To: Grainne who wrote (17839 ) 2/27/1998 6:11:00 PM From: Rambi Read Replies (2) | Respond to
That San Francisco has neighborhoods doesn't surprise me at all; most large cities are made up of them, even New York, or D.C. We are very social beings and we tend to group. However, this is not the same kind of community support network I think was meant in the initiative in that your neighborhood has no accountability for its behavior, or for those people needing help. I'm not sure how much involvement your neighborhood even has on a day-to-day level among its members. We had very little in Dallas with our neighbors--nowhere near the intimacy of small town interaction. Our Dallas neighborhood had the same "Will work for food" woman and man on the street corner every morning. (She wore a maternity outfit every day for two years--she had the gestation period of an elephant.) I may have given her money (well-at first) but that in no way alleviated her problem. It only made me, the giver, feel a little less guilty. These people are not really part of the fabric of our daily lives and we don't really assume responsibility. (although it sounds as if your husband and his coworkers did try!!)can teach one person to read and that there is a great deal of importance in that one act.
