a few minutes then lost interest, wandering away.

Awesome.

Posted 9 months ago #
2 Much Whine
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Wow, Velo, I didn't know you were a "bitch." They obviously don't read the blog because you've (arguably) earned a place here. Now I know why you want to cap unruly bitches (actual dogs) with guns.

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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Nice try dude.

Posted 9 months ago #
DP
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The phrase "bitches gotta earn the street" actually originated on Wall Street in the 1990s, where analysts used it to denote the ability of investors to make a profit at least equal to that of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

If you were "beating the street" it meant you were making a greater return on your investement than if you had invested your money in a portfolio indexed to the DJIA.

If you were just "earning the street" it meant your return was roughly the same as the DJIA. —You would need to be doing at least that well to be considered a major player ("a playah") by the Wall Street establishment.

"Bitches" means investors with portfolios large enough to have their own trader on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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Now define "playah Hatah".

Posted 9 months ago #
shed22
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playa Hatah: a player who hates other players. No?

Posted 9 months ago #
shed22
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"earned a place here" . . . hahaha!!!! What is this ... the playground?

Posted 9 months ago #
kootchman
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open a donut shop.... with a magazine rack. You'd get some police presence.

Posted 9 months ago #
HMC Rich
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I would make the little punks pull up their pants. "Lookin' like a fool with your pants on the ground". They look so silly. I see this fashion on a variety of kids. They are free to look dumb, but not free to hurt people. One positive of pants on the ground fashion has been more interesting patterns on boxer shorts.

SW Precinct must have been busy. Too bad. The victims deserved better. Can't blame the cops though. They were most likely too busy elsewhere "helping" other "misguided and almost law abiding citizens". Uh huh.

Some of these kids don't know any better. I overheard one "loving and caring parent" telling their little one...Get in the car or I'm gonna beat your ass. Or the mom or big sister at the stop light with a three year old in back using descriptive colorful language speaking to the other passenger, which was not appropriate for the small child sitting with them to hear such language.

Little Pink Houses for you and me.

Posted 9 months ago #
JanS
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when I se guys walking around who actually have to keep a hand on their pants because they ride so low they're almost falling down, I want to run up behind them and give a good yank - lol. How do they stop from tripping over them? (shaking head). Sadly , these guys might not be residents of HP. I agree with the poster who said take pics with your phone if you can. Maybe they can be identified. Rich, kids learn a lot from home, don't they? And these are the same parents who swear that their sons are "good boys" when they join a gang, end up hurting someone, going to prison, or worse.

Posted 9 months ago #
maude
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Could it be they don't have a constructive outlet? I mean, they ought to be held accountable for their actions, sure. But are they bored? When the skate park opens, will they hang out down there? If they do, will they just torment there? As far as the pants on the ground, yeah, it looks ridiculous. But each generation has their thing. My parents weren't too thrilled with what I wore either. And I use colorful language all day long and still contribute to society. But I was always afraid of getting my a$$ beat if I did anything that would have made it's way back to my parents. So I mostly laid low and minded my p's and q's.

Posted 9 months ago #
velo_nut
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It's all in the parenting. Both the kids and the parents just don't give a sh*t about anything.

Posted 9 months ago #
Ken
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Early evening on a Wednesday. Those kids were more likely to be from somewhere else in the city than from Highpoint. Why? They were getting on a bus.
Most of the kids in Highpoint that are in SHA housing have had the swift ejection of the entire household explained to them by their parents in a variety of languages. I live on the north end of Highpoint and about half of the kids in this end are Somali, Eritrean and variety asian/pacific islander. About half are white.

There has been trouble here in the past caused by kids from other parts of the city visiting friends, relatives and schoolmates.

Assuming they are "renters" as the local aryan nations former blogger puts it, is a bit of a stretch. They may not be "homeowners" but many people in WS aren't.

Maybe I don't see the worst in these kids. They are usually respectful if a little boisterous when they come to me to get their bicycles fixed.

A group of kids at any bus stop can be cruel and unthinking. It is the natural state of kids in groups away from home. The older teens think it is required.

So. If they are getting on the bus in the evening, why wouldn't you assume they were commuters :)

Posted 9 months ago #
DP
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A discussion of kids in the 'hood is just the thing to bring out the reflexive liberal and reflexive conservative in people.

The liberal take: Aw!! Those poor children. They must have tough lives. They just need something to do.

The conservative take: G-Damn punks. What they need is a good swift kick in the pants!

My take: Yeah, kids will be kids. But they should still pull up their pants and show some respect. Adults should pull up their pants, too, and deserve that respect.

