Neverending Sideshow At Taco Bell

[ADeMartino]

My old man told tales of experiences in Chicago in the 1960s. He mentioned an occasion once where he and my mom (before I was born) went to a Chinese restaurant in one part of town. As they were paying the bill, they noticed a stack of small maps with a rather odd route to and from the restaurant. When queried, the man told them...."You follow map. I serious...you follow MAP when you go!" Turns out the restaurant was in the middle of a narrow 'neutral' territory between two rival gangs, and a wrong turn in that neighborhood could land you in a whole heap of trouble. He also told stories of when he was an assistant manager of a Walgreen's store during the riots, and of his dealings with some of the drunks and less-stellar members of society. Some areas of Chicago were bad news back then.

[Kittykat]

I've driven and walked through the South Bronx and Brownsville too many times to be scared of rough neighbourhoods. Cautious, sure. Aware that I'm going to get catcalled, definitely. But apparently I don't carry myself like a little white girl, so I'm not treated like one.

Meh.

I'm with you, I carry concealed (Have permit) and know how to use it. Not to mention the pepper spray on my keychain, and six years of Tai Kwon Do.

[sms001]

I've driven and walked through the South Bronx and Brownsville

"I've been stranded in the combat zone
I walked through Bedford Stuy alone
Even rode my motorcycle in the rain..." [Billy Joel]

[KiaKat]

"I walked through Bedford Stuy alone" [Billy Joel]

Walked?! Hell, I WORKED there!

[protege]

Some areas of Chicago were bad news back then.

Sounds like some of Pittsburgh's more "interesting" areas in the early 1990s. We had our own dangerous areas--Hazelwood, the Hill District (the area around the then-Civic Arena, where the Penguins played), parts of the South Side, North Side, Uptown, sections of Oakland, and Homewood. Nearly all of those areas were torn apart from gang violence then. All were high-crime areas, which happened to be full of poverty. Naturally, after several high-profile incidents (mainly drive-by shootings), traffic lights in those areas were set to "green" all night, and speed limits were ignored. The city felt, that it was better for commuters who had to drive through there, get through quickly...rather than get shot or robbed. Things have settled down over the past 20 years. However, there are still areas that you have to be careful in. They still have crime, and even now, I put my foot down when driving through them.

First job I had in '98, was less than a block away from the Hill District. Sometimes when I left for home, I'd hear gunshots at night Strangely though, even though that place was (and is) a dangerous area, the violence never seemed to come across the street into North Oakland.

[Shalom]

I used to work in the Bronx. Plenty rough neighborhood, but nobody ever bothered me. I'd be walking to my car (there was no lot, we had to park on the street) and all these thugs and hoodlums would wave at me, "Hi Doc, how's it going?" I suppose it helped that they were mostly my customers in the pharmacy at the time.

(Oh, and I wore my yarmulke in the store and the street. Nobody ever said a word about it.)

[Automan Empire]

Yes, I know that exact neighborhood. I remember driving to a Dead show; the first day I drove on surface streets through the hood. There were these big black guys nonchalantly tagging a taco stand in broad daylight, and I mean, letters from the ground to as high as they could reach. The next two days I took the longer route and came in from the West from the nearby freeway. This was 20 years ago.

The neighborhood my shop is in is not that great, but the various hoodla generally leave me and my customers alone.

[dalesys]

... nonchalantly tagging a taco stand...

And the taco vendor...