Viceroy808
New member
Well I report in to the Recruiting Center at 4pm today, and there I will be taken to the Processing Center ... going to have a good meal before I do. Fortunately my favorite Chinese restaurant is scant blocks away from a cybercafe
I got stranded last night in a really strange part of South Chicago (where the freaky people are) and needed to get to a friend's house, where I am staying now. The friend in question is a hispanic gangbanger LOL ... who is in the process of cleaning up. He lives right in the middle of an area controlled by the Latin Kings - and to get there I had to walk 36 blocks. Really. I know, I know ... but I'm alive.
Thing is for the first 20 blocks the area is controlled by black gangs. I went on the main street, trying to stay out in the open where a lot of cars were passing through. I spotted groups here and there and took parallel streets (never alleys) and cut through parks. I was spotted a few times, came across crackheads smoking pipes, and groups of 6-7 gangbangers in patrol. After I got to the hispanic area, things actually got ... quieter? For the remaining 16 blocks. Not too safe but nonetheless manageable. I'll distill what I found out:
(1) Bad weather is your friend. It had rained severely last night in Chicago and a light drizzle was still falling. It kept most of the gangbangers off the streets. If it was warm and balmy I'd have taken a cab.
(2) Threat recognition works at a distance of 2 blocks. One block is too close for comfort. Anything less and you're in confrontation distance. At 2, you can reasonably cut streets and change routes without being noticed.
(3) Black clothes at night are a godsend. I'd picked up the habit as a runaway. It kept me from being spotted easily and since the gangbangers all wear colors, having a flat black made it harder to place me.
(4) Sound travels far in night. I never knew how true this was til I tried to get a chocolate bar out a plastic bag and the rustling caught the attention of a group of gangbangers a block away. Cut a right turn fast.
(5) Walking quick and silently is a lifesaver. I am so glad I didn't have leather soles. I had boots, but the way I walk (I have quick strides anyways) is to catch it on the very back edge of the heel in a quick tap and then bring the rest of the foot down. I look at the wear on my soles every now and then and mark the differences in stride. I wonder if basic training will change it.
I think that's about it ... after-the-event recollections sometimes end up hazy. I remember there were an awful lot of auto shops selling used tires and hubcaps with "GORE LIEBERMAN VOTE DEMOCRATIC" posters in the windows ... conicidence, perhaps ... I think that sums it up.
Everyone have a good weekend.
I got stranded last night in a really strange part of South Chicago (where the freaky people are) and needed to get to a friend's house, where I am staying now. The friend in question is a hispanic gangbanger LOL ... who is in the process of cleaning up. He lives right in the middle of an area controlled by the Latin Kings - and to get there I had to walk 36 blocks. Really. I know, I know ... but I'm alive.
Thing is for the first 20 blocks the area is controlled by black gangs. I went on the main street, trying to stay out in the open where a lot of cars were passing through. I spotted groups here and there and took parallel streets (never alleys) and cut through parks. I was spotted a few times, came across crackheads smoking pipes, and groups of 6-7 gangbangers in patrol. After I got to the hispanic area, things actually got ... quieter? For the remaining 16 blocks. Not too safe but nonetheless manageable. I'll distill what I found out:
(1) Bad weather is your friend. It had rained severely last night in Chicago and a light drizzle was still falling. It kept most of the gangbangers off the streets. If it was warm and balmy I'd have taken a cab.
(2) Threat recognition works at a distance of 2 blocks. One block is too close for comfort. Anything less and you're in confrontation distance. At 2, you can reasonably cut streets and change routes without being noticed.
(3) Black clothes at night are a godsend. I'd picked up the habit as a runaway. It kept me from being spotted easily and since the gangbangers all wear colors, having a flat black made it harder to place me.
(4) Sound travels far in night. I never knew how true this was til I tried to get a chocolate bar out a plastic bag and the rustling caught the attention of a group of gangbangers a block away. Cut a right turn fast.
(5) Walking quick and silently is a lifesaver. I am so glad I didn't have leather soles. I had boots, but the way I walk (I have quick strides anyways) is to catch it on the very back edge of the heel in a quick tap and then bring the rest of the foot down. I look at the wear on my soles every now and then and mark the differences in stride. I wonder if basic training will change it.
I think that's about it ... after-the-event recollections sometimes end up hazy. I remember there were an awful lot of auto shops selling used tires and hubcaps with "GORE LIEBERMAN VOTE DEMOCRATIC" posters in the windows ... conicidence, perhaps ... I think that sums it up.
Everyone have a good weekend.