The Importance of Being Gangsta's

by Jo Rebeka on 07/26/11

I have a confession to make. It's about the Gangsta ants. Over the past several days their little hill (unwisely built right on the sidewalk in front of the garden) has been washed away repeatedly. Now, their little gangsta town (which we are wisely NOT naming after any number of American cities know for their organized crime connections)... the town itself, I mean, is under the sidewalk. That part seems smart, I guess. They're pretty impervious to attacks from other ants, digging dogs, etc. In a way, their little gangsta town is a fortress, but like most fortresses, it is also a prison. Today is the third or fourth day in a row when I have gone out to the backyard to check on the Fritizens and the Gangstas, and on each day, after each rainstorm, the Gangstas basically rebuild their boring little hill pretty much the same as it was before. In the photo above, you can see all the mulch and stuff that has washed out of the flowerbed, and then in the middle, the little same-same Gangsta hill that they remake every day. What's that about? So here comes my confession: I don't care anymore whether or not the Gangstas remake their nest. I just don't care.

The only real spark of creativity (if you can call it that) we have seen from the Gangstas was building their nest right on the trade route between Ant-ioch and the Frit Depot so they could waylay Fritizens and rob them of their frit. It was nothing more that disturbing, miguided gang violence, and they gave up on it pretty quickly too. Now, honestly, what is more tedious than a half-hearted crime wave?

I know some of you have really been rooting for the Gangsta's and possibly identifying with them as the underdogs in this situation, but I really think they aren't a very good influence on you and I would prefer that you not encourage them. You can tell them I said so.

 

p.s. Stay tuned for the amazing tale of how the Fritizens have coped with the recent storms!