Officie Work and the Crack Alternative among Puerto Ricans Drug Dealers in East Harlem

Thesis: The area of East Harlem or "El Barrio" is riddled with drugs and drug dealers. This primarily being because inhabitants are not able to find sufficient work and if they do, the often have difficulty with the people in charge.

The article "Office work and Crack Alternatives among Puerto Rican Drug Deals in East Harlem" by Phillip Bourgious is an account of what it is like to live in the poverished neighborhoods of "Spanish Harlem". He speaks about how the area in which he lives is a marketplace for all different types of drugs. " My tenements block was not atypical, and within a few hundred yards' radius I could obtain heroin, crack, powder cocaine, hypodermic needles, methadone, Valium, angel dust, marijuana,mescaline bootleg alcohol and tobacco". (Bourgois pg 203)Not only was this type of enviroment influential on the people that lived there. Bourgois also points out that as a child growing up where everywhere you look there are drugs being used or sold, that at some point in your development you are going to make a choice. He also illuminates the fact of going off to work in a poorly paid industry is almost overshadowed by the idea of selling drugs and making the same salary just in a shorter time.

Bourgois also speaks about the high incidences of children dropping out of school and finding work. According to Bourgois " for poor adolescences to drop out of school and become a marginal factory worker is attractive." Not only does it allow the teenager the opportunity to make money for the things they want, but often times these teens are using the money for things they need. This idea in the early teens is attractive, however once these teens become adults it become almost impossible to survive off the salary and even more impossible to get a better job with no education. " .....upon reaching their mid 20's they discovered themselves to be unemployed high school dropouts."

The article also speaks about respect, it compares and contrasts respect in the work place and respect in the street. For Primo who has experienced both he finds it easier to related to the guys on the street because they are both on the same level educationally. His response to the supervisor in the office has a negative connotation. "His direct supervisor is a receptionist", Bourgois' suggests that in some cases like Primos you have to know how to play the different roles.

Understanding this life in which these individuals live in and the conditions that they are subjected to goes beyond theory and stigma. It is real life for these individuals. My reaction to this piece is somber because not only do know individuals who live this life but I have been a witness to it. Its very difficult understanding this life and trying to explain it. Because its something that has to be lived.