Flashback: Postcards from the other side of America. Ugly Utica and the Family Mutiny June 29, 2008 Sunday We left camp in the rain yesterday; packing as best we could with everything wet. A downpour with thunder and lightning rolled into the Niagara area last night and even though we were dry in the tent, everything around us, including the many items we left out on the picnic table are soaked. We hustle our way across New York State via the NY Thruway and arrive at our Utica motel room by 2:00pm. Renee and I, tired of P.B. & J’s and McDonalds, left the boys at the hideous Super 8 motel and head into downtown for some lunch. Dear Mom and Dad: Utica is disappointing to me. Homeless men sway from side to side and stare as you drive by them. Small groups of young, newly tattooed white trash sporting shaved heads, sleeveless T-shirts and combat boots patrol their turf; cursing and goose-stepping out of sync. We pull into a small strip of shops where a down and out black man totes all his clothes in a canvas bag. He stalks the parking lot and blocks the entrance to the Laundromat, extracting quarters from everyone so he can use the machines inside. When does asking for two quarters …. cross the line and become a .50 cent mugging?
Posted on: Fri, 17 Oct 2014 14:46:00 +0000