Ramona né Ramon lived as a woman but didn't really make an effort (daylong 5 o'clock shadow). This was in the days when our landlord referring to her as he-she-it was less shockingly offensive than it would be now, at least 40 years ago. She didn't speak English but did a lot of broom-banging & taking people to court for noise. She always lost because in fact she was the loud one. Ramona was OK, though, at least if she didn't live below you. She was probably the least strange of my many strange neighbors in the early days of the Pound, when people could afford to live there on an SSI check. (Supplemental Security Income (SSI) provides benefits to disabled children and adults, and people who have very little resources or income. These days it pays out less than $1,000 a month, far from enough to live in my gentrified neighborhood.)
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