Hey there, I dunno if this podcast is an old one or a recent one, I just happened across it when browsing for video podcasts.  Here’s my story.

I lived in a really bad part of Oklahoma City off and on for 10 years.  I love to take long walks through the city at night, which can at times lead to meetings with unsavory characters.  I had just moved into a new apartment after a separation from my wife at the time, and I had nothing to do, little money, and was feeling quite restless.  I ended up taking about a 15-mile hike through the city, and didn’t get home until about 4 in the morning.  On the way back, I encountered a crackhead with a funny gleam in his eye.  He approached me rapidly, and asked “Hey, do you have money?”  He was holding a cigar box with one hand inside, up to his chest.  I retorted with an indignant “If I had money, do you think I’d be walking out here at 2 in the morning!?”  He looked confused, said “good point.”, and shuffled away.  I suspected it was possible that he was carrying a weapon of some sort inside the box.  Crackheads pretty much lose their reasoning skills and their internal filters after a while, and I think it’s possible that he was asking whether I would be a good victim or not.  I once heard a crackhead screaming for someone to call the police because he had just dropped $300 worth of crack in the snow, and wanted the drug dogs to help him find it.

Anyway, the moral of the story is: I’ve learned while living in bad neighborhoods, if you learn how to look like you own the place, and blend a little bit of the local swagger and dialect into your own (don’t overdo it!), look confident, competent, and aware, you can avoid a lot of predators who usually prefer to prey on the weak.  I also look everyone in the eye, and treat each like an equal human being, whether they are a bums or supermodels.  Excepting lawyers and executives of course hehehe..   But seriously, people don’t often attack someone they like.  Sometimes all it takes is a little respect.

Michael