# Signs you may be in the ghetto... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911 "2013-11-14T14:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![WreckingCrew](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wreckingcrew/32/4080_2.png) [@WreckingCrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WreckingCrew)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/161 "2013-11-20T18:15:21Z")
> [@AdmiralQ](#): > > If it’s a weekday during the school year, during school hours, and you see entire families, including their school-age children, just hanging out on the porch, you’re in the ghetto. Gotta disagree with this one. A friend of mine taught in Baltimore for a while - those kids never missed school because they got free breakfast and free lunch. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/162 "2013-11-20T20:01:22Z")
Ironically, this was in the paper today. “[‘Loosie’ cigarette sales may be banned in Columbia.](http://www.thestate.com/2013/11/19/3108593/loosie-cigarette-sales-may-be.html)” ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@AdmiralQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralQ)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/163 "2013-11-20T20:18:08Z")
> [@WreckingCrew](#): > > Gotta disagree with this one. A friend of mine taught in Baltimore for a while - those kids never missed school because they got free breakfast and free lunch. I did live in an area, while rapidly gentrifying, was right next to the ghetto. I would have to drive through the ghetto proper to get on the freeway,and you would see kids missing school all the time. I just checked our public school systems annual report, and the attendance rate for 2010 (the last year I could find) was 79.3%. So every single day, on average, 1 out of every 5 kids would not be in school. That is nearly beyond belief, if it didn’t come from the school systems own report. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/164 "2013-11-21T03:53:39Z")
> [@AdmiralQ](#): > > I did live in an area, while rapidly gentrifying, was right next to the ghetto. I would have to drive through the ghetto proper to get on the freeway,and you would see kids missing school all the time. I just checked our public school systems annual report, and the attendance rate for 2010 (the last year I could find) was 79.3%. So every single day, on average, 1 out of every 5 kids would not be in school. That is nearly beyond belief, if it didn’t come from the school systems own report. After Hurricane Katrina, enrolling some of the displaced children in school was challenging because: 1. Many of those kids did not know their real names; some of their parents didn’t either. 2. Their parent(s) or guardians did not know what school the kids attended. 3. Said adults also did not know the kids’ dates of birth or what grade they were in. One thing I also read many times was that in the Ninth Ward, school attendance average 40% every day. That’s right, only 2 children out of 5 were in school on any given day. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/165 "2013-11-21T05:39:12Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > After Hurricane Katrina, enrolling some of the displaced children in school was challenging because: > > 1. Many of those kids did not know their real names; some of their parents didn’t either. > > 2. Their parent(s) or guardians did not know what school the kids attended. > > 3. Said adults also did not know the kids’ dates of birth or what grade they were in. > > One thing I also read many times was that in the Ninth Ward, school attendance average 40% every day. That’s right, only 2 children out of 5 were in school on any given day. > > :eek: I’d like some citations for these statements. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/166 "2013-11-21T12:21:15Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > I’d like some citations for these statements. Me too. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/167 "2013-11-21T12:30:37Z")
FOSTER parents who evacuated with their FOSTER children during Katrina didn’t always have the documents they needed to enroll their FOSTER children in new schools, and there was some confusion over who could and should get copies of those documents (like birth certificates and social security numbers) when the biological/legal parents could not be reached for consent to release protected information. cite: [Children, Law, and Disasters: What We Have Learned from Katrina and the ... - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=ccrsdMt7aPQC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q=8%20chapter%201&f=false) Click on the link for page 8. Of course, this got twisted around by racist assholes into tales of how stupid and ignorant the brown people are. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/168 "2013-11-21T14:00:42Z")
