Street Smarts

What a difference a one hour drive makes in your importance in the necessity of street smarts. I have been in Baltimore for twelve days and I have learned so much! I thought I was learning the life in a big city when I was living in Arlington, VA which was nestled three miles from DC. Oh Contrare! DC is a very safe and well protected city. Don't get me wrong, Baltimore has some really nice areas and some really bad areas.

After conquering the Metro system in DC I feel prepared for any public transportation challenge now. So when I rode the Light Rail from my place into the Inner Harbor and then took the Charm City Circulator (free bus system in downtown) to various points downtown, I feel like I rocked it. Granted the Light Rail only has a north and south route. Nonetheless, I was proud.

The other night when I was waiting for the Rail I took a different approach with the homeless. When a gentleman approached me asking for a quarter, because that surprisingly is all he needed, my response was "I just spent every last penny I had on me on alcohol. Sorry buddy." He stepped back a bit and said "Well, did you enjoy yourself? Because that is all that matters." He smiled and moved on. I will have to use that approach again.

Apparently a big source of crime here in Baltimore stems from the theft of smartphones and especially Iphones. Thugs are apparently watching carefully and looking for people distracted while walking the streets whether they are talking on their phones or texting. Regardless, once they see you are distracted they will apparently jump you or purposely knock into you to knock your phone out of your hand. An Iphone is worth anywhere from $40-$500 on the black market. Who knew? I had no idea. So strong advice given and very seriously taken by this girl is to not have your Iphone anywhere in view when out in public. No worries there. I love my Iphone and really want to steer clear of any trouble.

I will say that I feel very safe anywhere on the Hopkin's campus. It is well patrolled and they are more than willing to give safety advice and help you to your car. I park off campus and take a shuttle a couple blocks to the campus. The police patrolling the campus are very good about telling you what streets you are safe to walk on and where to steer clear of. I missed the shuttle this morning and decided to huff it the three blocks in to work. The shuttle leaves at 0612 and 0642. I arrived of course at 0625. What to do, what to do? I have to say the three block walk in was through a pretty decent area. The very weird thing about Baltimore though is literally one street over can be the difference between night and day. I find this so odd. When I asked the officer about walking today, his words were "You are safe to take Broadway up to Orleans and then cut over to campus. Don't take Caroline! You will be lucky to arrive with your pants still on going up that street!" My response, "Thanks for making that a no brainer for me. I have trouble keeping these drawstring pants up anyway."

Day 2/4 of orientation is completed. Everyone is very nice here and I am going to learn so much. I mean that in the hospital and outside of the hospital. Everyone can stand to be a little bit more alert and aware of their surroundings. Despite the stories and occurrences I feel safe here and I am learning a lot about street smarts. I have admittedly lead quite the naive life up til now.