Last summer, when me and a co-worker (who comes from the country)were in Chicago, he fell asleep and I decided to drive around the city. I didn't wake him up 'til we were in a mainly black neighborhood. He sat straight up, bugged his eyes out, and said, 'Shit! This is a bad neighborhood! We're so dead... We're so dead...' Which it really wasn't, so I laughed at him.

Maybe he was just still nervous because some guys had tried to box us in against a burned out old van, presumably to rob us, an hour before. But why the Hell are people such cowards? I mean, a gun? All we had was a 2X4 between to seats of the van, and I felt more than safe.

And Uncle Jaque, have you ever thought that maybe if you didn't enter a 'bad' neighborhood with a gun and a condescending attitude, it might not BE a bad neighborhood for you? 'Tactical awareness and avoidance?' You go into ANY neighborhood looking paranoid and jittery and someone's going to give you some shit, Jaque. But you'll have your trusty firearm to take care of them, eh?

---Lepus Rex