Bad Neighborhood

Wanting to quickly boil water for tea and not owning a tea kettle, I decided to post an ad on Freecycle. For those of you who aren't familiar, Freecycle is a "network" where people list things they Want or have to Offer to others - free of charge.

My add went like this:

Wanted: Hot pot or electric kettle in working condition

Looking for a hot pot or electric kettle in working condition for heating water for tea. Thanks!

Shortly after it went up I had two responses, one of which was for a brand new hot pot, still in the box. I was thrilled! I exchanged a few emails with the person making the offer - we'll call her Betty - and in one of them she explained that she could not leave it on the porch (which is often customary wtih Freecyclers) because she lived in a "bad neighborhood."

I wasn't concerned. I had lived previously in LA, New York, and Cleveland -working and volunteering as a social worker. I've been to "bad neighborhoods" before. And this was Greeley, CO that we were talking about. I mean really - how "bad" could it be?

A few days later I rode my bicycle over to Betty's apartment, on the other side of the tracks, in the "bad neighborhood." On the way I rode past the Boys & Girls Club of Weld County - Pawl Unit. Cool! I didn't even know that existed!

When I arrived at Betty's apartment she greeted me at the door, introduced me to her son - 5 years old, entering kindergarten, and very excited about his bicycle. After about 15 minutes of friendly conversation I put the hot pot in my backpack, got back on my bicycle, and waved goodbye.

As I was riding home I started thinking about Betty's email comment about living in a "bad neighborhood" and what exactly that meant. What it might mean to her and to her son.

My best guess is that she was referring to the fact that she lives in low income housing. And that maybe it's not always safe and comfortable. Which, of course, is tough. But does that make it "bad"? Did Betty come up with that description of her neighborhood on her own or did she hear someone else describe it that way? What does that mean for Betty and her son? Do think less of themselves because of where they live?

Is there a way for us, as a society, to use different words? Do we really need to label everything?