Portland

I will be honest with you…

I have been having a hard time writing my thoughts on Portland.

One, because it is a literal shit hole (excuse my French)

Two, because the rest of Oregon is not.

Matthew and I stayed in a hotel exactly one night in downtown Portland. On the way to said hotel, I questioned Matthew on our safety. I know it may come as a shock to you, but lining the street all the way to the hotel were various tents and fire pits along the sidewalks next to boarded up, abandoned businesses.

In a sense, the only living things were living on the streets.

The next morning we took a walk to grab some coffee from a shop between the boards. Between the piles of human feces and needle-laid bushes. Behind the beautiful yet sad graffiti painted streets.

Don’t get me wrong, I think we should be doing something to help these drug addicted people. But allowing them freedom to shit and shoot up wherever they please is NOT the answer.

In one part of the city there is a parking lot full of tents that is set up JUST LIKE A NORMAL NEIGHBORHOOD… but….They literally have no laws. They pay no taxes. They have no rules.. and they have no toilets.

Portland is a giant toilet.

Why is it that they can parade around in the masses, sans face masks, while working folk in California are threatened with the turning off of water and power if they have the audacity to do such a thing?

We are SO divided.

Where is the help? Why are we relying on the politicians who line their pockets with OUR MONEY to do something about this? When all they do is turn the other cheek and let them keep on living this way.

But I’ll stop before I piss too many people off.

So…. anyway. The graffiti was unbelievable. It was BEAUTIFUL.

The city has this ominous yet gorgeous glow to it. While you walk around in the fog, slightly worried about your safety.

You can’t help but stop and stare at the intricate paintings on the wood nailed onto the expensive shops on the red brick sidewalks. You could see the damage behind the wood from all the rioting. The cracks in the windows above the barrier around the Apple store.

Portland is beautiful in a very sad way.

Needless to say, we checked out of our hotel and moved into the outskirts of Portland. Where the homeless still live in the trees but society is still moving.

We can do better.