Neighborhood kids...

Ok....two months since my last post. Not actually a good start and I was actually going to disable the blog but saw the comments. Anyways, I will just have to try harder to post regularly.

Last night, I walked back home in the dark for the first time in the neighborhood. It wasn’t completely dark all the way when I left my office but it was by the time I got home. It was pretty uneventful, still saw the same people and the sidewalks were as busy (or empty) as they usually are during daylight. As I passed by Big Bear Café, I walk by a group of men who always seem to be there when I walk home. They greet me with their usual, “how are you doing?” and “how was your day?” Maybe one day, I’ll stop and chat, usually I’m just in a hurry to get home.

Nearing my apartment, a bunch of kids hanging out on a porch across the street yelled out to me, “hey shortie!” I ignore them and just keep walking. As a rule, I only respond to polite greetings. Soon after, one of them yells something like, “it’s not like we’re going to steal from you or rape you!” Just great. Did not need to hear that. A teenager walking in front of me hears all of this and when I pass him, he says, “how are you doing?” and I say “fine, thank you.”

I did not feel unsafe at all throughout all of this. For the most part, I was disappointed that the teenagers thought I was ignoring them because I feared them and not because I thought they were rude. That said, most teenagers I have run into in the neighborhood (including the one last night) are very polite and either greet me nicely or smile.

Anyways, last night reminded me that I need to figure out how to do volunteer work at Emery Elementary or McKinley Tech High. Hubby and I are going to be in the neighborhood for a while and I should get familiar with the school system and the children in it as we are definitely planning to have a kid at some point.