[kerouac]

(09-02-2011 04:00 PM)basilransom Wrote:  

Since when do laws stop thugs?

http://www.break.com/index/dude-mugged-o...-bus1.html

And beatings may not even be that common. But it's the psychic cost, of going into the bus every day and sitting in fear of an attack, of bracing yourself constantly and casing the joint for possible threats. Every American city has enough criminals to make public transport dangerous at night. And even during the day, if there isn't a critical mass of normal people riding it, public transport is seen as sketchy.

There will always be cases like that happening. That's what happens when you dress like a preppy Parisian dude and get on a bus with a bunch of lower-class immigrants who despise you just for being better off. At a certain point they were even poking fun at him by bringing up "Chanselise".

I'm not defending those thugs actions, but there is a level of street smarts that needs to be expected of someone. It's like someone from the Upper East Side getting on the G Train to Crown Heights dressed in preppy attire expecting to not get picked on.

Anyway, my point is that the video strikes more of an emotional point than anything. How many times have I gone on a bus from Downtown to Westwood, drunk out of my mind, taking the 720 express to the Village unscathed? Well, one actually, but that's beside the point

I have Parisian friends who live in the better parts of Paris who never get beaten up, and they rely solely on public transportation and walking-- and they go in and out of the center, so they deal with a lot of the undesirables. They might get harassed every now and then, but that's basically a given in city life where things are so diverse and crazy.