New Neighbours
Posted on March 20, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized |
I suspect that everyone has at least one moment in their life when they are confronted with their own hypocrisies. I am having one such moment this evening.
As I was on the way home, I went to take my usual shortcut through the old Pentecostal Tabernacle Church only to find that demolition had begun. The urban developers have arrived. I don’t doubt that there will be a big ol’ condo tower standing next to my apartment building by the end of the summer. I have a sneaking suspicion that they might try and buy my build as well, which I hope doesn’t happen. Even if I were to move out tomorrow, there are too few rental units in this city. I might be fine, but others might not be.
The demolition, so far, consisted of only two things: (1) destroying all of the external staircases, and (2) cutting down all of the trees on one side of the building. Why was this done? To make the property more difficult to be used as an unofficial homeless shelter. While this angers me, it’s only a matter of time before they rip the entire structure down anyway, so it’s hard to be too critical.
Having been unceremoniously evicted from their camp, the homeless people who had been living there were forced to find new homes. A few of them decided not to move very far. They’ve pitched their tarp against the fence beside my building–right underneath my balcony. Well, not literally “right” under it. They’re on the opposite side of the fence. Still, they are very close. This, obviously, is where my hypocrisy comes into play.
While I had no desire to see them leave when they were camped across the parking lot, I’m less eager to have them parked literally a stone’s throw from my window. They’re still not causing any harm where they are now, but suddenly I’m not as opposed to the idea of having someone moving them along. Obviously, I don’t want to see them thrown into the back of a police van, but I can’t say that I’m as welcoming of my new neighbours as my general outlook on life says that I ought to be.
Having said that, I have no intention of calling the police or otherwise making a complaint about them being there, unless they become a genuine disturbance in some way. Nor will I deny myself the simple pleasure of sitting on the patio and enjoying the weather should they still be living there when spring finally decides to kick in for real (what’s up with this mini-snow storm today?).
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