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Around this area of Los Angeles it's common knowledge that if your out on your own any later than 10pm at night you might as well stick a sign on your back that says mug me. As it turns out the USC campus is located just on the fringe of that infamous criminal hotspot; South central L.A. Also home to the neighborhood of Compton, an area well known for its magical ability to boost the street cred of any hard core gangsta rapper.
Now I must admit I've been warned a number of times about going out on my own at night, mostly by individuals who heard from a friend of a friend that they knew a guy who had a sister who's best friend's cousin got jumped while they were walking home from class one time. And then of course there's the more reputable warnings such as the bullatins posted on the library doors about the girl who had her wallet snatched out of her hand by some guy on a bike while she was walking to class, or the guy that got robbed at knife point while he was out for his 4am constitutional. Clearly there seems to be a pattern here, and if we were to distill a lesson from this pattern it would probably be something like: "If you're stupid you may get taken advantage of."
Now bear with me as this astounding revelation hits you. I know its implications could radically alter the very foundations of society should this information ever get out into the mainstream but its important that I get this down. Yes there is crime in L.A., people get robbed, people get stabbed, I even heard about a guy who got shot one time, seriously, you'd think this was Toronto or something. My point is that for all the stories that flow out of L.A. about the gangs and the drugs, and the crooked cops, L.A. is a city like any other. It's crime is relational to its populace. This is a wildly diverse city, both racially and economically. There are people who have and there are people who have not and as the age old struggle continues the have nots will (for some strange reason) always try to elevate themselves to the better "have" (insert laugh here). Sometimes this means that they will take what they want forcefully and when that happens there is usually a victim. Fortunatly those nefarious few who choose to pursue this avenue of gain only have eyes for those foolish enough to ignore the simple rules of sensibility. Walking on one's own at 4 in the morning would be an example of this ignorance, flashing one's wallet for all to see would be another.
Despite my professed rationality , I must confess that when I was approached last night by a strange scruffy looking black man who got my attention by saying "hey, hey man I have to ask you something", I was prepared for the worse. In my mind the 3 options available to me were:
a) Throw my wallet at him and run away screaming like a school girl;
b) throw my wallet at him, curl up into a fetal position and then wet myself
or c) scream like a school girl, then wet myself and then throw my wallet at him.
Well I was all ready to choose lucky option c) when he came up and said simply: "Do you have 75 cents?" I starred blankly for a moment, slightly disappointed with anti-climatic outcome and then finally managed to mumble no. He smiled and continued on down the street, off to scare the bejesus out of some of other jumpy white kid who who had heard too many stories. After that I realized that I was still clinging to a notion of L.A. borne from watching countless TV shows and movies that glorified the darker side of the city, skewing my perception so that in my mind some homeless guy looking for a few quarters to buy a coffee would register as the meanest, badass, homicidal gang leader there ever was who's only thought was to rob me for everything I had and then pump me full of bullets. Maybe there are guys like that out there, in fact I'm sure there are but are they on every street corner, behind every alley, waiting for me in the stairwell??? Probably not, and for those few occasions when they are, well I guess it depends on whether I'm stupid enough to make myself a target.
- This is Evan Aagaard, sociologist for a day, signing off.
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