Well, LoveItaly,you know what fascinates me is how long some shoes stay aloft on those wires. Along my walk route I have noted at least 2 pairs and they have been there for
years. I'm pretty sure their residency
in the sky is due to a teenage prank.
(I'll state ahead of time that I feel
no bias against teenagers,LOL.) Though
Mr R5's police friend is in agreement with your observation about the drugs
for sale signifigance. I am pretty certain his comments on the subject are no more racially based than yours.
R5

Hello Simone1 and R5!! Interesting post from both of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I trust that you know I am sure not anti-teens, I have grandsons in that age group.

I was shocked that I was called a racist but then later this afternoon that comment made me actually smile. I am sure we have all heard the expression "out of every bad comes some good".

What I realized this afternoon is this...I have never stopped to think about what ethnic or color or religious background any Fodorite is. I just respond to people here on Fodor's that are wellmannered, fun, interesting etc. Than I got thinking...how does anyone know what ethnic, color etc. I am???

Some of you do, because we have been in personal contact with each other. Certainly mm doesn't as we have never been in personal contact with each other and never will be.

Interesting comment about your husband's police officer friend comments R5. Maybe it is a N CA "sign"?

Anyway, again, many thanks to all of you who did not misunderstand my post. It is truly appreciated. Best wishes.

Back in 1998, I got some unsolicited advice from a worker at the metro station, who told me to "not ride the green line at night." I still don't know what that means, as I wasn't ride the green line, day or night (or maybe he was a spy and that was code for something else?).

Also, things could have changed in 7 years.

OK, loveitlay, since you asked for it -

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34685949

Care to explain why you had to put your .01 cent in this thread about night activities in Paris?

Oh jeez, these fools and their mob mentalities....gotta gang up on some poster, might as well be a lady who is always helpful and always pleasant.
If LoveItaly bothers you so much, ignore her, why go to the trouble of finding other threads she has posted on??...why remember what she says? why do you care so much that you would ruin this thread with your bs ?

Meanwhile, way back about a year ago, there was a very funny long thread on finding a single shoe hanging on wires, no one had a problem with it then..

I think people in DC get touchy about these kinds of threads because "safe" and "unsafe" are often code for "white" and "black." In reading these threads, people ask more about safety in DC than almost any other city, yet there are cities with much bigger crime problems and much greater risk of tourists stumbling into unsafe neigborhoods. The difference is DC is considered a "black" city and therefore unsafe.

One poster, for instance, mentioned Caholic University's neighborhood being unsafe. The surrounding neighborhood is probably as safe as many "white" parts of the city. The difference is Catholic's neighborhood has more African American middle class residents and fewer whites. Thus, because it is more black than white, it is considered unsafe even though it likely no different crimewise from DuPont Circle or Capitol Hill.

Wow, what a malestrom a personal observation can create.

LoveItaly, I did not say you were racist and I do not believe you are. I simply stated that I felt the comment you made was racist and in appropriate. I guess I should have followed that with something like "... but surely unintentional."

You spent a lot of follow up posts directly and indirectly going after me rather than simply saying that your comment was not intended to be racist and restate your intentions. No big deal until you got all worked up. Rather than dismiss my comment by saying "consider the source" why not just consider the context of your statement?

As has been pointed out by others, terms like safe and gang and drugs are all part of the PC code for criminal, black and poor.

Recently I have acknowledged some shortcomings in my posts (See News from Fodors and Finally went to DC). It was not hard.

I don't know for sure what got didith and rockhopper worked up but I can guess. In any case I am sure they are two distinct and different people.

Sometimes you can't win here. Last week I offered Warm Regards and was rebuffed. Man, the claws come out fast sometimes.

mm

I thought that our sole purpoe was to assist posters with questions on travel and/or cities!!

This is getting way off track in assistance. Most every poster is offering their help as LoveItaly has done.

MikeT - I respect your views on our city. I wish you could consider that my views come from a female's opinion. My child graduated from Catholic University and should allow me my basis for my statement. Another child is at Maryland and I do not find the area around that campus to be too safe either. But then I have a daughter there; perhaps some feel that certain areas are safer for males than females. I went to school (on scholarship) at American U and work for the Fed and my children were born and raised in this area.

Plus I really love this area and its diversity.