Hope in the Ghetto...For Once?

I was working with this Puerto Rican kid the other day who impressed me alot. He's from Paterson, so I had my thoughts on how he would work out- the last Puerto Rican was a lazy piece of shit. I know him being Puerto Rican has nothing to do with it; its far more about Paterson than any gene in his blood. It irritates me that I judge like this sometimes, but from my experience, people from Paterson don't want to work, they want to sell drugs and be tough guys, mouthing off about how many people they've knocked out or how many times they've been shot (I hate to tell them all that this short white boy would rip the shit out of their skinny tattooed asses, but I figure its not worth the trouble).

This kid impressed me though. He goes to a Catholic school in Wayne, not too mention he's a football player, so he's already better than your average ghetto trash that we normally get at my job. But either way, he's still from Paterson, so you have to be wary. I could tell he's got a head on his shoulders; he certainly is sharper than the other guys they hired this spring. He's about my height, around 5'7, but a lot skinnier and lighter, especially for a football player (maybe 135 soaking wet). Close cut hair, with the sideburns coming to a point like all the guineas like to do now, and he wears a blue and black flannel jacket that at least looks like it adds some mass to him.

He was telling me about just regular shit that goes on in Paterson. It certainly is a different world then Wayne is, and, being as I've never lived in a city, I find all the stories interesting. He mentioned that he just stays away from the blacks (which I've heard from Puerto Ricans before) because they are the ones that start all the trouble.

"You'll be chillin at a basement party, and some ignorant nigger will walk in and go, "Fuck Dominicans and Puerto Ricans". I always tell them to just ignore the fucking kid, and let the shit go away, but then someone mouths off to them, and then there's 20 niggers sitting outside waiting for you, and then fifteen cop cars come. This shit could have been avoided".

I admired this. Normally, guys from P-Town want to run their mouths about being tough, but this kid is the kind that doesn't see a reason for it. He thinks its retarded to fight someone over a hard look, "He didn't give a shit about the look I gave him when it was just him, but now that he's got his boys with him he wants to brawl. That's fuckin retarded".

Like I said, I'm impressed. Not only because he's from Paterson, but because he's only 17. Hell, even now, if someone mouths off to me, we have a problem. This kid's got a cooler head than I do.

What I'm hoping is that he's smart enough to get out of that shithole city, and get into college like he should. I think I'll start mentioning this in passing to him, especially because you never know how long he'll be working with me; guys float in and out all the time. But if I can get this guy to understand that he's got to use that head of his, and get his ass out of Paterson, than I'll be satisfied.

"Just don't ever make fun of my mother", he says. Hey man, no problem. You got my respect.