There Isn't Any Grass on This Side of the Fence

The title "There Isn’t Any Grass on This Side of the Fence" is really a metaphor of poverty-stricken people who don’t have a choice but to remain in their ill-fated, destitute state. These people (as the subtitle indicates) have no money to even maintain a sufficient standard of living. They have no knowledge as to how to get themselves elevated up the financial hierarchy. Lastly, they don’t have the time to ascertain their predicament and to move up the food chain. This is a story that begins in the 1960s and ends some decades later. Placidville is really a 1960s ghetto filled with poor and uneducated people. The project, as it’s called, is a place of racial hatred, bigotry, and discrimination. Criminal activities are the order of the day. The theme of the project is to do on to others before they do on to you. The people are not just living; they are trying to survive. Little do they realize, once they move in, they will probably never be able to get out. Placidville is a spider’s web for those without funds. It’s an attraction that the have-nots cannot resist. Once in the web, the people soon become aware that escape is beyond their grasp. The project changes most everyone for the worse. In Placidville, all families become dysfunctional and continually fight among themselves. The project makes neighbors say and do terrible things to each other in order to gain an edge over the other. As time goes on, the residents learn how to cheat, steal, and to take advantage of every good or bad opportunity that come their way. The Placidville Project is a disease and there is no cure. To make matters worse, corrupt town officials and the police want nothing to do with the project. It’s a big headache that they wish would go away. However, this headache is not going away in the near future.

-- Roy Perkins