Thank Gawd For The Joe Foritos Of The World

They always seem to be there when the average joe/josephine starts getting screwed by the "system" and I wonder if they would have as much on their plate if like in the old days the leaders would hold court in the town square and the citizens would come with their grievances and decisions would be made for all to see and judge.

Widow, 77, could lose her home to landlord's teenage son TheStar.com - News - Widow, 77, could lose her home to landlord's teenage son

September 28, 2007

Joe Fiorito

The ashcan of history is set to receive the crumpled page of September, a month mostly worth forgetting. But here is something memorably cruel.

Anne Bowman's landlord is dragging her to court. He wants to evict her from the apartment where she has lived for the past 53 years.

Anne, a veteran's widow, is 77 years old. She is frail after a stroke some years ago, but she still has a sense of occasion. When she knew I was coming to call, she got her hair done and put on her makeup.

That her landlord wants to evict her surpasses understanding.

When I spoke to him two months ago, he said he wanted Anne's apartment for his son, a good boy, 19 years old, who has his heart set on becoming a police officer.

I don't know the landlord's son, but if he urged his father to evict Anne so that he can have her place for his own, then he will make a lousy cop.

And if this ugly business is the father's doing, what lesson is he teaching that young man?

Anne is getting help from legal aid. She goes to court on Oct. 9.