I have to move.

I think I may have written about this before. It's 11pm on a Saturday. I'm awake because Mrs. A is at a wedding doing a shoot and I'm staying up for her, but if I wasn't, I'd be awake because the goddamn neighboors are at it again with their music.

I'm going to play the race card here and pose the question, what the fuck is with Mexicans and having to listen to their music outside so freakin' loud? I like loud music, but I know that after a certain time I should shut the shit off. I mean, it's not like I'm out washing my car and will appreciate this background noise, I've got kids in bed.

Speaking of, the one house is having some kind of party and the kids are all still awake. Man, 11 o'clock. I don't think I got to stay up that late till I graduated high school.

Oh this makes me so sick of living here. I like our house. It's small but it's well kept and we're pretty conveniently located. I just hate our neighborhood. It's always like a block party, all the time. It's just guys sitting out by their trucks drinking beer listening to the incesent oompa beats of latino music until we have to call 311 and get the cops to tell them to shut the party down.

Which makes me feel bad, because then when we have people over and we hang outside for smokes and beer, we're a little loud. But not this loud. We never fired up the car stereo and cranked up Nine Inch Nails.

Well, maybe we should. Maybe we should fight back with really loud industrial music at 6am when they're all trying to sleep it off. I'd go out and fire up the lawn mower and the stereo and the weed eater. It just enfuriates me. I can't believe that all Mexicans are like this, but all are neighboors are Mexican and they all do it. It must be some love of the tuba and accordian that just makes them want to stay up late and piss off the white people.

And how many times do we have to call the cops before they get the message? I know the people across the way we've called about at least five times. Are they forgetful? Evil? Stupid? What kind of curtousy must you lack to do this to your streetmates? What kind of thought goes through your head when you've got noises like this playing at midnight? Weekend or not SOMEONE has got to have babies or kids or is trying to shake a cold and needs some rest.

So, again, I have to call 311. They've been going at it since 5pm. I don't do anything until after 10. I should do something at 8. What's the ordinance around here anyway?

When I lived in an apartment, and I was going to have a party, I'd tell my neighboors. "Hey, I'm going to have people over. You're invited. We're going to have some music. If we get out of control, just stop on by and let us know and we'll cool it." No, nothing. And they get pissed when you give them the, "Hey, silencio, por favor!" Like we're imposing on them.

I have to move. I have to get out of here. They play music at 2pm when I try taking a nap. They play it early in the morning, late at night. For no reason. It's not the 5th of May or the 4th of July or Christmas or Easter or anything that I can really excuse, it's just a Saturday night.

And no that doesn't make it alright.

---

Addendum.

I want to apologize to anyone reading this if I've offended you. I have nothing against any race of people. There are so many other reason to think people are jerks, why be racial about it. If the people on my block were white people playing country or black people playing hip hop or old people playing big band I'd be just as upset. It's more the loud music I have a problem with, not the people. It just so happens that all the people doing it at that time were one race. Other people on our street have done similar things that aren't Latino, I just haven't written about them. It was unfair of me to say that.

Carry on.