AIR FORCE DIARIES
by Marquita R. Barr
STATE OF VIRGINIA -PRIM AND PROPER
In
elementary school, when we were studying the manner in which the states
were formed to devise the Union, I distinctly remember reading that the
state of Virginia was named for a baby girl by the same name, who was
the first infant born after the territory was formed. Over the
years I have found that a lot of the stories surrounding the early days
of our nations statehood were falsehoods however, traveling over what I
would consider an extensive area of this state, I firmly believe that
is the type of Pollyanna attitude that formed this very prim and proper
state.
Driving
through the neighbors of Washington, DC or Maryland, I was particularly
struck by the barred up residences…. bars on the doors, windows,
chimneys, basement windows, bars on the bars. Theft is a rampant
crime in this area (as I came to know my third week of residing
here). Maryland has a car theft “row” This is a place where
known car theft rings abandon the stolen cars after stripping
them. (Am I the only person in the world who thinks they should
monitor this area 24/7 to catch these felons?)
Not
so, in ole’ Virginny. The striking element surrounding cities
like Alexandria, Norfolk, Arlington, et al, is the absence of those
steel grates. Doors and windows very near the public walkways are
bar free. Why so? Virginia resident current and former tell
me that the law enforcement in these states is very intolerant of the
crime that most cities consider routine and petty. Burglars,
purse-snatchers, car thieves are jailed promptly. If these
unlucky souls survive until they are tried, they receive very stiff
sentences. Juveniles who just get into fights on school buses are
put in states homes until adulthood. WHEW! So is
Virginia crime free? Not really. Nevertheless, the
repeat offense problem, I do believe they have solved.
NORFOLK,VA.---Battleships,
Seaports, and Civil War Memorials---The highlight of the Christmas
Season was the Neighborhood Open House Food Tasting Festival.
During the second week of December I traveled to this town to attend a
Continuing Professional Education class given by the Internal Revenue
Service. From my hotel window, I looked down on a housing
project, in the heart of the downtown business district---completely
surrounded on all sides by hotels, businesses, and other upper-class
edifices. State and metropolitan police are forever visible, but
you hardly ever see them is the process of arresting anyone. I am
told that they are very polite, and tolerant, however do not put up
with any “foolishness.”
You do the crime, you will do the time…. if you are one of the lucky ones.
ALEXANDRIA, VA! Beautiful
and historic. Streets named King, Queen, Duke, Prince, Princess,
all in succession of hierarchy. Quite evident of the early
settlers’ loyalty to British royalty. The streets and buildings
are pristine. If heaven were a city, Alexandria would be
it. When traveling to Washington, DC, I have very often taken a
diversion through Alexandria just to avoid the DC depressed
areas. Driving through Alexandria, I get the rush of walking out
into fresh air, after being locked in a room full of unpleasant odors.
In DC Drug
dealers, very openly selling their wares with the panorama of the White
House in the background, a few mere blocks away. While
driving thru midtown DC on New York Avenue, I witnessed from my car a
group of thugs beating the daylights out of a young man. As he
stumbled away bleeding, a few folks standing nearby timidly offered to
help him. I carry a first aid kit in my car, but when I stopped
to make an attempt to help, the motorist around me honked me back into
the car. Traffic was backed up, but didn’t they care more
about their fellow human who was suffering? Nyet!!
DC Metro
police are too busy creeping behind motorist, looking for ticket quota
fixes. My out-of-town plates (Florida) were irresistible.
Recalling one cop, when I first arrived in DC, who followed me as I
made a virtual complete circle of a block.
I live in MARYLAND,
which is a virtual extension of DC. There are many picturesque
living areas in Maryland, but looks are deceiving. High taxes,
high crime rates, very little police surveillance accompany the
gorgeous homes and landscaping. Poor street maintenance and
lighting. Maryland has the look of a rural town, but demands
levies from its citizens similar to a large metropolis like Chicago or
New York. Housing costs are super-enormous. I just visited
a new housing development in Largo, Maryland---just a few city blocks
from where I am now boarding. Centex Home Builders, who are known
for building quality luxury type homes, are building an “over 50”
village settlement. The town homes are beautiful, as most Centex
homes are; however, the prices are three times that of similar homes in
the Florida area developments. The base price for a 2-bedroom model was $300,000. MARYLAND---big taxes, big prices, little city services.
ARLINGTON,VA!!!
Gorgeous little town, but the most time I’ve spent there is the one
night, when I got lost near the National Cemetery. I was in a
near state of panic, and imagined that I saw the spirit of President JF
Kennedy standing near the curb as I drove by. (Don’t laugh, I was
new to the area then, tired, stressed, and had lost my sense of
direction).
Florida
is the place I consider home, however, I continue this job assignment,
I would choose to live in Virginia. The racial-bias issue, I have
been warned, would be something else I would have to contend with
(although in that respect, life would not be any different from my
resident years in Chicago, Illinois the first 47 years of my life).
NEXT ---THE FINAL CHAPTER OF AIR FORCE DIARIES---IN RETROSPECT
Chapter 8
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