It's Day 23 of this Writing Challenge - "A letter to someone, anyone". One week to go and then back to normal writing and blogging and ranting and raving. My first approach was going to be a letter to God (god). I'll write that one later. But then recently I made the mistake to watch the news and a posting that my sister posted on my Facebook page. At that moment I decided I'd address the people, most of whom I have never met. I would love to see what makes them tick and why they do the things they do.
Dear City of Philadelphia,
How's it going? It's been ten years and we have never really had a good sit down and a heart to heart talk. I want to understand some things. Why is this city called the City of Brotherly Love when there is very little love showed to each other. Did you know earlier this week a 3 year old child was shot and killed sitting on her front porch. That bullet was intended for someone else, but it strayed and she caught it instead. Why? Why are we shooting at each other? Don't we have enough negative press? Other cities are beginning to look at us strangely. These cities are getting us mixed up with Camden. We cannot stand by and tolerate this behavior or ignore this travesty.
The city has many wonderful traditions. The food is the best in the country. I have been to other cities and what they try to pass off as a cheesesteak would make you cry. There are historical landmarks that date back nearly 300 years. We were the seat of independence, freedom and self government. We should be setting the example. New York should be envious of us and not the other way around. There is so much more to this city than what the evening news proclaims. Stop being a statistic and part of the problem. Be part of the answer. Playing the part of a ghetto gangster, drug dealer or gun toting thug is not honorable. Robbing, stealing, raping and killing are not true marks of excellence. Rap lyrics are an art form. They're not meant to be taken literally. You don't have to die before you turn 30. You can do better than that. You can become educated, trained and self reliant. You can work and serve the community as honest people do. You can be the role model for the future generations. You can't let a weak economy and an even weaker city government deter you from reaching your potential for greatness.
The first step in the right direction is to stop the criminals. It takes an intelligent and fearless person to step up and point the finger at the troublemakers, scofflaws and criminals. You can't fear retribution. Holding candle-light vigils are kind and endearing but it won't stop the violence unless you get the perpetrators off the streets and out of our neighborhoods. There is no honor in letting reprobates run our city into the ground. Join me and take the next step to bringing Philadelphia back on top.
Your neighbor,
Tomorrow is Day 24: "a lesson learned the hard way".
Dear City of Philadelphia,
How's it going? It's been ten years and we have never really had a good sit down and a heart to heart talk. I want to understand some things. Why is this city called the City of Brotherly Love when there is very little love showed to each other. Did you know earlier this week a 3 year old child was shot and killed sitting on her front porch. That bullet was intended for someone else, but it strayed and she caught it instead. Why? Why are we shooting at each other? Don't we have enough negative press? Other cities are beginning to look at us strangely. These cities are getting us mixed up with Camden. We cannot stand by and tolerate this behavior or ignore this travesty.
The city has many wonderful traditions. The food is the best in the country. I have been to other cities and what they try to pass off as a cheesesteak would make you cry. There are historical landmarks that date back nearly 300 years. We were the seat of independence, freedom and self government. We should be setting the example. New York should be envious of us and not the other way around. There is so much more to this city than what the evening news proclaims. Stop being a statistic and part of the problem. Be part of the answer. Playing the part of a ghetto gangster, drug dealer or gun toting thug is not honorable. Robbing, stealing, raping and killing are not true marks of excellence. Rap lyrics are an art form. They're not meant to be taken literally. You don't have to die before you turn 30. You can do better than that. You can become educated, trained and self reliant. You can work and serve the community as honest people do. You can be the role model for the future generations. You can't let a weak economy and an even weaker city government deter you from reaching your potential for greatness.
The first step in the right direction is to stop the criminals. It takes an intelligent and fearless person to step up and point the finger at the troublemakers, scofflaws and criminals. You can't fear retribution. Holding candle-light vigils are kind and endearing but it won't stop the violence unless you get the perpetrators off the streets and out of our neighborhoods. There is no honor in letting reprobates run our city into the ground. Join me and take the next step to bringing Philadelphia back on top.
Your neighbor,
Tomorrow is Day 24: "a lesson learned the hard way".
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