Who Gives a Shit: How Do You tell Park Slope Parents that their kids and Their Scooters Are a Menace to Society?

After a recent incident involving some negligent parents and their maniacal scooter-racing child, a Park Slope newbie wrote to us asking for a polite way to tell these parents: Hey, fuckface. Your kid is plowing through the crowd like an asshole on his shitty little scooter. Wanna do something about it or what?!

  Here’s an excerpt from her email:

My roommate and I were walking along 5th ave on a busy Saturday, and we both had a little mishap with a kid on a scooter. First he scooted in front of me and then stopped, causing me to basically fall over him as my roommate almost ran into me. His parents, who were walking in front of us, didn't even notice. So we power-walked to get ahead of the group, but as we got to through the next intersection the scooter kid powered ahead and ran over my roommate's foot. The kid didn't react or apologize and the parents didn't seem to notice. Is there a good way to tell the parents of Park Slope to maybe watch your kids (especially those on the scooter who might be a little out of control), without causing a scene or argument?

But of course! This inconvenience by a breeder and their tyrannical spawn means that you have officially been initiated to the hood. Welcome to Park Slope!  

Now, despite the fact that this is a common occurrence and shouldn’t be a surprise (see: Have you ever almost been killed by a kid on a scooter?), after reading this message I can’t help but fill to the brim with furious rage at the level of inconsideration prevalent in our little society. That being said, today’s your lucky day, Park Slope newbie with a problem, as you’ve come to the perfect place for advice on this matter.

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Who Gives a Shit: Do you do your own laundry, or Drop It Off?

Since moving to New York, I've never once used a drop-off service. Part of me feels guilty at the thought of handing MY dirty clothes to someone ELSE for cleaning, especially since I'm prone to spilling food on myself. A larger part of me just really likes the way warm clothes feel when they come out of a dryer. There are definitely downsides to doing ones own laundry -- like the time commitment, and the hassle of collecting a bunch of quarters ahead of time (though the good laundromats are stocked with 'em).

When it comes to cleaning t-shirts, ties and underoos, what's your go-to method in Park Slope? 

Who Gives a Shit: Have you been seeing more rats around Park Slope lately?

Twice yesterday I saw two rats scurry across the sidewalk in front of me as I walked down 7th Street. This was strange, since I typically don't see any during the day (especially outside of the subway). Then I got this email from a FiPS reader, and it made me paranoid about a possible invasion of furry rodents: 

Can we talk about the over abundance of rats in our neighborhood these days? Now I'm no fool -- I know there are rats, but come on. WTF. The rat population has a least doubled since this time last year. I have been a resident on Douglass Street between 4th and 5th ave for 9 years now. Of course we see our share of rats, but I'm not kidding when I say I don't even want to leave my house after dark anymore. 

Anyone else notice an increase in rats in the neighborhood lately? Or do you have any horror stories about catching them inside your apartment? 

Who Gives a Shit: Do You Use Natural Cleaning Products?

It's time to do some spring cleaning, so I've been wondering: Is it really better to use natural cleaning products?  Let's think about that for a minute or two.

I started researching this blog post by opening the cabinet under my sink and looking at some of my cleaning products.  It didn't take long for me to realize that I have been completely duped by cleaning product packaging.  For example, the twee packaging of my Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Aromatherapeutic Liquid Dish Soap had me thinking that it was likely an all-natural product, probably made with 100% geranium juice.  Then I read the back of the bottle.  After water, the next two ingredients were Lauramine Oxide (which would be a hilarious name for a drag queen, btw...) and Laurel Glucoside (also a great drag queen name).  And it got less natural-sounding from there.

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Does the New Key Food Sign Bother Anyone Else?

Park Slope is no stranger to weird and unattractive storefront signs. I personally don't give them much thought, but one FiPS reader has some issues with the new Key Food sign on 5th Avenue, formerly home of Off-track Betting: 

Have you seen the new key food on 5th Avenue and 12th Street? They've been gutting & rebuilding the old OTB space for a while now. It looked great until yesterday -- the sign is so obnoxious!!  "Jo, Brian, and Joseph's"  is massive!  and then Key Food Mart is miniscule.  it looks like a joke. And it's worse at night because my window looks right to it. I sat on my couch to read last night and the giant glowing “JOSEPH” was blinding.

Is anyone else bothered by this shit?