Back In Oakland

Part 1

I moved back to Oakland nearly two months ago, mainly for career reasons, but things aren’t panning out the way I wanted them to go. Since getting sober, many things haven’t panned out the way I wanted them to go, and it’s always been for the better. This time is no different. I moved here because I got laid off and had some potential job opportunities, but what I got instead was the mending of my broken relationship with the Aunt and Uncle that raised me. A year ago if you asked me if I’d ever see them again, I would have said probably not. I’m now going to spend Thanksgiving at their home. Did I land my dream job by moving here? No, but I got something a thousand times better: an opportunity to right the greatest wrongs I ever committed.

I thought I was going to move back to the Bay Area and maybe get a job helping solve the homeless and addiction epidemic. That could likely happen in the next few years, but it turns out, the local government isn’t keen on hiring ex-crackheads to dictate major policy (yet). They’re still looking for people with fancy degrees and long resumes of failure to tackle this problem, but not for long I’d imagine. Change is in the air. In the meantime, I’ve been writing some articles and doing odd-jobs in the realm of construction.

The recent South Park special “Joining the Panderverse” rings true in the Bay Area. No one knows how to do anything anymore. In fact, when I first moved here in 2001, I recall noticing that none of my friends dads owned power tools. The tech boom that still drives the local economy left several generations of middle-class men not knowing how to turn a wrench. As a result, I’m making nearly $50/hour building Ikea furniture and hanging curtains. At first I thought it was maybe because people just didn’t want to do this lowly type of work, and could afford to pay someone else do it. But most of my customers seem to be people in their 30’s that attempted the task themselves and couldn’t finish it. Either way, I’m happy to have the chance to make some extra cash. And it’s given me the opportunity to have my finger on the pulse of what residents are thinking. I’ve discussed the state of Oakland with everyone I’ve worked for, and not one person so far hasn’t been affected by the crime.

Despite the inarguable statistics, some of the “doom loop” talk is certainly exaggerated - it’s still one of the most beautiful regions in the country. But the fact that armed robberies occur daily within blocks of my apartment while the average price of a house in my neighborhood is in the million-dollar-range is pitiful. Not that only million dollar neighborhoods deserve safety, thats absurd. But that’s the thing, the worst neighborhoods in Oakland are million dollar neighborhoods. When I left in 2014 I remember saying, “I don’t mind crime. I mind exorbitant rent and crime. I can put up with all the crime you can throw at me if a 1br is $600 a month.” Which is an ironic thing for a crackhead living in his car to say, but when all the wheels were stolen off of my “house”, even I couldn’t put up with it anymore.

Nevertheless, I’m back. Forever? Certainly not. But this is where I’m supposed to be right now. I thought I was supposed to be here for my career, but it turns out I’m supposed to be here to make things right with my family. And I couldn’t be more happy about it. No job offer could ever outweigh the opportunity to amend my wrongdoings.