what a lousy place to live

A Bad Country and a Bad City; not a nice place to live......

This is really just a pathetically awful place to live, but my parents live here god damn it!
Don't they deserve better?
And don't their neighbors deserve better?

When I lived in Bratislava, there were three places within easy walking distance where I could buy fresh fruit and vegetables.

And, oddly enough, the fruits and vegetables were not of uniform size. Nay, sometimes they weren't even pretty to look at.

But, guess what? They tasted good! Much better than what's available at the local "Albertsons"!

And another thing. Let's talk about Walgreens. In Europe pharmacies do not sell groceries and grocery stores do not sell prescription medicines. At least not the last time I was in Vienna or Bratislava. And, I think that's a good thing. It cuts down on monopolies.

But here in El Paso, Texas, we buy food in Walgreens--and we also routinely purchase over-priced medicines which are over-priced because the government of the USA does not represent the people of the USA---but guess what? Every Sunday sale prices are advertised. And by Wednesday everything of any interest is gone--OK, let's not say 'everything', let's be careful and say: lots of stuff, or a significant amount of stuff. I wanted, e.g., today (Wednesday) to buy a sugar free breakfast cereal. God knows there are not many of those, and the one I know of was on sale.

But, guess what? This being Wednesday, when I arrived at Walgreens after a walk that may be good for myhealth but wreaks havoc on my aesthetic sense, there was (you guessed it) none of the advertised breakfast cereal! Of course, I can get something called a "rain check", but in the past fourteen months or so, I have collected a few "rain checks", and guess what? The items that I got a rain check for have not yet appeared on the store's shelves.....hmmmmm. Why the hell pretend the sale goes from Sunday to Saturday when for all practical purposes it ends on Tuesday?

Who are we kidding here? But then again, this is the organization that has the nerve to push flu vaccine with aggressive advertising (E.g. the t shirts worn by workers)... They are flaunting their social deficiency when they should be ashamed of themselves. Public health is good for everyone and it should not be for sale. Some brain cells are lacking here, or maybe there's a hole in the conceptual nets of the citizenry or maybe just the ruling class--an idea like public good is too hard to grasp? A dangerous idea? I don't know, but there must be some explanation...But, getting back to the point:

This is a bad place to live. It is not a good place to live. This is a badly run, badly managed country, and a badly managed ugly metropolitan center. (I refuse to mis-represent this mess by calling it a "city". )

(And, let's not forget, as if it weren't bad enough....that we have all this ugliness and misery at home,....on top of that we have to export death and destruction to Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and a few other countries we might mention if we had all night.....thank you very much. Nothing good or admirable about that....)

About my unpleasant walk to and from Walgreens---- the sort of thing that starves and diminishes and damages any sense of beauty, proportion, harmony, etc. etc. etc.:
I noticed (once again) the painful UGLINESS of this place again as I walked through what seemed to be mile after mile of asphalt---parking lots for cars---on my way to Walgreens....everywhere bright lights and ugly advertising....but (n.b.) the actual neighborhoods (where people, not cars, live) are poorly lit. The lighting in my neighborhood is as bad as COMMUNIST lighting--I know. I've been there.