Here is little email exchange between me and a business guy who has given one of neighborhood buddies a great factory job:

Bart, I wanted to update you on your guy’s progress. He is doing very
well so far, no problems that I can see. He made it through the -8
degree day without mishap, which is about as tough as it gets in our
place. However, he did smash his finger in a chain back a couple of
weeks ago. I took him to the Urgent Care, no break and no broken skin.
I drove him down to his house in Walnut Hills to save him the ride.

Wow. I was shaken out of my white bread world in a hurry. I thought I
had a rough crowd, it’s unbelievable down there. Kids yelling at me to
stop, come over to see them. All sorts of stuff (as you well know).
Mykel said, as so many of the guys do, that the whole key to survival is
to just stay in the house. This is madness. Dave

Dave ,

Aw, it’s not so bad down here, once you get used to it. The problem is, you never really get used to it.

The key, for me at least, is not to stay in the house, but rather to get out and try to engage people in ways that let me see past their dysfunction to their humanity. Otherwise I just look out my window and feel contempt for their mess and anger for the way it spoils my view.

In other words, in an ugly world, you gotta be a proactive lover or you’ll end up being a passive hater.

Thanks for playing your part like a champ,

Bart