Let's Talk About The Badlands | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Entertainment

Let's Talk About The Badlands

"The City of Brotherly Love" has turned into "The City of Brotherly Fratricide "

31
Let's Talk About The Badlands
Unsplash

"Philadephia" the city of Brotherly love.

Let's talk about the "Badlands". The badlands is a section in North Philadelphia. Those of you from Philly know that exact area. It's the area where people do their best to avoid. The Badlands is where you go for an "open-air" drug market and for drug-related violence. Every day someone is killed for money or someone is killed for drug-related instances, rather that be possession or for stealing. Either way, someone is going to die every day in the Badlands. It's a sad, but a true reality of Philadelphia. The addiction to drugs gets so bad people put theirselves in a dangerous situation. The high is better than life itself. People value drugs more than another person's life. It's all business and quite frankly not a business I want to be a part of.

I always knew about the Badlands, I just never really looked into it. I knew that terrible things were going on there, but it was out of my hands. It was a true eye opener when I saw an article that mentioned nearly 50 people overdosed in the badlands... Think about that, 50 people. That is 50 people who died overnight from the use of drugs. The residents of the badlands don't think twice, because this is just what happens, it's sad, but true. It is what happens. When you have a city that has so many people hooked on drugs it's only a matter of time before they overdose or die of drug-related violence. These people that die become a statistic, but we need to stop thinking of them as a statistic. We need to start seeing these people as victims of addiction or victims of the wrong path. Rather some people see them as a "Druggie" or a "Dealer". I don't think they got up one day and said, "Let's do drugs and deal!". They probably had hopes and dreams, but didn't have the money and went down the wrong path.

Drug abuse is one of the nations, hell, the world's biggest problems. If drugs have made it to small suburban towns, like the one I currently live in. It's only a matter of time before it reaches every community. We need to start fighting back. The drugs need to stop and the body count needs to lower. When 50 people die in an area all overnight you realize that there is a real problem here. Feel free to make the argument "They chose this life" Sure, in a way they did choose this life, but what brought them to this life? Did someone get them started and they couldn't stop? Was it the only way for them to survive in their community?

I know not everyone in the Badlands is a drug dealer or a druggie, some of them just happen to be poor. They can't afford to leave the "ghetto" and or "Badlands". That's not their fault. They can work, but in these environments it's only a matter of time before the money you worked for, gets stolen. Then you're back to square one. Not everyone here is not fighting the good battle to get out. A lot are, but there is only so much you can do. At the end of the day, the streets need to be cleaned up. The drug addicts need to find help and the killing needs to stop. "The City of Brotherly Love" has turned into "The City of Brotherly Fratricide "

Love not Drugs

Love not Murder

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Lifestyle

10 Signs You Work In A Restaurant

There's always chaos in the restaurant business.

468
10 Signs You Work In A Restaurant
Brisanis

Working in the restaurant industry is possibly the most fundamentally challenging occupation I have ever experienced when it comes to hospitality and customer service. When you go to a five-star restaurant you expect the time of your life, a two hour getaway, a walk through another time period (rustic Italy, France, Spain, etc), or simply a honeymoon undergo. What you don't see are the behind the scenes scut work: carrying trays, polishing glassware and silverware, kitchen chaos, the list is endless. Now, I'm not saying being a host, server, or bartender is the worst thing in the whole wide world, there are definitely worse things. But the fact of the matter is that it isn't always sunshine and rainbows. In the two years that I have spent in restaurant and customer service, I have spoken my share of expletives, yelled at kitchen staff, and dealt with not-so-happy guests. It isn't easy to keep a bright and shiny smile on your face when all you want to do is choke every person who walks near you. Anyone who has spent even two weeks working in a restaurant understands the rigor and stress that comes with it. Restaurant culture is a tiny world in and of itself that operates on its own principles and creates its own society. It even has its own language. The sayings "runner", "corner", and "on a bus" wouldn't make sense to anyone otherwise. My mother and I both work in a restaurant and the best advice I can give someone going out to eat is to treat us like people. Yes...believe it or not we are people, people. Say "please" and "thank you", or stack your cleared plates before a busser gets to the table. Trust me, the gesture goes a lot farther than you may think.

So, if you work in a restaurant, you can relate with the following points. If not, check out how the brain of a restaurant service (or any customer service) worker actually works. See if you can identify any crazy weird habits your friends have a tendency to partake in.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

11 Things I Learned My Freshman Year of College

Not everything you learn in college can be found in a textbook.

378
Breanna Vogel
Breanna Vogel

One of the scariest things we will ever face in our life is going to college. Many of us move away to a new town, join new organizations, and make new friends. We are expected to study, have a social life, relationships, maybe work, and be healthy. It seems pretty easy to do, and in high school all we wanted to do was graduate and move on to this next chapter of our lives. If you are in high school, here are some things that you can learn from before you get to college. If you have already been through your freshman year of college, hopefully you can relate to the things I have learned in college.

Keep Reading...Show less
how to get away with murder
Tumblr

It's about that time where we are too tired to do anything productive, too cold to leave bed, and too lazy to find a new show to watch so we result to re-runs.

For all of you home-bodies, for all of you cold weather haters, here are my suggestions for this holiday break. Let the binging begin!

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

12 Long-Term Relationship Milestones

You've got a keeper if you've made it to any of these milestones.

758
couple on the beach
Pexels

You've been together for so long. It's great. And as the time spent in your relationship grows, you hit certain milestones where you know it's real. These can be make-or-break moments, or just little things where you finally realize that you're both doing it. Everybody hits these milestones, no matter how long it takes; they're inevitable.

You know you've made it when you hit these long-term relationship milestones.

Keep Reading...Show less
10 Of The Best Shows To Binge Watch Over Winter Break

As the semester is coming to an end, most of us are going to have more free time on our hands. This calls for binge watching a new show on Netflix and really using this break to relax from the stress of school. Here are some of the best shows on Netflix that you should be watching.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments