I never knew, I always thought it was that Paradise. with the happy people !?
Violent Crimes
Posted on 02/07/2015 6:37:33 AM PST by servo1969
I did something last week that I rarely do: I went out after dark. I don’t like to do this. This area is too creepy crawly during the day, much less at night. But supplies were low, and I wasn’t sure when I’d get another chance to go food shopping.
And I thought to myself, “Maybe you’re exaggerating all of this: the crime, the filth, the general insanity. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.” So, like a small child testing the waters, I thought I’d stick my toe in the after-hours scene.
It was about 7:30 pm when I made the trek over to a local food store. I arrived there, exited the car — all in one piece! I entered, shopped, and even returned to my car intact. I felt elated, triumphant, like one of those Olympic athletes who just won a gold medal. I had actually escaped aggressive panhandlers, criminals, and the certifiable insane to secure my milk and eggs!
Emboldened and giddy, I thought, “Maybe I can take this one step further. Maybe I can successfully make it in and out of the Walgreen’s! Maybe — gasp — I can even have a life!” Flush with the joy of my Olympic-style victory, I headed down the block to the pharmacy chain store.
And that’s when it happened.
All was well while I picked up some moisturizer and soap and headed over to the check-out line. I stood confidentially on the queue, euphoric about being able to do something so normal, something people do all over this great nation.
Suddenly, right outside the glass windows, someone started screaming at the top of his lungs, while someone else screamed back. Then there was cursing and throwing things, with several men looking maniacal and out of control.
Frightened, I looked at the cashier. He paused, took in the scene, looked back at me and shrugged his shoulders. Then he continued processing my order.
I stared at the chaotic happenings. Things quieted down for a minute or so, and I finally took a deep breath. And then the yelling started up again. Frozen now in fear, I stared outside the glass window, trying to discern what was happening and, even more pressing, what was going to happen.
There was that familiar, disturbing uncertainty, something that I’ve experienced many times before. What is going to happen next? Are they going to come in? Are they going to rob us, attack us, create store-wide pandemonium — or worse? And how am I going to get back safely to my car?
I suggested to the cashier that he call the police. He gave me that bored and I’ve-seen-it-all look, and said, “If it keeps up, I’ll do that.” The commotion died down and the cashier and I completed the money exchange. Then I told him that I was afraid to walk to my car alone and needed someone to come with me.
He paged the supervisor and a few minutes later, a tough-looking dude came out to escort me. We walked outside and there were several vagrants out there, though it was hard to tell whether they were part of the street fighting or just housing themselves on the sidewalk. I kept my eyes firmly on my surroundings, as I got in my car quickly and drove away.
Just at that moment, a police car with its sirens blaring sped through the parking lot looking for whatever was going on, which I’ll never know. Obviously, the miscreants took their mayhem elsewhere, triggering someone to call the police. As I drove out of the parking lot, I said out loud to God, “Just for the record, I hate it here. Just so you know.”
Now let me clarify this: what I’ve described — the social unrest, violence, terror — happens around here all the time, on a practically minute-to-minute basis. And this is an area where people brag incessantly about how fortunate they are to live here: how lucky they are to pay 3 grand a month to rent a tiny cottage in a marginal area, where cars are broken in to on a regular basis, and children attend some of the worst schools in the United States. Gentle readers: I appeal to you; can you understand why it is like living among programmed Stepford people to reside around here?
For me, my never-to-be-repeated late night sojourn only reinforces what I knew to begin with: that this is a terrible — I repeat — a terrible area in which to live. But for the multitudes, the danger of my late night outing was no big deal, simply Another Day in Paradise, we being the luckiest people on earth.
I was “over” in Berke;ey and Oakland several months ago..
it depends on the neighborhoods that one chooses to SHOP in....
this poor dumb woman clearly didnt consider making a better choice for her lil outing
There are neighborhoods there that I would not want to be in during the daylight hours....and many that I wouldnt feel unsafe in at night.
I once lived....in Berkeley Many Many Years ago
there wasnt much of an Anish Gang Problem there at the time...and certainly NO PRESIDENT egging them on...
In the north Oakland/Berkeley area, anytime after sunset is “late night”, particularly for those of us with a lighter complexion. Been there, done that. Never even got athe teeshirt.
From I-80.
Robin shouldn’t shop in areas where she doesn’t feel safe, especially if she has access to a car.
She could also easily sell her home in Berkeley to some liberal for a ton of cash and move to a more peaceful secure area.
But the far-left won’t admit they see it.
I particularly like how an obviously a technically advanced woman is unable to use the cell phone she had to call 911.
I, too, live in SoCal and can’t wait to retire and get out. It really is awful to have to check your surroundings every second, be on your guard against any pedestrian who looks like they might approach you, the gang graffiti, the sirens, police helicopters circling at night, and how blase everybody gets about crime. Constant crime is just a fact of life, something people “get used to.” I remember when people would be outraged at any little crime; now we simply accept everything. Your car was stolen or broken into? Oh, mine, too. You were at a store or bank when it got robbed? You were the victim of a hit-and-run? Your house was burglared? Join the club. Etc.
People who read the above article and shook their heads or thought the writer was whining or should “just move” need to realize that if they don’t live in an area like that right now, they are extremely fortunate, and that this entire country is headed toward being like the one in the article. Only those in gated or hilly communities might escape. People have their heads in the sand until it comes to them.
We simply could not live like that. I have close relatives living in CA and will never go visit them for the reasons discussed in the article.
But by contrast those same CA relatives would never feel safe where we live. We live in a forest with wild animals, such as coyotes, skunks, occasional cougar and all sorts of creepy-crawlies out looking for lunch. The wife and I feel perfectly safe walking in the forest.
And my favorite lefty story: I had lunch with a young black girl from one of those large CA cities that felt unsafe up here because there were no sirens. I could not believe it, but she actually associated sirens with safety knowing that cops were just a short time away if she ever needed them.
In the 10 years we’ve lived here I’ve seen cops only twice and never heard a siren and just love it.
add a few expired credit cards....and a fake ID....
the view from the freeway is wonderful.
the local hills are wonderful.
the pockets of craziness...are due to the TOLERANT “powers that be”
Risking her life for soap and hand lotion? That’s just nuts.
Look on the bright side. They weren’t Republicans trying to take your birth control.
LOL!
If you are not familiar with Robin’s story, I suggest you follow the link over to her site. Start back in August of 2010.
First post: http://www.robinofberkeley.com/2010/08/09/my-search-for-intelligent-life-in-berkeley/
And go from there.
Ahhhh - didn’t realize it was that bad there.
After service in WWII I went to school in Berkeley. I graduated from Univ. (at the time U of Cal was the foremost public school of science in the world) there with my degree in Chem. Eng. No problem then with hundreds of vets. I was married in Berkeley a few years later and we could see the city was getting to be no place for us to raise a family. We moved north but today I sense the troubling times that seem to be coming to this area.
Find out when Mayor For Life Tom Bates, husband of Senator For Life Loni Hancok, goes out at night, and tag along in the legion of armed bodyguards.
This will work only if he doesn’t dispatch his fleet of slaves to his chores.
I Know a few people who have graduated from Berkeley who are none too thrilled at what the city..has become ,,believe me.
the last thirty years alone has seen enormous degeneration.
The Berkeley/Oakland hills, on the other hand, were pretty safe I think, and had spectacular views. Of course there was always the danger of a major fire that would burn a lot of houses.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.