When my kid tried messing around with the gang bangers and droopy drawers, I put a stop to it. I had hell to pay, but by God, I put a stop to it.

Posted 9 months ago #
wssort
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Thanks DP. Brilliant idea to take their pics and I even had my pocket camera with me that night! Too shaken to think straight possibly.

Ken, these kids weren't immigrants, they were African American and they were all hopping on the bus headed to White Center. The kid who threw the ball at me also seemed very hyper, was pummeling his buddies and swinging from the top of the bus shelter. I've been thinking that I wish I could have talked to them (without child in tow)and asked them why would they do such a thing. Maybe they live there and maybe they don't, maybe they jumped on the bus because they saw me talking on the phone to the popo.

Posted 9 months ago #
mehud7
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I agree with Maude- they need something to do. Just yesterday there were two teens about 13 playing with the crossing flags on California near Andover. I stopped and told them they now needed to cross the street. When they said they didn't need to I told them to stop playing like that. They said, "ok"(respectfully) putting the flags down and continuing on. Had they not I would have followed them and told their moms and their grandmothers. Parents also need to know what their children are doing. I watched a small boy wall around the deli case at Whole Foods smearing his fingers on the glass as he walked around twice. The poor deli employee was cleaning the glass on the deli case at the same time looking frustrated. The child's dad was not watching his son. When tie father finally came to retrieve his son, I told him what the child had done. He laughingly repremanded his son and seemed slightly embarrassed about the situation. As adults we need to model and set example for all children, not just our own.

Posted 9 months ago #
oddreality
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I'm glad the thugs wear their pants down low...they should all have to wear pants around their knees..makes them easier to catch...if anyone was trying..since they can't hardly run.Have you seen them running?? I have... hysterical!!

I've seen a lot of unruly kids in that area. Something does need to be done about it but have no idea what that would be.I hate getting stopped at the light there when there is a bunch of young "men" hanging around.

Posted 9 months ago #
DP
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I just got off the line with the forensic art department at the Seattle Police Department. Based on statements provided by velo_nut, SPD has prepared the following video reconstruction of the incident at Marination Station:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqpvvvcGtY0&feature=related

In the film, velo_nut is portrayed by Peter Sellers.

Posted 9 months ago #
texas
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sounds like the kids haven't "earned their place in the neighborhood"

Posted 9 months ago #
WMO
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wssort: Considering you had kids with you, keeping them safe is the #1 priority.

DP: I am a huge fan of your postings, but using a camera is potentially lethal.
If these are good kids behaving badly, photos and a little authority posturing will solve the problem. If these are true thugs, potentially with criminal records already, taking pictures will only escalate the situation to a level no one counted on.

Oddreality: I am with you on the pants on the ground. I can take out three opponents who cannot move because their britches have them all tangled up. But, if one of the little thugs carries a weapon, game changes, which is why as a parent, I just bite my tongue, resist my instinct to physically change the scene, and move on to protect my wife and child.

Posted 9 months ago #
kootchman
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I curb that impulse... one, the mere fact they do it means there is a core civility missing.. second more likely than not the parents will kick your ass too...and yea...that camera picture thing could be a fatal mistake. It ain't Otumwa Iowa up there. I ignore it and cede the turf and transit through it. It was just such a thing at the South Center rec center where I made my school choices... I like my kids as students, not bait.

Posted 9 months ago #
DP
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Yes, there's a limit to how much personal risk a citizen should accept while fighting crime. You have to choose your battles. If I'm waiting at a taco truck, for instance, and a small black man gives me a message for "Raphael," I don't ask questions. I just deliver the message . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8jF9uqN2RU&feature=related

Posted 9 months ago #
kittkat821
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I'm new to HP - in the newest houses built. And I'm already sick of the hoodlums. Some, honestly have been nice and introduced themselves, but they're older. The older ones however sit outside my house and smoke pot. The SW precinct doesn't respond in time so nothing ever happens. The younger ones, 12-15 are driving me batty with there constant yelling, running on my property, etc. And since I'm located RIGHT NEXT to the SHA housing, there is no escaping it.

I'm all for SHA Housing - those folks have waited a long time to get a great place to live. The adults know how lucky they are and respect it. Their children? They could care less.

Posted 9 months ago #
kootchman
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Bored? Now that's my job too? Gotta make sure the kids aren't bored? Now just how far away was the new taxpayer community center? The library? Any number of parks, ball fields, ... now it HAS to be a skate park or else? Seems like they are mobile enough on the subsidized public transit system... Keee rist... how about they were little cretins out on the prowl.?

Posted 9 months ago #
thee
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FWIW, i think Highpoint Hooligans would be a totally awesome name for a punk band.

Posted 9 months ago #