What Happens In Vegas…
What happens in Vegas… is completely foreign to the rest of the world. What a weird, messed up place. A spectacle for sure, but a crazy, tragic spectacle in my opinion. Every time I’m here, there’s a moment where I think it’s fun and exciting or whatever, then I walk out onto ‘The Strip’ and remember why I can’t really handle much of this place. And what’s crazy about it, is that it’s not just the obvious sex, drugs and unhealthy gambling that weirds me out, but the complete jacked up balance of wealth and poverty. Last night walking back from getting some food it hit me that this entire place was built on the bad decisions of other people. Millions and millions of dollars are blown here in an attempt to be ‘fulfilled’. That blows me away.
I talked to a guy last night who came here for a job at a printing company and then was laid off because the company closed. Now he walks up and down the street playing harmonica for people for tips. Sure he was probably a little crazy, and probably has made some bad choices but a sweet, older guy and he could rock some Richard Marx on the harmonica. Then across the street is some massive mall filled with stores I’ve only heard Oprah talk about surrounded by ice sculptures. Impressive sure, but I’m thinking the harmonica guy could have used a burger.
Now, I don’t mean for this to come across as all ‘preachy’ or whatever, but it’s a pretty sobering feeling when you’re in a place like this and can separate from the lights just enough to realize how sad of a place this really is.
Anyone been to Vegas? Thoughts? Am I way off?
Where Have I Been?
Yesterday for our anniversary Kristin and I decided to go on a bike ride. We didn’t know where we were going to go, but we knew we wanted to have lunch in Downtown Franklin and then go from there. First of all, let me say we had an awesome time and it was one of the most fun days I have had in a long time. But that’s not what this post is about.
We’ve lived in this area for almost four years now, and for as long as we’ve lived here Downtown Franklin has been ‘the place’. It’s the swanky area. It’s where the ‘high end’ restaurants are, it’s where the money goes, and it’s where people go to see or be seen. But even with all that, we love it down there. We love the little shops, we love the ability to walk around at night with other families, grab some Starbucks or ice cream and enjoy the quaint little downtown. In fact, we’d love to live there someday. We’ve even talked about it, we’ve looked at houses, but with the area being so desirable, living there isn’t much of a reality as far as money goes.
See, something like this house here is absolutely gorgeous and can be ours for one easy payment of $1,495,000. A little steep for our price range, but that’s not even what this post is about. Let me get to the point.
Yesterday while riding around and drooling over gorgeous Downtown Franklin houses Kristin and I took a side road and ended up in what felt like a completely different world. You see the red and blue line up there on that map? That was one of the circles we rode. And here’s what we saw. The house above on one street selling for one and a half million dollars on the red line and then this house literally a block away.
Now, what this is NOT, is a statement of housing prices, or how the market has changed or anything like that. While Kristin and I were riding down the ‘Blue Line’ I couldn’t help but think, ‘Where have I been? I thought Downtown Franklin was a ‘swanky’ high end area? How come I have never heard of this area of obvious neglect and poverty. We waved and talked to a few people down the street, shaking our heads at how run down some of these houses are and the fact that even after four years of living in the area we have never seen or heard of the people that live a block away from ‘where the money hangs out’. Do churches not want to talk about it? Do the folks on West Main just ignore what’s down the street?
I don’t even really have a solution for something like this and I’m certainly not being overly preachy about helping people out or anything, but I was completely blown away at the fact that this is a society and group of people that seem like they have completely fallen off the cities radar.
Any of you Franklin peeps been over there? Heard anything about this area? Any churches involved in helping this area out? Or are we too busy wishing we could walk to Starbucks from our one and a half million dollar home?
Greater Than Poverty
P.D. is at it again. He has recently released his second round of shirts stating Jesus>Poverty. He writes:
Jesusgreaterthan.org has partnered with Compassion International on a new campaign we are very excited about. All proceeds from the sales of Jesus>Poverty merchandise will directly support Compassion International.
Compassion International is responsible for helping thousands of children out of poverty. They are answering the cries of one child at a time. Funds will be donated into their Aids Initiative, Unsponsored Children, and Child Survival programs. Check them out.
Head over to JesusGreaterThan.org and grab yourself a shirt.
