Sunday, September 28, 2008

Pay It Forward

A reader writes in:
"I was in Starbucks on Wilson on Sunday and noticed something pretty touching that I wanted to share. I saw an on-duty police officer come in to get coffee. I know on-duty officers normally get free coffee but this officer insisted on paying. When the Starbucks employee refused, he kept the dollar bill and took the coffee out to the Hispanic gentleman who is wheel-chair bound and hangs out in front of Starbucks...he even gave him the dollar bill he was going to pay for the coffee with. There was no one on the street that would have seen this at the time. I thankfully saw this random act of kindness because I was seated by the window. I wanted to share this with your readers. I know a lot of people are down on the police department, but this small thing really showed me that we have a lot of good guys in uniform in Uptown."

33 comments:

  1. I know the cop who does this. It is the same one who runs the caps meetings.

    The hispanic guy is Micheal. He used to live in Brightview. He also hits me up for a cup of coffee every day. I don't mind depending on how he asks.

    He got hit by a train, thats how he ended up in the wheel chair. He has some published poems and he really is a good writer. Ask him to read one some time, he might like it.

    God I know a lot for an evil condo owner.

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  2. ChipDouglas,

    There is actually hope for you. I didn't think you had it in you. Now we have to work on IrishPirate. Maybe the three of us should get together for a little picnic at the new park outside of Stewart. I'll bring the wine.

    XOXO

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  3. I really hope, with all the Starbucks scaling back, and closing some shops, that this one remains open.

    It really is an oasis of sanity.

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  4. Thanks Uptowngirl your to kind.

    As far as this Starbucks closing I doubt it. You see we are a Magic Johnson Urban Starbucks. I would think it would be bad press. Im not saying it coudn't happen, I know it's not a "high volume" store, but it turns a profit and gives street cred.

    Oh, UU, if I get a poem from Micheal do you think you would publish it? Im sure it would make him happy.

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  5. I really hope, with all the Starbucks scaling back, and closing some shops, that this one remains open.


    This Starbucks does great business, its not going anywhere. They're closing Starbucks that are too close to other Starbucks. Uptown doesn't really have another one, so this one is fine.

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  6. yea sgt Hagerty... I wonder if COURass managed to tape this? lol

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  7. Thanks for sharing this positive moment. I have a lot of respect for most of the police force anyway. They risk their lives for us everyday. You couldn't pay me enough.

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  8. sorry, copwatch did not film this! just a little clarification: copwatch has never said that police officers are bad. we don't think that that every cop abuses people. but we do know that some cops do and that systemically there is a serious problem in chicago of the police not being held accountable for improper or violent behavior. that's why many regular people who are not involved in gangs or crime appreciate our presence and what we do. you'd be surprised how many people thank us for being out observing the cops.

    copwatch does not make blanket statements condemning large groups of people like many people on UU do toward people in gangs, people facing homelessness, young black men wearing white tee shirts, etc.

    we know that many people do things that are not good for the community (cops planting drugs on people, homeless people drinking in public, etc.) but we don't write groups of people off because of that, and we recognize the economic and social forces that contribute to these problems while still holding individuals accountable for what they do (that's also what we do at the catholic worker).

    i haven't interacted with sgt. Hagerty much but from what i have heard and seen, he seems like a decent guy who acts and works reasonably on the street and i appreciate that as someone who lives in the community, not an outsider as some people on UU initially speculated i was.

    please realize that many of the people that UU often targets (homeless people, young people who wear white tee shirts, people who live in the Wilson Men's Club) also do good things for people on a daily basis, much like sgt. Hagerty did at starbucks. one love.

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  9. It is so hypocritical for this site to praise the kind deed of a police officer but then condemn the actions of the Salvation Army, R.E.S.T., and the Catholic Worker. If instead of a police officer it had been a member of one of these organizations who had made this act of kindness it would be labeled as "enabling".

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  10. Ron. Please clarify "Homeless people drinking in public..."

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  11. "uptown superhero!"

    okay, i'm an idiot and an enabler but you forgot to call me a shiller troll. don't forget that one!

    if you want to elaborate on your feelings, feel free to talk with me in person when you see me. after all, we are humans and hopefully can interact with one another without the help (or hindrance) of computers.

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  12. Ron your not a Shiller troll, your in Shiller's pocket. Big difference.

    As for Nathaniel Davis..
    "If instead of a police officer it had been a member of one of these organizations who had made this act of kindness it would be labeled as "enabling".

