My how Southie has changed, some changes for the better, some changes…not so much. I think there’s more people from Connecticut and New Jersey living in Southie these days than Massachusetts people. It’s been a windfall for local businesses for sure. But I have to admit I miss hearing nothing but Boston accents while walking down Broadway…there was some charm to that. As a kid, I loved sitting behind Kelly’s Landing and fishing off the dock, the fish usually had tumors and 5 eyeballs but it was before the harbor cleanup and they were charming friggin fish, alright! Southie was always a destination, whether loading up my aunts station wagon for trips to Castle Island on hot summer days or my mother shouting “the husky section is ova theah!!” in the middle of Jones on Broadway.

I understand South Boston is prime real estate, and I can honestly say it’s never  looked better. But the influx of money into the neighborhood has created some special dynamics . For instance, a friend who owns an ice cream truck told me that it costs about 6 to 8K for a permit to sell ice cream at the beaches over there. WTF is that? That’s like paying protection money. What if some kids wanted to sell ice cream down there to make a few extra bucks? Apparently the new residents eat some serious ice cream. If the state wants that much of a cut then is it possible to become a Southie Ice Cream mogul? Could Murph and Sully be the next Ben and Jerry?

I don’t know man, if some dude asked me for 8k to sell ice cream down at Tenean Beach I would probably swing at him….just saying.

Well anyway, enter Bill Gates and his crew who decided to go on a “Pub Crawl” through Southie recently. We used to call that “getting sh*tfaced” but I guess this is one of those changes in the culture of Southie you just have to live with. I still say getting sh*tfaced is more fun…but whatever.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5o4usjZfRU]