In Philadelphia there is an intersection called K & A, Kensington & Allegheny, that is the epicenter of drug tourism. That’s what they call it. People travel here for cheap, and powerful, opioids. Many never leave. Tents go up under the el. Young men stand hunched over, swaying in the street like trees in the yard before a thunderstorm rages, blocking traffic, mindless, senseless, gone. I’ve seen a woman hold a baby in her arms as she stuck a needle into a vein, hit her target, missed the baby. Teetered slowly, baby dangled. Until…
I have to re-read this a few more times, as there is a lot of depth, here and I want to fully appreciate all of if. I was actually afraid you were going into victim-blaming mode when I first starting reading it, but if I understood correctly, you did not do that. Maritn Buber -- ah, memories of my classes in Existential Philosophy! One thing though: if abortion and birth control were legal and accessible, and if men stopped raping at the level that they do, that suffering woman at K & A would not be holding that baby.
I have to re-read this a few more times, as there is a lot of depth, here and I want to fully appreciate all of if. I was actually afraid you were going into victim-blaming mode when I first starting reading it, but if I understood correctly, you did not do that. Maritn Buber -- ah, memories of my classes in Existential Philosophy! One thing though: if abortion and birth control were legal and accessible, and if men stopped raping at the level that they do, that suffering woman at K & A would not be holding that baby.