A Typical Day In Mastic Beach

I'm sure you didn't stumble over this blog for no reason: you wanted to get the lowdown on what it's like to live in Mastic Beach, right? Well, it's not too different from living anywhere else. The residents are quiet, (mostly) and the neighborhood where I live is pin-drop quiet right now. It's 9am and most commuters have gone to work. There are a few kids living here, but none are out playing yet. On non-school days it seems that most of them either go to summer camp, or are sleeping in. A single car may pass down the road at this time. The bus hums past on the other side of the block. A dog barks. A cat saunters by. The birds chirp, the cicadas buzz, and the mosquitoes bite. That's about it. If it weren't for the horrible attack-mosquitoes, I'd be out in the backyard dozing off in a lounge-chair. The sun is shining, but to stay in one place would be a sentence of death by itching. Between the no-see'ums, the occasional deer fly, and the mosquitoes, you really can't stay still unless you've covered yourself from head to toe with DEET. Why would I be snoozing on a lounge-chair? Because it's that damn quiet around here. Sure, there's a neighbor who might shout at her kids, or a crazy kid with an overly loud car stereo every now and again, but for the most part it's so sleepily quiet here that you might think you were in the woods, far away from civilization. Even the airplanes fail to break the silence. Planes from Kennedy and MacArthur airports are rare. Sometime you can hear one very high up, or they alter their path due to weather, but normally the only plane you'll hear is the crazy biplane pilot out of Calabro airport. He's a kook who practices daily, doing loop-dee-loops and dead stalls. Sometimes a helicopter will grace us, but that's it. It's too quiet, sometimes. To combat the sleepiness you have to find something to do, 24-7. What is there to do here? Well, lately, not much. There used to be a nice restaurant/bar only blocks away from here where you could sit out by the water and drink, but it's since closed and no one has bought the property. It's a shame, because they used to have a band every now and then, providing a little entertainment close by in a nice establishment. Now if you want a bar you have to walk/drive/cycle 10 or more blocks to Neighborhood Road, and the bars there are dives, really. It's a great shame, but they're just not safe: not like a bar would be in Rockville Centre. I've had countless drinks in that village and never had a problem with anyone. Out here in Mastic Beach, you have to watch your back. Unless you can throw a mean punch, have an attack-boyfriend, or are armed to the teeth, I wouldn't drink in any of the bars in this village. Stabbings, murders, and muggings go along with drinking in these parts. You can't stagger home from a night's worth of drinking because there are youths on the street waiting for you, at all hours of the night. They lick their chops for the opportunity to divest you of your cash, credit cards, cell phone, and whatever else you have. Take my advice: if you're going to drink here, do it at home. If you drink, don't invite people over. If you drink, don't go out after dark for any reason. Even if you don't drink, don't walk around anywhere near the Rez or Neighborhood Road after 10pm. People have been shot, dumped, and hit by drunks. As a general rule, if you're not on a bike or driving, don't be out. It's not that it's that spectacularly dangerous, but - why take a chance? Safety first here in Mastic Beach. The area I'm living in is fairly safe, meaning most people don't lock their doors while they're home. There are no thieves running door-to-door or window-to-window. It's just too much trouble for a food stamp-earning teen to walk all the way here to come up with only a laptop. *Shrug* Seriously, these kids already have laptops, portable DVD players, GameBoys, you name it, they've got it already. How? They use their food stamp card like a cash register - buy all meat, rice, etc., enough to last for the month and what do you have left? If you've got Section 8, then you don't have to worry about rent. I'm told most people pay about 25% of the total, so that ain't much. Electricity gets paid for by Social Services, and gas for cooking is a rarity. So anything else coming in, such as self-earned cash (doing odd jobs) and DSS (disability) is all money in their pockets. My poor house with its outdated TV, broken stereo, and miserably old DVD player is so untouchable, I'll bet they hold their noses when they pass by. Even my computers are over 5 years old. So no worries if you can lock the place up and have an alarm for when you leave for a whole day. Just be aware that if you do get broken into, the police are really only available after 8pm and before 8am. After that they are too stretched to come out to investigate within a good time-frame. So if you value your property, take it with you. Oh, and don't wear bling-bling in front of the natives. They'll get the idea that you have jewelry, and that is an enticement: quick cash for gold is very popular these days. That's okay, 'cause I own nothing. I pawned it all already, and everyone knows it. Right now I'm on my way out the door. Well, I was, 45 minutes ago when I decided to start writing. I need ciggs, toilet paper, cat litter, cat food and plastic bags. If I don't get out now, I won't be done shopping for another three hours, and that find of time-wasting isn't good. I need all the time I have to clean house and pick up after Hubby. A trip to the Rez and the supermarket are essential most days. Better go now. More on Mastic Beach life later.