Now, there’s an art to shit talking, though the code of conduct surrounding it varies from place to place. He exploited the real-life struggles of folks living in The South End to make a character pop on page. At the neighborhood taverns, the men stare into their cold beers with hard eyes, wondering how they’re going to afford this or that.” “The South End always has been Louisville’s melting pot, an ethnic mix of blue-collar, working-class people who can’t afford the luxury of dreams.
Alas, he had to settle for the more abstract “hard,” “bleak” and “hopelessness”: I feel like if there was some way he could have gotten away with invoking coal mines and chimney sweeps, we would all be rumored to have the black lung and the dropsy. Summoning the ghost of Charles Dickens, Billy painted a backdrop with the kind of darling poverty that produces stories of sports heroes and the men who write them. Whether all this makes me a Southender or an interloper is up for debate and I’m not about to call the matter settled.īut I can recap the Billy Reed hubbub: Billy wanted to write a tribute to a basketball coach, and instead of letting his accomplishments speak for themselves, he decided to add a touch of melodrama. I’m privy to some juicy church gossip, and I know why weed dealers make the best unofficial block watch captains. I know which streets flood in a downpour. I know which house to walk to when I need fresh eggs. Our kids all played together as one of the many packs of feral children that cruised the neighborhood. For a while, one of my other sisters lived next door to her. My sister lives across the street from me. I moved to Oakdale a little over 14 years ago, just before my younger daughter was born.
I’d argue that the most reliable indicator that you aren’t from The South End is when you walk into debates between neighbors and neighborhoods that you didn’t even know existed, including debates about where The South End lies and who is allowed to claim it as home, and you talk shit without even realizing you’re doing it. I don’t think this is a new stereotype (at least for my neck of the South End), but it was perpetuated most recently by WAVE3 commentator and self-proclaimed “South Ender,” Billy Reed. You may have heard a rumor that The South End can’t afford the luxury of dreams.
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