Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Hey, it's Lorain, not Low-rain

I live in Lorain.
And I work in Elyria.
That means that every day when I come to work, I cross over the Great Divide -- Route 254.
And I've heard from both sides of that Great Divide.
Elyria people call Lorain "Thugville."
And Lorain people call Elyria "Cowtown."
My Elyria co-workers are always saying things such as: "Aren't you afraid to go home?"
No.
Or "Is that city completely out of control?"
No.
Or "How can you live there?"
I like living there.
Even though there have been a dozen unsolved armed robberies in Lorain since the first of the year.
I want to know what gives?
Who are these gun-totin' robbers?
Are they kids? Where do kids get guns?
Why are they doing this?
Is it because they see others getting away with it?
Is it because they need drug money?
Or do they need money to pay their mortgage or buy their kids medicine?
At least one of these robberies was solved. The one that involved the killing of a man, who by all reports, was one of the gentlest, kindest people in Lorain.
Jose Gonzalez Sr., the grocer who managed to keep his little corner store operating in these tough times. The man who forgave money owed. The man always willing to help someone out.
To that arrest, we should tip our hats to the Lorain police officers who hunted him down.
But what about all the other robbers? How can they be caught?
Help me have something to say when someone says something bad about Lorain.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's a tough one Patti. I experience the same quandary when I tell people that I live in Lorain. I usually just try to say "I live in Lorain" in a matter-of-fact manner and then nod my head after delivering my place of residence to signal to the receiver that living in Lorain was a very natural choice for me to make without really explaining why. So in short, I don't really provide any room for waffling on either end. I think the positive head nod discourages any negative comments.

Anonymous said...

I also live in Lorain and will continue to live here. There is no way these punks and thugs should be able to intimidate us into leaving. I'm sure the armed robberies wil stop or decrease with arrest of the person who
killed Mr. Gonzales. We have a good police dept. and they MUST have the help of citizens everywhere to combat crime.Neighborhood watch groups are a good start on the correct pathto success. DON'T GIVE UP! WE CAN ALL DO IT TOGETHER!

Anonymous said...

Lorain was put on the planet to give Elyrian's somebody to look down upon.
Thank you Lorain, mission accomplished!

Anonymous said...

Well, I for one am not concerned about Lorain's image as far as the surrounding cities go. If we seem a little tough, a little dangerous, well...we're a determined, hardy lot. So yes, other cities around us should fear us--there's a good chance we'll eclipse all of them.