    Here is the difference, the police officer does his good deed without mocking the "evil" condo owners concerns. He does it without asking for our money then slapping us in the face with a guilt trip.

    He does it with CLASS.

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  13. This is a post that speaks of a kind act that a police officer did for another individual. That's it.

    Ron, as far as police monitoring goes, there's a mechanism in place for it. If you don't like it, the blame goes squarely on your mayor and your alderman who have allowed your alleged police behavior to continue. Both have had plenty of time to address this problem. Nothing you do can influence the process to address police brutality. It's all done for show and you know it.

    I've witnessed you and your other Catholic Worker co-hort Lucky at CAPS meetings and you are not there to address crime. You are there to disrupt the process to address crime. At one recent CAPS meeting, Lucky thought Court Advocacy was picking on a lady who had been arrested 384 times before. We were asked to attend this criminal's hearing where she had been arrested for robbing a 79 year old woman at knifepoint. Lucky's response was, "Well, she served her time for all her other arrests! Why are you all picking on her?" At another meeting, Lucky suggested that residents who complained about people crapping on the sidewalks should invite the homeless into their homes to use their bathroom.

    Ron, you believe it's wrong to arrest people for public drinking and selling drugs. Both of you are left of left. You are political extremists. Sugarcoat what you do all you want, but you have no credibility with me.

    Now back to Sgt. Haggarty. Good for him that he cares about this community!

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  14. I apologize. I believe the lady had been arrested 284 times before rather than 384. I somehow lost count.

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  15. please realize that many of the people that UU often targets (homeless people, young people who wear white tee shirts, people who live in the Wilson Men's Club) also do good things for people on a daily basis

    Ron is right. I can't tell you how many times a Black P-Stone or a Vice Lord has offered to help me carry my groceries home, or a homeless crackhead has held a door open for me without expecting anything in return. Bless their hearts--they are truly the pillars of Uptown...

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  16. Maybe there can be some gray area between human cockroaches and "people like us." I walk my doggie around all sorts of areas around Uptown, and we have been witness to some real moments of humanity--my dog being the catalyst. We've met all sorts of nice people and have even had interaction that has moved me to tears with homeless people as well as with fellows wearing white shirts who think the dog is cute. The horror!

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  17. Maybe there can be some gray area between human cockroaches and "people like us."

    whirlofagirl, you just made up that comment about human cockroaches. Nobody used that term, yet you injected that into your commentary.

    You also put "people like us" into quotes, yet you aren't quoting anyone, you just made that comment up.

    Here, watch me use the same tactics.

    Whirlofagirl thinks that we just "need to find compassion in our hearts for the local gang members" and that we need to "invite them into our homes for a dialogue".

    See, the quotes imply you said those things, when you clearly didn't.

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  18. I am referring to things said to me in another thread. Lighten up, bb.

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  19. WOG
    The gray area that 99% of us agree on is that drug dealing, gangbanging, public drinking, pissing, etc are concerns to everyone regardless of their skin color and income. However, there are some political extremists who disagree and thank God, the number of these extremists is rapidly dwindling.

    We should also all agree that someone giving another person a cup of coffee is not enabling. Giving someone a cup of coffee so that they can use their unspent money on booze is enabling. Three cheers to the officer who gave away this cup of coffee!

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  20. whirlofagirl, you just made up that comment about human cockroaches. Nobody used that term, yet you injected that into your commentary.

    The term was used in the thread about The Chateau, referring to its residents, three of whom died recently, to the apparent "good riddance" glee of some posters.

    whirlofagirl, interesting. I also have a dog I've been walking all around this neighborhood for the past ten years I've owned a condo here, and through whom I've had many similar experiences.

    Perhaps as a result of those experiences, you and I simply don't have the same level of fear and loathing some of the posters here obviously share. Which I guess makes us "enablers," "political extremists," and "Shiller trolls."

