Sad Summer

blondie Jul 24, 2012 23 Comments

So there we are last night, my hubby and I, enjoying the warm Summer night driving east down Superior Street. I would say it is about 9ish or so. And there I see the saddest little child, looking tired and laying his head on his dad’s (I presume) shoulder. This child was dressed only in a diaper and was about 1 year old.

So what is the big deal you ask? Because this child was in front of the Last Place on Earth. Is it just me or is this way fucked up??? I know, I know the law is being changed and there is only so much the cops can do. But my God people think about your kids for one minute and don’t expose them to what I saw standing there last night on that sidewalk.

What a dark turn this particular area of Duluth has taken. If you don’t believe me, take a drive down Superior Street some evening and see for yourself. I hope you don’t see the same tired, sad little child I did, but it wouldn’t surprise me if you did.

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23 Comments

rev

about 12 years ago 

It is pretty fucked up and sad as hell, but changing the law doesn't do anything to help that child, it just removes the problem so you don't have to confront it personally.

It's not like his parents will suddenly clean up and become great parents if they can't buy the stuff at the LPoE. At least the tourists and the rest of us can go back to pretending that shit like this doesn't happen.

De man

about 12 years ago 

There have been bad parents since the beginning of parenting. It sucks. It's life and it isn't LPoE's fault.

c-freak

about 12 years ago 

What if they were there to buy a dildo?

baci

about 12 years ago 

Almost as sad is Ramos's daily monologue of why we should give Carlson the keys to our city. Please review his personal blog. It's disguised as an ongoing post here on PDD. You'll find plenty of support for your view of this utterly sad sad sad situation as those of us who agree with you try and debate with the otherwise right minded folks defending Carlson's "right" to wreak devastation on the lives of these children. I couldn't give a #$%#&! about the parents.

Ramos

about 12 years ago 

I'm just an ordinary one-year-old, and it started as just an ordinary night for me, standing on the sidewalk in front of the Last Place with my parents, chillin' with my friends on the blanket and having a very nice time. It was a hot summer's night, but my daddy saw that I was sweating, so he stripped me down to my diaper, and let me run around a little bit, and it felt pretty good. Daddy would pick me up and put me up on his shoulder when I got tired. Daddy was always thinking of me like that.

Like I say, it was just an ordinary night. Hot, but ordinary. And then I happened to look up from my play and see a car passing in the street. A woman was looking out from the window of that car, straight at me. Our eyes met. The woman's face was contorted into such an expression of hatred and disgust that I burst into tears.

Daddy saw that I was upset. He flashed a gang sign at the lady and said, "Yo, bitch, what's your problem? Take a picture or move it along."

The lady rolled down her window and hollered, "I'm posting this on PDD." Whatever that meant. And then she drove away. So that was kind of interesting.

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago 

It shouldn't matter if you lean right or left in your view, if you let the police take your stuff and hold it indefinitely without a single charge, that's wrong. 

Is Carlson a creep? Yep. Is he taking advantage of people? Yep. Is what he doing hurting everyone? Yep. 

Is he operating legally? Yep. 

So what gives the police or any other agency a right to go in, take stuff, and never give it back without any charges or due process?

If you let it happen to others, it can happen to you.

Makoons

about 12 years ago 

See that's what I think people forget in all of this: regardless of what you think about what Mr. Carlson sells in his store, he has broken no laws and is still being punished. Just because it's something you don't like doesn't make it okay.

I'm a social worker. Context Matters...being drunk all the time off alcohol is dangerous as a parent, but if they leave their child with an appropriate babysitter and then decide to go out for a night on the town that's totally fine. If these people are high as shit on Spice all the time and attempting to make sound parenting decisions, that could be harmful. If they use casually with their friends while their child is being cared for by a relative, there is no legal objection because there is no imminent harm. I personally object to people who get sloppy drunk and make crappy decisions, even if their children are not present, but it's not illegal. I just make the personal choice not to partake. I invite others to do the same.

To be upfront about my personal thoughts on the matter, I'd never bring my kid to a place like that and always clothe my daughter because I think it's what's appropriate. However, it is not illegal for me to do the opposite and I can't project my personal expectations on others. I've seen a lot worse and appreciate Ramos' post because there always is another side to the story.

baci

about 12 years ago 

@Ramos and Jadiz, take your illusions of "freedom" back to your post. We all know WTF is going on with the "dad" (term applied loosely) and why he and his child are in front of LPOE. And it's wrong! Plain and simple. Tell me it isn't .. justify why it's OK for him to have a diapers-only child hanging out at the drug and dildo shop? C'mon ... tell me it's right ... Go back to your LPOE pity party and leave this thread to those of us concerned for the children of spice abusers.

