Photo by PoPville flickr user Vileinist

“Dear PoP,

I live in East Capitol Hill, by the Potomac Ave Metro. Twice daily for almost 2 years, I pass in front of the Friendship Public Charter School across from the Harris Teeter on my way to and from the metro. I actually have always enjoyed having the school there because let’s face it – kids are cute, and I it was always nostalgic to see these high-energy kids heading to school or hanging out front waiting for their parents to pick them up. It was a nice reminder that we all used to be that age, and had that level of boundless energy.

Well I had quite a different experience yesterday. As I was passing by the front of the school, there was a group of 5-6 African American kids, roughly around 10-12 years old, in the middle of the sidewalk. I had my headphones on, with the volume relatively low so that I was not oblivious to my surrounding and traffic, etc. As I approached this group of kids and was just at them, I said “excuse me”, so that they would move out of my way as they were taking up the whole sidewalk. A young girl was staring at me as I was passing, said “hi”, I said “hi” and smiled in return, and she sort of attempted to put her arm on my shoulder. I t was then that the kids burst out laughing, all of them speaking at once so I couldn’t really understand what each were saying, but it was clearly at my expense. I was puzzled and a few feet away already when one of the male kids shouted out “ha, you stupid white cracker!” (FWIW, I am a 30 something white female).

I was really jarred, and being a completely non-confrontational person, pretended I did not hear due to the earphones, and kept going. I was really disturbed by this though, and wondered as I walked home if I should have said something to the kid? Gone inside to get a teacher to reprimand them? Anything else? After I calmed down and stopped going through the what-ifs, all I ended up feeling was sad. How on earth could this child say something like that to another person? What made them think that was OK? I know kids say and do awful, hurtful things (didn’t we all?) that they regret when older, but this was just – ugly. The racial component is obviously what disturbs me the most, and I ask in advance that the commentariat not be d-bags in your responses to this. I want honest suggestions.

So I still wonder – Should I have told someone or confronted them? What would you have done?”

For me and I think many others there are probably three answers – what you would like to have done, what emotionally you wanted to do, and finally what you would do. And as some will surely note this is also a situation where you won’t necessarily know how you’ll react unless you experience it for real. So it’d be very interesting to hear if others have experienced this or a very similar situation – what did you do/how did you react?

Personally, I’d like to think I would have spoken to/found a teacher and explained the situation in hopes the teacher would not only reprimand the student but explain why it was wrong. Unfortunately when kids are in groups they behave differently (as do adults). If the child was not in a group I’d like to thing I would have spoken to him/her and explained directly that it hurt my feelings and explained why.

Emotionally, I would like to approach the kids and strongly/loudly say, “do we have a problem? You think it’s ok to insult people? You realize cracker is a very insulting word don’t you? Don’t you!”. I’m certainly not saying that is the smartest/most effective reaction but, to be honest, emotionally I think initially I would have felt that way.

In reality, I’m sad to say I think I would probably just shake my head and walk away without saying a word.

Anyone ever been in this situation for real? If not how do you think you would react? What do you think is the most appropriate/beneficial (to the kids) way to react? For those that have children – how would you explain to your kids that this is wrong? Do you think there is any hope in correcting this behavior in 10-12 year olds?

Photo by flickr user drgandy

As a childhood Yankees fan it gives me no pleasure to post the photo above but this is a pretty cool thing he’s doing. So I’ll grudgingly give him props. From a DPR Press release:

Mayor Vincent C. Gray, the District of Columbia Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR), city officials and diplomats will host eight-time All Star and three-time Cy Young Award winner, Major League pitcher Pedro Martinez on Thursday, March 24th at 3:00pm. Mr. Martinez will greet students from area schools and conduct a mini-clinic. The event will take place at Maury Wills Field, 2500 Georgia Avenue, NW.

While in the District, Mr. Martinez will also attend the unveiling of a portrait of himself that has been acquired by the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. His will be the first image of a Major League Baseball pitcher in the Gallery’s collection, and he is the youngest baseball player included in the collection. Pedro achieved another important milestone in his career in 2006 when became an American citizen.

* In case of rain, the event will be held at Cardozo Gym on 1300 Clifford Street, NW.

Over the years I feel like I’ve seen every type of porch direction. I’ve seen pigs, pineapples, knights, horses, dogs, Jesus, Mary, elephants, goblins and more. But I’ve never seen an armadillo before. Awesome!

Another double today – which do you prefer? Today I vote for the below.

Last chance to see this great big window from East Capitol St. before the flowers/leaves obscure it. It’s awesome. But it’s also interesting to note the cool smaller windows on the right side:

826DC is a great after school tutoring/literature (and more) program located in the Columbia Heights Plaza.

From an email:

826DC Benefit with Tereu Tereu, The Caribbean & Carol Bui
Doors Open:
Saturday, March 26, 2011 – 8:00pm
Ticket Price:
$8.00

Positive Force presents a benefit for 826DC with

Tereu Tereu (www.myspace.com/tereutereu)
The Caribbean (www.myspace.com/thecaribbean)
Carol Bui (www.myspace.com/carolbui)

$8. Doors are at 7:30, Music at 8.

