Best Place to Get a Little Scratch for a Trip to Mexico

PPD Development

During the Great Depression thousands of young men and women hopped trains, mostly looking for work: early summer hay to harvest in California; corn and wheat in the Midwest; in the early fall hops, berries, and fruit in the Pacific-Northwest; and Texas cotton to pick in the winter. Today they do the same thing, sort of. Though in smaller numbers, train-hopping hobos still exist; however, trends in pharmaceutical research, not crop cycles, determine their migratory patterns. The expansion westward has turned inward: instead of hoes breaking ground, needles piercing skin. Instead of picking strawberries and apples, popping Dioxin and anti-coagulates. A friend of mine described PPD as "a sleep-away summer camp with needles." Free pool, endless hours of television, and no one to tell you to shave and get a job. If you want to travel up the East Coast, pick up some pocket change at PPD locations in Blue Bell, Pa., Richmond, Va.; and West 57th St., New York, N.Y.

PPD Development
706-A Ben White Blvd., 512/462-0492