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  21. "holey moley",

    as far as your comment about how it is foolish for me to care about police brutality because nothing i do will stop it and the blame should all be on the alderman and mayor; i know that if ordinary people just sit back and wait for other people such as politicians to solve our problems they will never get solved. in fact, i bet you feel similarly about other issues, crime for example. if you thought that ordinary people have no ability to affect the outcome of public policy and the community, you probably wouldn't go to CAPS meetings. your telling me that i cannot affect police behavior is like someone telling you that you can't help reduce crime in the neighborhood or that you're wasting your time advocating against many of the alderman's policies. i don't think your reasoning stacks up. in fact, i know that the presence of copwatch has changed the behavior of some cops, although when we're not around (which is more often than when we are around) some cops go right back to their regular behavior. but we have to start somewhere.

    and as far as Lucky's point at the CAPS meeting, i wasn't there but i think she was trying to highlight the difference between someone who is charged with a crime and someone who is guilty of a crime. last month at the 2311 CAPS meeting, the court advocacy person said that the court advocacy program wasn't about guilt or innocence because all the people who are defendants had already been arrested. it seems like he was presuming the guilt of people just because they had been arrested! i think Lucky was trying to highlight the point that just because a person is arrested for a crime, it does not mean they did it, and people who want to be invilved in court advocacy should keep that in mind.

    that's all, gotta run, my time at the library computer is running out...

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  22. "holey moley",
    just to follow up on your comment at 11:11am,

    i think those of us from copwatch, couraj and the catholic worker agree with you that gang banging, drug dealing and public drinking are issues that need to be addressed. however, we don't think that the answer is to increase police presence and lock up more and more people. that is a short-sighted view that seems to dominate the CAPS mentality. locking up millions of people hasn't done much to solve these problems as the U.S. already has the largerst per capita prison population in the world! and attempting to push poor people out of the neighborhood or prevent them from moving in doesn't seem like a compassionate response to the problem either. if people on UU are so against poverty because they feel that it leads to crime, you'd think more people would be critical of economic policies that contribute to poverty. not so on UU, for the most part.

    and in fact, many of us from the catholic worker, couraj and copwatch are involved in attempting to reduce the violence in the community, probably much more so than many of the people who claim that we don't care about these issues. i know it's easy to sit at a computer and lob insults at people, but if you feel so strongly about what we do, how about talking with us in person? if you truly have a problem with what i or any of my comrades do, then say something to us about it and maybe we can have a more in depth dialogue than we do here.

    i would attempt to start the dialogue with you but i haven't heard anyone introduce her/himself as holy moley at the CAPS meeting yet!

    p.s. and i think Lucky's comment about homeowners/renters letting people use their bathrooms is a good one. there aren't many public restrooms available in Uptown. after all, we hear at every CAPS meeting (and on many UU posts) how james cappleman and the rest of his crew just want to help poor people so much!

    even the cops have trouble sometimes as a couple of them were pissing in the alley by eastwood and wilson a while back!

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  23. Kenny, they can put me in any category they want as long as I'm in the same one you are. :)

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  24. "and in fact, many of us from the catholic worker, couraj and copwatch are involved in attempting to reduce the violence in the community, probably much more so than many of the people who claim that we don't care about these issues." Ron

    Ron, you and Lucky do this by going to CAPS and arguing with the police and residents about their concerns of drug dealing, people with hundreds of arrests who are arrested again for robbing an elderly person at knifepoint, and crapping in the streets.

    You call that being an advocate for the poor. Most normal people call that advocating for your extremist political beliefs that actually harm the poor.

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  25. "holey moley",

    i was in no way referring to attending CAPS meetings when i mentioned the violence prevention work we do. in fact, i think it is a bit delusional for people to think that simply attending CAPS meetings and calling the police multiple times a week is an effective way to reduce violence and crime in the neighborhood.

    believe it or not, we actually do some things in the community that you may not even know about! it's a little unrealistic for you to pretend that you know who we are or what kind of work we do just by seeing us at CAPS meetings and reading my entries on this blog.

    i've notice that some people assume that because they don't see a person at block club meetings or "clean and greens" that that person doesn't even live in the neighborhood or at least doesn't care about the community. but the reality is that there are many other productive activities going on the in the neighborhood outside of the activities and organizations that tend to be organized by the more affluent people in the neighborhood! and i'm not using the word affluent in a pejorative sense.

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  26. And please do tell Ron what these positive constructive activities might include.

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  27. Ron, you're making an assumption that us evil condo owners do nothing to address safety except go to CAPS. Irregardless, CAPS is recognized as a wonderful way to get the community together with the police to address crime together.

    I have never once witnessed you or Lucky express any concern about drug dealing at any of the CAPS meetings. You are both there to start arguments in order to disrupt the process because you believe that drug dealers should not be arrested. Last week, COURAJ called for a gathering of residents and you let them know on the flier that CAPS has the aim of getting rid of poor people. By no means are you advocating for the poor.

