Drive-by paintballing at 8th and Charlotte

[lock+load]

But what about Star Jones?

[Slappy the Wang]

What do you suggest -- that we just let the neighborhood go?  This is our city and we can go wherever we want whenever we want.  We should be able to do so and not feel as if we are in danger.  Good for her for not being afraid to do so.

Do you live with sugar plumb fairies and Big Bird?  Last I checked, cops don't come a get cats out of trees any more.....violins are now VIOLENCE.  Denial isn't a river in Egypt, it's a symptom of your overly rosie sunglasses.

I LOVE KC and all, but you have to be realistic.

[Slappy the Wang]

The best way to deal with problems is to never talk about them.

Best post ever.

[bahua]

Yeah, I kinda think I should have no reason to ever be afraid to walk outside. That isn't a rosy sugar-plumb outlook. It's me expecting some quality civil service, for which I pay dearly in taxes.

[Slappy the Wang]

Yeah, I kinda think I should have no reason to ever be afraid to walk outside. That isn't a rosy sugar-plumb outlook. It's me expecting some quality civil service, for which I pay dearly in taxes.

I agree, but I've met the civil servants who are paid to protect us.  Frankly, I became even more terrified.

[ornery_chick]

What do you suggest -- that we just let the neighborhood go?  This is our city and we can go wherever we want whenever we want.  We should be able to do so and not feel as if we are in danger.  Good for her for not being afraid to do so.

That's my attitude.  I'm not intending to sit back and worry about every little possible fear and threat that's out there.  I ride my bike to get to where I need and want to go, and it's a pretty integral part of my life.  When I got whacked with the keyboard, I was riding back from Blue River Parkway, where I'd been riding the mountain bike trails.  Anyone who knows the geography of Kansas City will know there's a hell of a lot of Kansas City between my house on 6th & Hardesty and Blue River Parkway (aka BuRP).  I ride all over town, at any rate.  I am generally reasonably cautious, inasmuch as being aware of my surroundings both traffic and pedestrians.  The night I was keyboarded, I was pretty tired, and not as alert as I ought to have been.  I didn't even see the kids until I'd been clubbed with the keyboard, then tackled off my bike. 

I challenge you, Slappy the Wang to outrun anybody after about four-and-a-half hours on a mountain bike, two of which were on some pretty challenging offroad trails.  I've still got the keyboard, if you want to re-enact the scene with you being the cyclist.

Anyway, I agree with Staubio in that this is my neighborhood (Lykins area represent!) and I do what I can to try to uphold my citizen responsiblities.  I pick up trash, I keep my yard reasonably short, I call the cops when the crackheads at the end of the street start shootin'.  I go to community meetings, and I know and talk with my neighbors.  I also tend to believe that there's only so much that any of us can do to deal with crime and chaos.  I try to stay reasonably safe but not fret and worry.  I live where I live because it is affordable and convenient, and because I like it, actually, crackheads, punk kids, and that weird smell that sometimes drifts up from the east bottoms notwithstanding.

If I folded my hands and let the fear-mongering paradigm get to me, I wouldn't have the kind of life I'd want to lead.  So, I wear my helmet, carry my pepper spray, and try to watch out ahead and around, be it for cell-phone obliviots, stray dogs, or roving bands of punkass kids who should be doing something better with their time than hassling people.

Oh, and I totally sweat gravy. 

The paintballing thing is another of those just freaky random things.  Nobody expects to be drive-by paintballed, but it occasionally happens.  8th & Charlotte doesn't have the monopoly on jerks...that scene could have played out in Westport, the Plaza, or up in the area where I stay.  Or, likely as not, in any of the suburbs.  The posession of an expensive-to-maintain SUV and personally-owned paintball guns (which don't come cheap) doesn't indicate impecunious  hoodrat kids to me, it suggest somebody who had more cash than common sense.

[KCKev]

Right on ornery chick! If you live in fear, thats all you will see.

[Highlander]

Variations on a theme in Penn Valley Park.  5 men followed two into the park and robbed them, then shot them repeatedly in the head with a bb gun.  Do not know if this was an attempt to target gays or just a crime of opportunity but its no small matter.....it's armed robbery and I hope these guys do at least a year in the can. 

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/15047386.htm

[schugg]

^ they cold busted

[Beermo]

That's my attitude.  I'm not intending to sit back and worry about every little possible fear and threat that's out there.  I ride my bike to get to where I need and want to go, and it's a pretty integral part of my life.  When I got whacked with the keyboard, I was riding back from Blue River Parkway, where I'd been riding the mountain bike trails.  Anyone who knows the geography of Kansas City will know there's a hell of a lot of Kansas City between my house on 6th & Hardesty and Blue River Parkway (aka BuRP).  I ride all over town, at any rate.  I am generally reasonably cautious, inasmuch as being aware of my surroundings both traffic and pedestrians.  The night I was keyboarded, I was pretty tired, and not as alert as I ought to have been.  I didn't even see the kids until I'd been clubbed with the keyboard, then tackled off my bike. 

I challenge you, Slappy the Wang to outrun anybody after about four-and-a-half hours on a mountain bike, two of which were on some pretty challenging offroad trails.  I've still got the keyboard, if you want to re-enact the scene with you being the cyclist.

Anyway, I agree with Staubio in that this is my neighborhood (Lykins area represent!) and I do what I can to try to uphold my citizen responsiblities.  I pick up trash, I keep my yard reasonably short, I call the cops when the crackheads at the end of the street start shootin'.  I go to community meetings, and I know and talk with my neighbors.  I also tend to believe that there's only so much that any of us can do to deal with crime and chaos.  I try to stay reasonably safe but not fret and worry.  I live where I live because it is affordable and convenient, and because I like it, actually, crackheads, punk kids, and that weird smell that sometimes drifts up from the east bottoms notwithstanding.

If I folded my hands and let the fear-mongering paradigm get to me, I wouldn't have the kind of life I'd want to lead.  So, I wear my helmet, carry my pepper spray, and try to watch out ahead and around, be it for cell-phone obliviots, stray dogs, or roving bands of punkass kids who should be doing something better with their time than hassling people.

Oh, and I totally sweat gravy. 

The paintballing thing is another of those just freaky random things.  Nobody expects to be drive-by paintballed, but it occasionally happens.  8th & Charlotte doesn't have the monopoly on jerks...that scene could have played out in Westport, the Plaza, or up in the area where I stay.  Or, likely as not, in any of the suburbs.  The posession of an expensive-to-maintain SUV and personally-owned paintball guns (which don't come cheap) doesn't indicate impecunious  hoodrat kids to me, it suggest somebody who had more cash than common sense.

you're just asking for pain if you happen to live on 6th and hardesty.

but it is a short walk to the shittiest mickey d's in town.