I'm mad as H ELL & I'm not taking it anymore.

The classic line yelled by Howard Beale in "Network" thirty years ago sums up my feelings this week. So this blog has nothing to do with walking. It's my blog, I can do what I want. As long as I'm careful what I write.

Maybe I have been in denial and my rose-colored glasses were smashed to bits last night.

All summer I have been stewing over the increasing graffiti in the neighborhood. But last night my tolerance ran out. I was hoping to see something in the newspaper this morning, but nothing.

Prior to this summer there was a little tagging. Annoying, yes. Newsworthy, no. The one I saw the most was "5P". I'm guessing it was a gang-tag for Five Points.

This summer one garage got hit two nights in a row, then the family finally painted/cleaned over the old graffiti it got hit again. Another shed-like/outhouse structure gets hit frequently.  We have now elevated to what I call "hate" graffiti.   Time frame I think was Sunday night.

I went down they alley early Sunday evening and all was okay. When I went down Monday night, someone had sprayed a start of David and a series of numbers a garage door. Now, unless I'm wrong that is a "hate" crime, and deserves some attention. (At first I thought the family was Jewish, it would make sense for a "hate" crime. But I have found out that that is not true. Regardless, it still punches me in the gut every time I drive past.)

Unlike in Philadelphia or NYC Action News did not show up.

Is the south side as horrible as it's reputation? I am always talking about how great a place it is to live. That once you get off the main drags there is nice houses, and nice working families from around the world.

I think graffiti degrades a neighborhood. And destroying someone else property is a crime, right? Perhaps I am making a mountain out of a molehill. But isn't this a quality of life issue?