Walking

Whenever we had extra cash, it was always a toss up as to whether we should spend any of it on bus fare. When it was below 20 degrees, or above 90 degrees, we rode the bus to our destination. Any other time, we walked. (If you're interested in my old neighborhood, you can go to your favorite online map site and get a map centered on a single address. I just went to mapsonus.com, and it gave me a nice map of my old stompin' grounds)
We walked to the Tru-Buy grocery store (2 blocks) and the Free-Dry laundromat (9 blocks). We walked to church and school and Cherokee Street for shopping. As mom's pay scale rose, so did the distances we'd travel. Finally, we could afford to shop at K-Mart. Traveling on foot really broadens your perspective on the world. Distances were not marked by stoplights or main streets; they were marked by hills and houses it was best to avoid. To go to K-Mart, we'd leave the house and walk South to Gravois Ave. Gravois cuts diagonally through the city, so our route would then lead South West to Grand Ave. There was a flat stretch past the used car dealership and the Laclede Gas building. Then it was a slight rise past another used car place and the soft serve ice cream store. (now Cardinal Motors, yet another used car dealership) We went to the soft serve ice cream place every Monday night, during summer, and it always gave me a good feeling to pass it. Next came several blocks uphill, and we'd pass the public grade school (have to drive past it and remember the name) and Roosevelt High School. Then a beautiful downhill stretch that would quicken our pace and revive our flagging energies. This section had nice houses, and grass instead of weeds. People actually grew flowers in their front yards, and the air had a cool, fresh scent because there were huge shade trees here and there. From the bottom of that beautiful hill, you could look up and see the stoplights at Grand and Gravois. We were half way to our destination. Climbing the next hill took us away from the nice homes with their shady trees. The higher we climbed, the closer the houses grew to the street. From this point on, we actually zigzagged across Gravois. We would cross to the South East side to avoid the apartments with tenants, but no windows. The windows having been long since broken out, and the shards used as weapons. The drunken hoosiers who lived in these buildings used the same temperature scale we did, so any time we were out walking, they were out drinking on their steps. We could hear their catcalls from across the street. "Wooo! Baby! Whyn'tchoo come over here and sit on my face for a bit?" And such. This was far better than the alternative. My sister and I had walked this route a few times alone, and had occasionally refused to cross the street. We were tough, and no 300 lb drunken fool was going to have us running to the safe side of the street. The result was always the same. Walking past meant getting your ass grabbed as you went by. We'd pretend not to notice, our faces burning in shame, while the hoosiers would laugh and call out their tiny repertoire of "compliments". The first time this happened I was 10 years old.
I need to sidetrack here, for a moment. To the men that read these stories- Has any woman smiled and accepted a crude proposition from you? I don't know of any women who have. I can accept it as the compliment it is, you find me attractive... thanks! In a small minded way, it is a compliment, but it's never going to get you anything. The whole process seems like a waste of breath to me. OK, back to the story

So, we crossed the street. We'd cross again at the Velvet Freeze, to avoid the bored teenagers hanging out in front of the place, then half a block later cross again to avoid more drinkers. The ugly stretch was maybe 1/4 mile, probably less, but it was all up hill. So there we were, 2 small kids and one short adult, tacking our way uphill to K-Mart.
Sometimes we'd stop in at the White Castles at Grand and Gravois and enjoy a 20 cent burger and the colorful mix of homeless, shoppers and bus-people. The air conditioning was nice too. From there it was a 3 block hop to the K-Mart Plaza. The walk usually took about 40 minutes. We would spend all day shopping, waiting for the sun to go down. This served multiple purposes. By 7 o' clock, the drunks were usually passed out or gone to the nearest bar so we could travel home relatively unmolested. Also the walk home was cooler (in winter, this meant a rare and joyful bus ride) and shopping all day meant 5 hours of decent climate control. Nice!