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Location: the wrong side of the tracks Richmond, VA
585 posts, read 2,018,008 times
Reputation: 794
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Quote:
Originally Posted by enkie
Uh, alright, just to clarify -- I was not trying to instigate a fight but if people want to take it that way, so be it I guess.
And no I was not living in hipster brooklyn. I lived 2 years in Bushwick back in 2001 (7th and 8th stop off the L stop) before it was infiltrated by hipster, and yes obviously now Bushwick is very different now. I also lived in deep Crown Heights as well as Flatbush. Ive also dated a guy who lived in the projects when I was younger. So take it as you will, but my point was simply to illustrate that I am not one of those cowering people who have never been to the hood.
If people want to take it as an insult to their neighborhood when I am simply reporting back what I have experienced, so be it.
And actually, Killabunnie, by your logic "oh you think that's tough, let me tell you about tough", Im actually saying DC is tougher than the hood parts of Brooklyn. So not sure exactly what your point is here. But if the pissing contest is to see which hood is harder, you win hands down. Good for you.
You've got me twisted, *I* am not the person here saying anything about other places being tougher (read the thread again and it's clear who was saying that, it certainly wasn't me... personally I feel like this part of SE isn't nearly as hard as people make it out to be or else people like me wouldn't enjoy living here). I only visited Brooklyn for the first time in my life over the weekend and let me tell you, when I got back to SE on Saturday I felt like I lived in Georgetown.
I said I feel bad for what happened to you and I do... because I was one of the people who assured you you would be fine. I don't give a f*** who is "harder," that's someone else's pissing contest, not mine.
And you are certainly entitled your opinion about Brooklyn. And do I belittle your opinion because you think Brooklyn is harder than Anacostia? No. Because it's your opinion. Just like I am entitled to my opinion that Anacostia is a dangerous area.
The only thing I was trying to illustrate was that I was not some suburbia born-bred person who has never lived/visited neighborhoods considered dangerous. It was never about whether NY or DC was tougher. But clearly posters (not just you) in this forum only cared to make the issue about that.
I just find it really irritating that I had posted that I was not trying to instigate a fight and that this type of situation probably could have randomly occurred anywhere, but people had to make it into a "well, did you really live in a hood part of brooklyn, do you really know what you are talking about" issue, rather than "oh man, that sucks that you were harassed" issue. Because, yeah clearly, whether I really lived in a "hoody" part of brooklyn and whether I know how to not act like some scared little suburbia soccer mom were the more important issues here.
And you are certainly entitled your opinion about Brooklyn. And do I belittle your opinion because you think Brooklyn is harder than Anacostia? No. Because it's your opinion. Just like I am entitled to my opinion that Anacostia is a dangerous area.
The only thing I was trying to illustrate was that I was not some suburbia born-bred person who has never lived/visited neighborhoods considered dangerous. It was never about whether NY or DC was tougher. But clearly posters (not just you) in this forum only cared to make the issue about that.
I just find it really irritating that I had posted that I was not trying to instigate a fight and that this type of situation probably could have randomly occurred anywhere, but people had to make it into a "well, did you really live in a hood part of brooklyn, do you really know what you are talking about" issue, rather than "oh man, that sucks that you were harassed" issue. Because, yeah clearly, whether I really lived in a "hoody" part of brooklyn and whether I know how to not act like some scared little suburbia soccer mom were the more important issues here.
Not sure why you are directing this to Killabunnies here. She expressed sympathy and gave you advice. It's Washington Bullets that made it about Brooklyn vs. DC/toughness etc.
But clearly posters (not just you) in this forum only cared to make the issue about that.
The part of about Killabunnie's post that annoyed me was this
Quote:
Again, it's not her fault but that doesn't happen to me. Why? Because I look people in the eye, move like I belong here (because I do, at least according to my lease) and don't shrink at the first sign of a conflict.
Because it implied that it only happened to me and not to her because she clearly knows how to hold herself whereas I do not. I just find this kind of rationale really offensive to people who were victims of physical harassment. Just because it did not happen to her, does not invalidate the fact that I experienced it, or that I know how to behave a certain way in certain neighborhoods.
But you are right, she was not the one initially instigating the DC vs NY fight. Nevertheless, I just find the whole attitude of this thread troubling that it bothered people more that they perceived I was saying DC was tougher than NY, rather than Oh, sorry, a fellow human being was harassed and almost raped.
Let's not blame the victim. Victim-blaming is *never* called for. I am sorry that the OP didn't have a good experience, especially since I was one of the people who had assumed you'd be fine. No one deserves to be a victim.. Given that the OP was willing to travel to the area and take public transportation/walk around rather than cabbing it, I assume the OP is more of an open-minded person than a lot of professionals who live west of the river in DC are. And regardless, victim-blaming is never called for.
Also in terms of Brooklyn, I'd just like to point out that it's a large area with tons of different neighborhoods, ranging from projects to neighborhoods filled with middle-class families to young professionals to hipsters. I have friends who live in Williamsburg and unless you're afraid of skinny jeans and lattes, it is unlikely you'd find the neighborhood unsafe.
I don't see a lot of victim blaming here. I feel like people aren't actually reading the posts or attributing the points made to the correct posters.
I felt like a few posts could possibly be interpreted as implying that the OP was exuding fear or otherwise not giving off enough of a street-smart vibe so that it was her fault that she was harassed. I was just saying we should at least give the OP some credit for venturing out of her element. Maybe "victim-blaming" was a bit too strong of a term.
I appreciate both of your support. I probably should have called out more specific people in my posts (aside from just killabunnie), but I lumped all of my comments into one. I thought it was clear that the first part of my first "upset" post was addressed to others and latter part of the post was addressed to killabunnie, but I guess it was not.
At this point, I'd like to just squash it. Everyone had their say and had their opinions known. And hopefully no one ACTUALLY wants to see others harassed in real life. I realize that in an online forum, it's easy to get carried away and go off topic. And I will leave it at that.
No part of DC is safe. Even the White House and the FBI center get robbed every now and then.
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