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago 

Hey Baci, I agree it's wrong. Problem is, it isn't illegal. Do you understand the difference? I wish LPoE was gone. I wish that those children didn't suffer.
I'm also realistic that if the cops can take a citizen's property because no one likes what he's doing, not because he has broken the law, they can do it to any of us.

I'm not going to justify at all the "dads" behavior because there is no justifying it. I also will call bullshit on the cops taking a citizen's property and holding it indefinitely when not one law was broken.

You brought up Carlson's rights first. Scumbag he is, he has the same rights as you or I and if they can violate his, they will violate yours. 

Morality is great, but the issue is a legal one, not a moral one. 

In this country laws trump feelings, Baci, and when we let those in charge break those laws because of feelings, it is a dangerous precedent for those of us not in the positions of power.

Herzog

about 12 years ago 

At least lately, there haven't been white people shooting themselves in the stomach and claiming black people did it .

The line of people in front of LPOE are hopeless and pathetic.  But, so are people who use tobacco, que sera...

We were at Gooseberry last weekend in the evening, and some big black shiny truck pulled up alongside us, whole parking lot is empty otherwise.  Guy gets out and hauls his kid off in the bush to take a leak. Standing over him all domineering like. I guess I wouldn't be able to explain all the nuance of why I felt sorry for this kid to be stuck with a deuce like that. The sounds, the smells. Some trashy things, you have to experience first hand to feel the pain.

baci

about 12 years ago 

@Jadiz, Thank you for being rational even when I'm not. Illegal seizure is illegal too. I will always return to the belief that Carlson chooses to do this ... He could choose to not sell that stuff. He chooses to participate and foster a situation where children are being endangered. I'm proud of DPD and anyone who makes this a difficult choice for him. Our "freedoms" are illusions. That tired child in diapers downtown being forced to wait so his caretaker can get synthetic pot is not. It's real.

bushleaguer

about 12 years ago 

I was down there last week and it felt like I burst into a scene straight out of Confederacy of Dunces:  vagrants and suspicious characters galore.

Claire

about 12 years ago 

A friend of mine just alerted me that there's a police raid going on inside LPOE right now. The cops are filling a bus with stuff.

Claire

about 12 years ago 

And Jadiaz, just because something is legal, doesn't make it OK.

B-man

about 12 years ago 

This post is all about false consensus.

Just because you believe something is right/wrong does not mean others should conform to your thinking.  If you do not want to shop at LPoE then don't, if you do not want to have a gay marriage then don't, if you do not want to have an abortion then don't.  

Normal is a setting on a washing machine, not what values and ideals you have.

I do not use the synthetic drugs available due to my choice.  I also do not use hundreds of other products available to me on a daily basis that are potentially as harmful as synthetic marijuana.

If he is breaking the law, appropriate actions should be taken.  If his actions are against your moral compass and you think you know better, then shut up and move on with your life, because no one asked you.

Any of you "drive by" citizens stopped to talk to any of the folks standing in line? to try to understand the other side of the story?

I love opinions and yours is as valid as mine, but forcing your opinions on me is not what this country should be into.

'merica!

Jadiaz

about 12 years ago 

Claire, as I stated, I don't think it is ok. 
Neither is stealing. 
Two wrongs don't make a right.
I'm just worried that if they can take his stuff and hold it when no law was broken at the time, they can do it to me or anyone else.

De man

about 12 years ago 

The washing machine at the laundromat has a whites and colors setting, does that make it a separate but equal washing machine?

Carla

about 12 years ago 

Today's Star Tribune:
http://www.startribune.com/video/#/163778056/video/1/eps

baci

about 12 years ago 

best quote in video ...

"They took a tobacco pipe I had" - this from young mother who was in LPOE with her child. She's carrying a tobacco pipe?

blondie

about 12 years ago 

Well, I think that without a doubt, she's in the running for Mother of the Year.

jessige

about 12 years ago 

The pipe belonged to the kid. No burnt fingers that way.

forthetime_being

about 12 years ago 

The other day I was walking downtown near LPoE and this mother hollered to her son (or younger relative), "Get over here, now!" He walked clumsily, his knees wobbling slightly each step on his worn sandals. He wore socks, which were ripped, on one foot, the sock only went halfway over his foot, all his toes brown with soot, exposed. 

He mumbled to speak, and I noticed his two teeth, one sticking down, the other up, both yellow and brown. His glossed, lost blue eyes, were staring past his mother, far down the street, unwavering in their cloudy haze. Maybe he was 24, 25 years old. Lost in Duluth, his mom still yelling, his faltering saunter drawing further away down Superior Street.

c-freak

about 12 years ago 

I have a tobacco pipe, but alas, not a mom. The horror.

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