This entire thread is sickeningly racist. I’d expect better from the enlightened sdmb posters ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/169 "2013-11-21T14:19:06Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > This entire thread is sickeningly racist. I’d expect better from the enlightened sdmb posters I could be wrong but I don’t recall any mention of race, ethnicity or skin color in this thread. I may have missed it though. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/170 "2013-11-21T14:27:48Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > This entire thread is sickeningly racist. I’d expect better from the enlightened sdmb posters Haven’t driven through many ghettoes, have you. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/171 "2013-11-21T14:29:06Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > This entire thread is sickeningly racist. I’d expect better from the enlightened sdmb posters You’ve been here long enough to know better. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/172 "2013-11-21T16:28:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > When we got our chain link fence taken out and a new one put in, we were just told to leave it in the alley and someone would take it, rather than pay the hundred bucks or so to have them haul it. Sure enough, it was gone before the day was done. Whenever we throw away most any furniture, it is gone long before the trashmen get to it. This isn’t just a ghetto thing. Scrap metal scavenging is huge. No matter where you live, scavengers almost certainly prowl your neighborhood every week on garbage night, looking for metal objects left out on the curb. This can be a mixed blessing. Once, I left a broken fridge out by the curb on garbage night. (Yes, I took the door off.) The damn motherf\*ckers stripped it right there! The plastic bins and trim pieces were scattered all over on my front lawn. It looked like a hurricane had just blown through :mad: ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/173 "2013-11-21T16:44:57Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > This isn’t just a ghetto thing. I didn’t really think it was. At least I hope I don’t live in the ghetto. But I’ve got the pirated DVD salesmen and car lots with giant barking dogs, Cash-for-Gold places, etc., so maybe I do, in fact, live in someone’s idea of a ghetto. I prefer to call it a working class city neighborhood. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/174 "2013-11-21T16:51:36Z")
> [@MegaBee](#): > > You’ve been here long enough to know better. I’d say the same to anyone responding to PSXer. You should know by now that all he does is take the piss out of people. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/175 "2013-11-21T16:58:59Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > This isn’t just a ghetto thing. Scrap metal scavenging is huge. No matter where you live, scavengers almost certainly prowl your neighborhood every week on garbage night, looking for metal objects left out on the curb. > > This can be a mixed blessing. Once, I left a broken fridge out by the curb on garbage night. (Yes, I took the door off.) The damn motherf\*ckers stripped it right there! The plastic bins and trim pieces were scattered all over on my front lawn. It looked like a hurricane had just blown through :mad: I live in an apartment complex in a middle-class neighborhood, and we have metal scavengers in here all the time. There are a couple of “regulars”, and some of the residents even leave their returnable bottles and cans out for them; I assume they feel those people need the money more than they do. 🙂 Once something lands in a dumpster, it’s considered public domain, so no, they aren’t stealing. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/176 "2013-11-21T17:10:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I live in an apartment complex in a middle-class neighborhood, and we have metal scavengers in here all the time. There are a couple of “regulars”, and some of the residents even leave their returnable bottles and cans out for them; I assume they feel those people need the money more than they do. 🙂 Once something lands in a dumpster, it’s considered public domain, so no, they aren’t stealing. Do you plan on responding to the folks above who asked you for a cite? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/177 "2013-11-21T17:49:59Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > The dudes selling elotes are nothing. I’ll take you to my hood with the dudes selling bootlegged DVDs and Obama shirts in the Ralph’s parking lot. … if bootlegged DVDs, BluRays and CDs are ghetto, then all of Spain is a ghetto. Do you think we might count as the biggest ghetto in the world? Does anybody have Guinness Book’s contact info? There are official “_top manta_” lists, lists of bootlegged best-sellers (they’re called “_top manta_” after the _manta_ or blanket on which the sellers display their wares and lists such as “top 40”). ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/178 "2013-11-21T17:55:02Z")
You can tell if you’re in the ghetto simply by looking at the parking spaces. If every space has a huge spot of oil, then you’re in the ghetto. ---
**Author:** ![MegaBee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f0a364/32.png) [@MegaBee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MegaBee)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/179 "2013-11-21T18:22:22Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > I’d say the same to anyone responding to PSXer. You should know by now that all he does is take the piss out of people. Oh, I knew what I was doing. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/180 "2013-11-21T18:34:08Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > You can tell if you’re in the ghetto simply by looking at the parking spaces. > > If every space has a huge spot of oil, then you’re in the ghetto. Or England. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911.md?page=10)