Courtesy of The Dispatch
I was eating at Adolph’s in East Moline last Tuesday. I had just completed a long shift at work, and I could not wait to sit down, drink a Pepsi, and enjoy some tacos.
Right when I sat down, a child at the table I was sitting at began to cry. This child cried for almost 20 minutes. When my food came out, the child was still crying. After the waitress came for my refill, guess what? Yup, the kid was still crying. I ate most of my dinner with this child screaming, and I said nothing.
This led me to the realization of two things: the first is that when people are together, be it in a restaurant, or in a community, their actions affect everyone else around them. Now just because the parents of this child are OK with the screaming and crying does not mean it is OK for everyone else to have to deal with the issue. The second thing I thought about was, why didn’t I do something about it? Why didn’t I ask the parents if there was something I could do to make the child more comfortable or ask them politely to control their child because I could not enjoy my dinner? No one else in the crowded place said a word either. This small insignificant moment made me reflect on what is happening on a larger scale in Moline.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people living in the West End of Moline known as the Floreciente neighborhood, yet a select few of the people living there are ruining it for the rest of the people living there.
At most, there are maybe 40 hard core gang members living in the West End, yet these few inconsiderate gangsters are the cause of most of the graffiti, car break-ins, violence, and shootings in the area.
Now, like my mealtime moment, many of those residing in the West End are trying to relax, enjoy their neighborhood, and have a good time with their family. Yet why are so many people not doing their part in stopping a few kids?
Maybe it goes back to the same reasons that I said nothing to the parents of the crying child; fear of retaliation, I would rather mind my own business, whatever. The truth of the matter is that when someone or something is bothering us and we do nothing, nothing happens.
Many great things have come, and are coming, out of Floreciente such as neighborhood soccer teams, after-school programs, and community events. Keep it up! Whatever you do, please don’t let a few people ruin what so many of you have built up throughout the years. Do not lose what you have all worked so hard to build — and that is a strong community.
Keep your head up, West End. Like the recent bad press and trouble you all recently have experienced, it will pass. All I ask: Don’t let anyone else causing harm ruin your harmony in life; do something about it! Christ United Methodist Church on 7th Street in East Molinesaid it best, “Evil triumphs when good people do nothing.”
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