I always had a difficult time trying to convince Chileans that my home city is dangerous. I'll admit that I don't have to worry as much about pickpocketing here as I do in Santiago, but I worry way more about violent crime (muggings, assault with a weapon, etc). For me, the US is NOT a bubble of safe-ness. Sure, in some parts of the US you can keep your car doors unlocked and not have a problem, you can put your purse on the floor at a restaurant without thinking about it not being there later, you can walk along the streets at dusk and only expect to here a "how ya doin" from a passerby .... I do NOT live in this part of the country. I'm not saying that I live in a terrible neighborhood, because I know it could be worse. But I do know that there have been shootings at my local grocery store (resulting in roadblocking my whole neighborhood), stabbings outside of my middle school, and - on a more personal note - my mom's house got majorly broken into this past year. So, being a pickpocket victim in Santiago last year doesn't sound so bad in comparison.
I bring this up now because....
This happened yesterday while I was working downtown (roughly 7 blocks away).
NOT COOL.
Send some supportive thoughts and prayers to the family of Stephen T. Johns.
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Scary.
ReplyDeleteI think for me, the general U.S. safety bubble is that in the U.S. I have just as high (or low) a chance as getting robbed as anyone because I don't stand out of a crowd. However, in Chile, my chances are exponentially higher because I look different and a potential thief will pick me out from the crowd probably thinking, "I'm going to rob that girl because she's a gringa so she must be rich and/or stupid."
Kyle, I can definitely see your point about being less of a target in the US. I still think that this still all depends on which part of the country you're in. There are parts of my city where I will still look different and will be a target because of that (as will most white people in heavily poor minority areas).
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I havent looked up the exact stastics, but I just get the feeling from newspapers, word of mouth and whatnot, that DC has a higher percentage of violent crime than Santiago.
I guess my frustration lies in the fact that Americans and foreigners alike have these strange ideas that the US is so safe, secure, and generally wonderful (ok, maybe Americans are the only ones who think the last bit). I'm not saying that, generally speaking, the US doesn't have all three of the these qualities. I just get tired of the US being put up on a pedestal.