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  28. "holey moley,"

    1."Ron, you're making an assumption that us evil condo owners do nothing to address safety except go to CAPS."

    actually, you made that assumption about me! and i have never claimed that condo owners are evil, despite the generalized assumptions that are made about me and friends and co-workers of mine. if you think that merely referencing class and how it affects issues in Uptown is the same as condemning a class of people, i think you're wrong. and if you have a problem with classist statements, i think your criticism should be directed at UU posters who clearly target people in Uptown based on their economic status.

    2."Last week, COURAJ called for a gathering of residents and you let them know on the flier that CAPS has the aim of getting rid of poor people."

    actually COURAJ has held several meetings with young people and parents throughout Uptown over the last few weeks. and yes, one of our fliers does mention that CAPS oftentimes targets low income people for arrest and removal from the neighborhood. and i think this is an accurate statement. and a lot of low income people in Uptown agree. if you don't agree with it, that's fine. i won't try to degrade you or call you names. but the bottom line is that most of the people COURAJ is working with do not feel comfortable going to CAPS meetings because of the way the police and many of the people who attend the meetings act toward low income people. this is true, it is not something i'm making up. in fact, i've tried many times to encourage people to attend the CAPS meetings but the distrust of the police and many of the CAPS participants is difficult to overcome, understandably so.

    3."I have never once witnessed you or Lucky express any concern about drug dealing at any of the CAPS meetings."

    so that is the criterion for having concern about drug abuse and sales in the neighborhood, expressing it at the CAPS meeting when everyone else and their mother in attendance is there to do the exact same thing? that's like me saying that you don't care about the drug problem because you don't offer to share your living space with people who are in recovery for alcohol or drug abuse, as i do. my apologies if you do in fact do that, but you get my point.

    it's clear that the "war on drugs," initiated under Reagan and continuing and escalating to this day, is not working to reduce drug use (although it is working to lock a whole lot of poor people up and make a few people a bunch of money). 2/3 of federal money to "fight drugs" goes to supply reduction (arresting and incarcerating people for possession and sales) and 1/3 of the fed money goes to demand reduction (creating and maintaining treatment centers for people who currently have no or limited access to treatment). that is not a sensible way to limit or prevent drug abuse and the drug trade. i've tried to mention that at CAPS meetings but when i do, i'm shouted down and told that those types of discussions have no place at CAPS meetings.

    so maybe i do care about the drug problem but don't want to contribute or endorse a policy that locks people away and breaks up families for years because of drug addiction. i think that we as a community need to try alternative approaches of dealing with these problems (CAPS does stand for Chicago ALTERNATIVE Policing Strategies, right?), that include using our brains and learning from the past that we need to get to the root of these problems instead of getting caught up in the same old hard-line approach of getting more cops on the street or the emotionalist movement against homeless people, young black men and mothers. the sad thing is that the structure of the CAPS meetings and the people in attendance do not allow any discussion outside of those old approaches of dealing with drug use.

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  29. and one more thing,

    the COURAJ flyer that you mentioned "holey moley," it primarily talked about the violence in the neighborhood and encouraged people in the community to come to a meeting to make steps to work together to solve the problem of violence. it did mention CAPS as well but i'm sure you're glad to know that we are working to prevent violence in Uptown. in fact we've had several of these meetings and are making concrete steps to address some of the problems.

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  30. Well Ron, you keep advocating for the drug dealers and I'll advocate for the 79 year old lady who was robbed at knifepoint by the woman with 284 prior arrests. My goal is to let this criminal know that we're watching her every move.

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  31. Ron,

    The more I read your posts the more I feel like your pushing the wrong group of people to drink your funky Kool-aide.

    You might be better served if you and your posse of extremists were to start a booth at Burning Man, or better yet - pool your funds together, and buy a nice chunk of land in Montana and take all of the Uptown gang-bangers, well-fair-abusers, and drug dealers that you love so much with you.

    Your logic is ridiculously flawed, and I'm starting to think that I'd like to see you run for alderman come next election. Sounds like you've got the whole world figured out my friend. ;)

    Oh, and since it sounds like you're nice and cozy with all the thugs and dopers in the neighborhood - could you please tell the crack-addicts who broke into our condo complex this summer, that my 12 gauge shotgun doesn't really have much sympathy as to whether or not they see their illegitimate children ever again.

    I might sound a little excessive, but hey man - just because I'm a "affluent condo owner" doesn't mean I don't have the right to worry about my family's safety.

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