Money ain't a thing

I have a friend, who for the sake of discussion, we shall call "wifebeater". I think the name speaks for itself. But, be patient I will get to his story later on down the road. He and his wife just bought a house in the region. They paid some ungodly amount too basically own a shanty....Err townhouse with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths. They have a front yard that's about the size of a monopoly board, that comes with the standard cherry bush. I guess that must be the only plant that grows in the tri-state area.

Anyways, they paid like 300,000 grand for it. I haven't worked out the mortage on that, but I can tell its a lot of f-ing money. Wifebeater is a manager at a big corporation and his wife's a secretary. I for the life of me can not figure out what people in this part of the country do for a living that allows them to afford a regular..apple pie home, with a fence, backyard, and regular lawn that's not made out of asphalt. It just seems like the region is determined to be the next San Francisco where everybody owns 800,000 dollar townhomes. I'm not knocking DC, but I've been to San Fran and DC doesn't even come close to offering what the Bay city sells. I'm guessing most of the high prices are due to the internet geeks and law-whores, treading up the steps of capitol hill.

I grew up in the Buckey state, where 80,000 buys you a Victorian style home with a yard and substantial space between your f-ing neighbors. Where a front yard meant that you raked leaves for weeks on end, and that you rode a real lawnmower to cut your grass. Not the Fisher Price grass blowers that everybody around here uses.

But, whats worse, is my friend has some wannabe gangsta's as neighbors. Another husband and wife team with 2 kids, and no job from what I've been told. Wifebeater never sees them go to work, and I seriously doubt they're telecommuting, because they asked him too help hook up the modem to the PC. So, sitting in my friends house scares the shit out of me now, because his neighbors are undercover cul-de-sac drug lords. I can almost envision it, him sitting down to read the newspaper and a bullet flying through his wall. That would be some house warming gift....Welcome to the neighborhood.