Sex, Drugs, Rock n Roll: The Underbelly of Suburbia

Although I've moved around a lot, I consider my time in Ohio as most typically suburban. I lived on a cul-de-sac in a community with its own homeowner's association and its own park. I had a "gang" of kids on my street that I played house with, romped in the woods with, and played kickball with in the front yard. In high school in New York there were gangs of a different kind. Equally suburban but influenced more by its proximity to New York City, my Long Island community was less idyllic. We were not allowed to wear bandanas or gang colors to school for fear of fights. That didn't stop the three stabbings to occur, two of which I witnessed first hand. One involved two of my close friends, and the blood is still on the street in front of our neighborhood bookstore. Drugs are another facet of the suburbs that isn't much mentioned. Every boy I dated smoked pot, and many did harder drugs. One of my friends, a drug dealer, was the richest kid in school and clearly didn't need the money. Those cookie cutter houses were filled with just as much sex, drugs, and rock and roll as any urban apartment. You just don't hear about it in the media because suburbia is supposed to be a safe haven from all of these things.