Gritty Pico Rivera revisited
Got this email from Anthony Martinez. He doesn't like my description of Pico Rivera. (BTW, the photo comes from an interesting website take a look
Here's Mr. Martinez's letter:
Main Entry: gritty Pronunciation: 'gri-tE Function: adjective Inflected Form(s): grit·ti·er; -est 1 : containing or resembling grit 2 : courageously persistent : PLUCKY (a gritty heroine) 3 : having strong qualities of tough uncompromising realism
Good Afternoon Sir.
I beg to differ with your description of the City of Pico Rivera. I was raised in The City of Pico Rivera and I am currently living in Whittier near Uptown. Gritty does not come to mind when I think of Pico Rivera. Pleasant...
... Communal, Safe (More, safe than in Whittier!), Little League Baseball, Good Water etc… I know that Pico Rivera has a bad reputation with people who don’t live there or have not been there but, I have a different opinion. Pico Rivera does have a gang problem. Most cities in Southern California do. I feel safer walking down San Gabriel Parkway than I do in Uptown Whittier or South Whittier, although I don’t feel scared in either place. In Whittier I have come to recognize the polarization of a city and the hegemonic grids that are created by the Good Ole Boys in City Council. Is San Gabriel Parkway any more “Gritty” than Norwalk and Whittier Blvd or “Grittier” than Carmenita and Telegraph? Or maybe is it that one is more accustomed to there own “Grit” and think theirs is less. I went to kindergarten with Melinda Wall and have known her and her family for 30 years. It was a tragedy beyond comprehension and senseless. I would hope that you would look in the mirror and realize that “Grit” exists in every community, reported or not reported, see or unseen.Anthony Martinez
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FRANK GIRARDOT
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Good afternoon Mr. Martinez, I am a Pico Rivera resident and I beg to differ with your current assessment of the City of Pico Rivera in which I currently live in.
Forgive me, but your assertation sounded more like rhetoric that a political candidate would spew when running for public office.
Safe? Pleasant? Communal? Hello? Did you read the Whittier Daily news today. There was just another drive by shooting on Maris!
You on a individual level demonstrated a perfect example of the complacent behavior that has allowed crime to permeate the city.
(permeate = to diffuse through or penetrate something).
You, like many of us, try and justify it by explaining "Pico Rivera does have a gang problem. Most cities in Southern California do."
Grit, Gritty, are not pretty words, though it's time for all of us in Pico Rivera and beyond, to stop looking through rose colored glasses and concentrate what is in our backyards.
Please send my condolences to your friend of 30 years family. It was truly a senseless killing.
Good Luck to you in Whittier.