826DC is a nonprofit organization in Columbia Heights dedicated to supporting students ages 6-18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.
They provide drop-in tutoring, field trips, after-school workshops, in-schools tutoring, help for English language learners, and assistance with student publications. More info, please go to: www.826dc.org

Of course if you have a lot of change in your pocket you can hang with James Franco:

I’ll admit that I will always miss Yanni’s at 3500 Connecticut Ave, NW. However I do admit that the Post’s Tom Sietsema description of Medium Rare sounds good too:

“There will be a single feature — steak frites — on the menu, although a meatless entrée will be available for vegetarians.”

He tweets:

“Just in: “We’re open on Monday,” says Mark Bucher, owner of the steak-only Medium Rare in Cleveland Park.”

We’ll def. be judging them in a few weeks. I’m eager to take a taste. Though the Yanni’s sign is really just taunting me now…

This is an interesting one. I’m not hating on the vinyl (I’m not loving it either, full disclosure, my own has vinyl though it’s certainly not my favorite feature) but really let’s ignore the vinyl siding on this one for a moment – have you ever seen windows like this that sorta meet to form a triangle? It’s a bit unusual, yeah? Anyone like the style?

A positive is the nice coffee/mojito spot up top.

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos or news please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.

Photo by PoPville flickr user cavish2000

“Charlie having a ball at Fort Washington!”

Photo by PoPville flickr user dullshick

“off-season walk through Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens (http://www.nps.gov/keaq/index.htm)”

Photo by PoPville flickr user Mr. T in DC

“Male Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) flying with nest-building material in his talons, off Belle Haven Marina, south of old town Alexandria, Virginia.”

Sorry for all the Logan Circle options lately but I know there are those who work at lower paying jobs and could possibly take advantage of this great location. It is located on R St, NW between 14th and 15th:

View Larger Map

The Craigslist ad says:

R Street Apartments is a tax credit property which means we have certain guidelines and regulations we must follow for affordable housing. Please read all info below before emailing with a contact to the property. If you have read the info below and find that you qualify then please send us an email and we can proceed from there.

Here at R Street we have a 1 bedroom available today and another 1 bedroom becoming available in April. A 1 bedroom apartment is $1061 a month and does not include electric. A 1 bedroom is roughly 460sq feet. In order to qualify for a 1 bedroom you MUST be in the income bracket of $36,380 and $43,500 for the year.
We also have a 2 bedroom available today and two more 2 bedroom units becoming available in April. A 2 bedroom apartment is $1257 a month and does not include electric. A 2 bedroom is roughly 780sq feet. In order to qualify for a 2 bedroom there must be two individuals for the unit and a combined household income between the bracket of $43,100 – $49,680 for the year.

We have laundry facilities in each building….each unit is cable ready…..there is no application fee to apply….starting security deposit is $99 and may go up based on credit and criminal background check. We are at a great location to several Metro Stops (U street being the closest). We are in walking distance to both Logan Circle and Dupont Circle areas. We do accept small animals (20lbs and under) with a one time non refundalble pet deposit of $300.

Photo by PoPville flickr user dynagroove1

“Dear PoP,

Got home to find my ground level condo had been broken into. I live on 13th street, nw – and since moving in have witnessed fairly low levels of crime aside from the occasional visible auto theft on 13th street (broken glass). My rear door was kicked in today. The kids clearly were in a rush and went through drawers, closets, etc, and settled on stealing my laptop. My question to you, and all PoP readers, is, do you think installing ADT or other similar security systems is a deterrent to these crimes, and does anyone know good security door installers? I recall an earlier post about french door installers, but would like more specific/company responses. MPD was on the scene within 15 minutes and was helpful – but reinforced the conclusion that the perps were likely 15 years old and would never be caught.”

We talked about some alarm company recs here and had a discussion on alarms vs security bars here. Do you think alarms are a good deterrent?

Photo by PoPville flickr user rpmaxwell

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here. Follow PoPville on twitter here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw

Photo by PoPville flickr user Vileinist

Photo by PoPville flickr user a digital cure

“Dear PoP,

My bike was stolen on Sunday morning while locked in front of DCUSA. After having several bikes stolen, I am looking to replace it with a bike that is less tempting to thieves, but since I actually ride it all over town, it can’t be a total beater. I wonder if anyone has tips on what kinds of bikes are less likely to be stolen, sort of like how we read every year that Honda Civics (or whatever model) are the most likely car to be stolen?”

Are there bikes that are still “good” that are less attractive to thieves? How much do you think you should spend on a bike that you ride all over town?

This home is located at 1675 31st St NW:

View Larger Map

The flier says:

“Stately Georgetown residence on one of the loveliest tree lined streets in the city – just south of Dumbarton Oaks. Grand principal rooms – 6 firepl – very recent & extensive renovations which include 3 separate new addtns. (Kitch/Fam Rm; Master Suite/Bath; cherry paneled Library), new priv. gardens, state of the art HVAC/cable. .. Enormous wine cellar, garage & driveway prkg. Exquisite property”

You can find more info here and photos here.

Wow, I’m digging the library/study. What’s your favorite part. This 5 bed/6 bath is yours for $6,200,000.

And since we’ve done two in a row from Georgetown let me add a bonus one from Chevy Chase for those looking for a more modern look:

This wild one is located at 2318 Ashboro Dr in Chevy Chase, MD. You can find more info here and photos here.

How ’bout that pool? It’s yours for (a relative bargain in comparison to the one above) $1,795,000.

Thanks to a reader for sending this pic in from LeDroit Park. While obviously a shitty situation – I freaking love people who have a good sense of humor.

Perhaps a good follow up to our ‘Should we say something to tourists’ discussion.