Heard on The Judges: _on the street_ "helpful, assistive, available," etc.

[Wilson Gray]

Mid-twenty-ish, black male speaker:

"The system don't be _on the street_ for |this one| [i.e. the speaker
himself = "me"], your honor."


The speaker is explaining why it is that he, though he's been out of
prison for several months, is nevertheless a deadbeat dad: Won't
nobody give a brother a break!

Use of a 3P form as a cover for a reference to oneself "has a long and
storied history," to coin a phrase.

Ev'y dollar _po' Sam_ make ... : spoken by the late-great, Texas
bluesman. Sam "Lightnin' " Hopkins. 1946

Can _a nigga_ borrow a french-fry? : spoken in the cafeteria by black
schoolchild. ca. 2008


But using a phrase like _this one_ instead of one's name or "a
brother, a cat, a stud, a Texan, a dude," et sim., is, IME, a stunning
new departure.

-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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