Daniel Ciszek: I give you credit for bravely living in the notorious 19th Ward, Kishore, but what is there to do over there besides thug?
Kishore Padmaraju: What is thug? Is that what rich people assume poor people do?
DC: No, rich people assume poor people will get a job.
KP: Whoa, whoa. What do you think this is? The 18th Ward?
DC: All I’m saying is that people in the 19th Ward should do something productive, you know, in between shooting people.
KP: Hey, shooting-free since Feb. 16 isn’t bad!
DC: By the time this gets out, you know that won’t be true.
KP: We live week-to-week in the Ward, you know that.
DC: In fear.
KP: Fear is just a word when your homeboy Tyrone’s got your back.
DC: You don’t know a Tyrone…
KP: True! But I could!
DC: Only if you owed him money.
KP: Money has no value in the 19th Ward. That’s the beauty of it. We live by our word and we die by our word. A man’s greatest possession is his honor.
DC: Really? That’s funny, because I just traded a Twix for a back massage the other day. Turns out homeless people don’t realize the value of dignity.
KP: You should see what they would do for a Klondike bar.
DC: Dear Lord, this conversation has gone off track. Besides the low rent, can you really give me any other reason to live in the 19th Ward?
KP: How about the culture, Danny? We are the Harlem of Rochester.
DC: I didn’t realize stabbing was an art form. We have gelato on Park Avenue.
KP: Wait, sir, we just got a Boulder Coffee. I think we just surpassed you in pretentiousness.
DC: Yeah, there’s nothing more pretentious than Boulder Coffee.
KP: You can talk down to me with your smug grin and full- body tan; I’ll take my low-income housing any day.
DC: Well, at least it’s not the South Wedge.
KP: So true…
Ciszek is a member of the class of 2009.
Padmaraju is a member of the class of 2009.
