I had a conversation with a friend last night about where it is safe to park as a woman traveling solo to an event. Free parking on the street but having to walk a few blocks or pay for parking and have more people around. You are so right it is an everyday, every time I leave home thought process. It adds to the rest of the stress we deal with every day.
Agree with you here over in Brooklyn. While I feel that my neighbors are making an effort to be polite and gracious with strangers. There are some beautiful efforts to help immigrants with the new crazy climate. On the other side there are now a regular occurrences of car windows being smashed. Nobody leaves anything in the cars, so it's just vandalism. There are also a LOT more mentally challenged people out and about and the subway does not feel safe. We feel the difference when we've been to Spain.
My shoulders have been down since arriving in Europe July 9th, first to Barcelona and then Valencia and then Munich and now Paris. I’ve never felt threatened or stressed once (well, maybe a little stressed when initially figuring out the transportation systems in each city). I’ve still got Amsterdam and London on my schedule before heading back to the States (San Diego) and I’m really getting anxious about returning home (my 90 days is up!). I’ll adjust of course to the daily tension and will try to keep my shoulders from being up too much but the overall vibe over here in Europe is so different, so chill, I love it. And yes, grocery prices, especially in Spain, are crazy inexpensive (compared to my Pavillions or even Trader Joe’s). All of this is why I’ll be back when the 90 day clock runs out again and hopefully in the future I’ll get a long term visa and then residency so I can stay as long as I want.🤗
Just as a tea-in-the-ocean example: Was dropping someone off at their car after a show last week, and a car behind us made a big deal about it. I'd been stopped for literally about 5-10 seconds at that point, and he was already out of the car and saying goodbye. The street was empty; they literally could've just gone around w/no issue, but instead it was made into a big production. It's exhausting.
It's no joke. We hear horns honking sometimes, clearly because a car is blocking the way and the driver is nowhere to be found - lol. But, more often than not, you see regular people, cab drivers, and delivery people dropping people or things off and everybody waits patiently behind them, sometimes for several minutes. Same if you are on a bike in front of a car.
I wish all of this was an exaggeration. Same with everything that is happening. Where is the national uprising? Or is still more of a Red Sox versus the Yankees type thing?
You cannot turn off the vigilance. Although I am in a suburb in Northern California, we too live on edge of everything around us. There is an underlying mindless hostility here, that unless (or until) you experience it yourself, may be hard to understand. That being said… I was jumped in a parking lot by a man, while two other men watched. For no reason at all, other than wrong place wrong time. He didn’t try to rob me, he just simply “felt like it” (is what he told the officers after his arrest). ^^This is the element here.
How do you change a society? It is civil unrest that I'm not sure can be changed without something big and terrible to effect everyone at once.
Your example of the growing number of people running the red light, is the same normality of the people willing to take their chances with losing control of their behavior. With laws loosening, offenders are not being held accountable, victims are not pressing charges (because they feel nothing will come of it), so the offenders take their chances. And guess who learns that this is how you behave? -The children. This is their normal?
I had a conversation with a friend last night about where it is safe to park as a woman traveling solo to an event. Free parking on the street but having to walk a few blocks or pay for parking and have more people around. You are so right it is an everyday, every time I leave home thought process. It adds to the rest of the stress we deal with every day.
The concern is nonexistent here.
I hope you're doing well. It was great meeting you and your husband here in Valencia!
That was a fun day! Back home now but miss traveling.
Agree with you here over in Brooklyn. While I feel that my neighbors are making an effort to be polite and gracious with strangers. There are some beautiful efforts to help immigrants with the new crazy climate. On the other side there are now a regular occurrences of car windows being smashed. Nobody leaves anything in the cars, so it's just vandalism. There are also a LOT more mentally challenged people out and about and the subway does not feel safe. We feel the difference when we've been to Spain.
And soon you will be here!!
My shoulders have been down since arriving in Europe July 9th, first to Barcelona and then Valencia and then Munich and now Paris. I’ve never felt threatened or stressed once (well, maybe a little stressed when initially figuring out the transportation systems in each city). I’ve still got Amsterdam and London on my schedule before heading back to the States (San Diego) and I’m really getting anxious about returning home (my 90 days is up!). I’ll adjust of course to the daily tension and will try to keep my shoulders from being up too much but the overall vibe over here in Europe is so different, so chill, I love it. And yes, grocery prices, especially in Spain, are crazy inexpensive (compared to my Pavillions or even Trader Joe’s). All of this is why I’ll be back when the 90 day clock runs out again and hopefully in the future I’ll get a long term visa and then residency so I can stay as long as I want.🤗
Just as a tea-in-the-ocean example: Was dropping someone off at their car after a show last week, and a car behind us made a big deal about it. I'd been stopped for literally about 5-10 seconds at that point, and he was already out of the car and saying goodbye. The street was empty; they literally could've just gone around w/no issue, but instead it was made into a big production. It's exhausting.
Crazy, but I saw it happen all the time in LA.
It's no joke. We hear horns honking sometimes, clearly because a car is blocking the way and the driver is nowhere to be found - lol. But, more often than not, you see regular people, cab drivers, and delivery people dropping people or things off and everybody waits patiently behind them, sometimes for several minutes. Same if you are on a bike in front of a car.
I am still not 100% used to it.
I would imagine it takes a long time to detox that out of one’s system.
Absolutely so true!!! And I live in Los Angeles
I wish all of this was an exaggeration. Same with everything that is happening. Where is the national uprising? Or is still more of a Red Sox versus the Yankees type thing?
You cannot turn off the vigilance. Although I am in a suburb in Northern California, we too live on edge of everything around us. There is an underlying mindless hostility here, that unless (or until) you experience it yourself, may be hard to understand. That being said… I was jumped in a parking lot by a man, while two other men watched. For no reason at all, other than wrong place wrong time. He didn’t try to rob me, he just simply “felt like it” (is what he told the officers after his arrest). ^^This is the element here.
I am sorry that happened to you. Insane. What a mess.
How do you change a society? It is civil unrest that I'm not sure can be changed without something big and terrible to effect everyone at once.
Your example of the growing number of people running the red light, is the same normality of the people willing to take their chances with losing control of their behavior. With laws loosening, offenders are not being held accountable, victims are not pressing charges (because they feel nothing will come of it), so the offenders take their chances. And guess who learns that this is how you behave? -The children. This is their normal?