Gang officers in small town schools. New jails built; a Spanish-only PUBLIC elementary school in Marshalltown Iowa. And, my personal favorite: Marshalltown had to pass a city law making it illegal to slaughter chickens in the street (storm sewers made a nice place for the blood to run, apparently).
My classmates' parents carpooled 80 miles round trip to work at those jobs in the 80's...decent lower middle-class jobs.
Gives total lie to the "jobs American's won't do," myth.
And stunningly, a pound of hamburger wasn't $15.00.
"And, my personal favorite: Marshalltown had to pass a city law making it illegal to slaughter chickens in the street (storm sewers made a nice place for the blood to run, apparently)."
hehe...sound like my old home town.
We now have all kinds of meat butchered in yards, alleys, etc. Many of the Tiendas that have overtaken our Downtown sell it just like in ole Mexico. A hunk of meat hanging in the sun. Scrape flies, then cut a piece and fry it, wrap it in a tortilla. You can actually buy all sorts of meats there, none of it inspected of course, but hey, who cares about the law?
House Bars-...Have you got these yet?..
How it works is they rent or buy a house with cash, usually a trailer or something, then they add on rooms with 2x4's and plywood. Then string up fiesta lights, crank up the oompa-oompa musica and open a bar. Some are in garages, some just in houses. They sell beer on Sundays (which is illegal for silly Gringos) and they don't bother with taxes. The food at these places is reportedly very good, and the prices are cheap. But there is also the high chance for drunken violence, but hey, people get stabbed in Dodge for no particular reason anyhow.
Pink Houses-Also a neat lil thing.
Prostitution is also popular with the Nortenos far away from home, usually the owner will paint the trailer/house pink and put a red light on the front porch. The trucks come and go constantly. The girls sit outside and smoke waiting for customers...it's great for your kids to meet new people.
Jr. Gangbangers-
These kids are 10-13 and are probably more dangerous than their older brothers-DO NOT MESS WITH THEM. They are always armed. Sometimes guns, but usually knives.They want to earn credibility with their peers by knifing you or beating you down in public. When they take over a place, a restaurant/theatre/store- get the hell out quickly and DO NOT LOOK THEM IN THE EYE. This is a sign of "dissing them" and you have a 50/50 chance of getting jumped. A jump occurs every week, and who knows who is gonna get it next.
They usually travel on foot or bikes in packs of 5-10, and most recently stomped an older couple in the BK parking lot for "disrespecting them". The old fools are in the hospital, the kiddies were released immediately for being juvies. Again-FEAR THESE KIDS-As they say "We Don't Give a F___!)-even the cops fear them.
And please, please believe me when I tell you that they are simply looking for a reason to jump you. It's all they live for.
DO NOT GO TO THE ONLY HOSPITAL IN TOWN. It is crowded, understaffed and reeks of urine. The carpet is ripped up, and the whole place is falling apart. Only the most desperate physicians will work there. If you are sick and need medical care in Dodge, drive 2+ hours to Wichita and die there.
Do not buy a new truck or car or RV(hehe, yep RV's are going like hot cakes), it will get jacked and sent to Mexico or chopped up within 12 hours. Buy old cars that no-one would want to steal....Save your money for your escape...
If you have any money at all, leave.
If you cannot leave, move to the Country Club Dr. enclave or to the far NW part of town. If you live in South Dodge or the East Side, you are completely screwed. Get used to it. The gangs won't steal everything from you, they'll save some parts of your house for spray-painting practice....
Welcome to Mi Ciudad!