Witches in the 'hood

[lizwilliams]

Last week, palecast mentioned an episode in which her daughter was accosted by some local teenage (white) boys in a manner that is probably more appropriate to the denizens of some rap-land ghetto. This caused some amusement in our household, since during the recent visit to NYC, we stayed for a couple of days in Brooklyn, in a neighbourhood which wasn't particularly rough, but was certainly what we Brits would call working class. As a result of getting off at a different end of the subway to the one suggested, we had some temporary difficulty in finding our hostess' place. This meant some standing on street corners with suitcases and a map. We were approached at least twice by locals, who to my doubtless prejudiced eye looked exactly like drug dealers, and addressd thus: "You look lost. Might I be of any assistance?' They proved to be pleasant, helpful and accurate in getting us to where we wanted to go.

Later, we had lunch in a Guyanese place on Nostrand Avenue. I was carrying a full tray back to our seat when another patron stopped immediately in front of me (he hadn't seen me behind him, obviously, and was looking for a friend). At once, a fearsome gentleman in a nearby booth, texting intently and covered in gold chains, turned to the man in front of me and said 'Hey! Get outta da lady's way!!!' Searching Man leaped up the steps, apologizing profusely, and unecessarily.

It intrigues me that whenever white kids adopt rap culture, or whatever the hell it's called, they become belligerent and aggressive, when the people who actually live in it are so courteous - at least, they were to us. Maybe we just looked helpless. I wonder, though. I have, on several occasions, got lost, at night, in dodgy areas of foreign cities (Luxor and Guangzhou, to be exact) and people have been so kind and helpful. I have a lot more faith in the rest of the human race than I do in my fellow Brits, that's for sure.

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Same in Taipei - I've never felt more lost, or more alien, or more welcome.

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

Sums it up exactly. In Guangzhou, I had the odd experience of feeling that everyone was staring at me, and discovering that I was right.

[haikujaguar.livejournal.com]

I have had similar experiences... but I do think having an aura of affability (or bafflement) is a great help!

[mevennen.livejournal.com]

I think being patently unthreatening is a huge advantage! Also we look foreign, in some indefinite way (because we were foreign!)

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, I think the image most Americans have of the Brits is that you're all polite and cultured. Must be all that Jane Austen on Public Television. ;)

[carl-allery.livejournal.com]

My experience has been that the 'ordinary' people I meet in the US are far more polite and obliging than their UK counterparts, who can become almost aggressively sullen. This is especially true in shops and restaurants where many UK workers seem to think you should wait for them to finish their conversations or wait for them to get round to you. They certainly don't seem pleased to serve you. Interestingly, street beggars I've encountered in the US have also been polite. Of course, in the UK, and in the South West there are an awful lot of 'day job' beggars who go home at the weekends to mummy.

[sdn.livejournal.com]

It intrigues me that whenever white kids adopt rap culture, or whatever the hell it's called, they become belligerent and aggressive, when the people who actually live in it are so courteous - at least, they were to us.

you know, you're right. ::reshuffles brain to add insight::

[martyn44.livejournal.com]

Walking round Damascus with my (then) long hair, jeans and leather jacket, and I could hardly move without being invited to sip tea and contribute to the discussions (okay, most of the discussions were about Manchester United), but even the nervous young men on street corners with Kalashnikovs akimbo couldn't make me forget these ordinary Syrians wanted me to feel welcome.

Sitting next to George Haddad's table in a restaurant was a different experience, though...

[(Anonymous)]

Kevin and I were wandering around a quiet area of downtown Chicago today - we'd missed a train and had 2 hours to kill. Two separate colored persons who looked like they might be street folk approached us and asked if we needed directions. Admittedly one was trying to sell the local equivalent of Big Issue, but they were both very nice.

A school friend of mine who spent some time in the Royal Marines once told me that he thought he was more at risk of getting into a fight in a pub in Somerset than anywhere else he'd been in the world.

Cheryl

[greeneyedkzin.livejournal.com]

Taipei was great, and Turkey could not have been more gracious.

As for NYC, one is presumed competent until spotted carrying suitcases and looking at maps (and don't think we can't identify out-of-towners by their clothes), whereupon directions must be offered: it's only nice.

Tar

[(Anonymous)]

You seem happy to assume that all those from 'the ghetto' are nice and all Britons are horrible, based on brief encounters with an amount of people who do not even make up 1% of the people you're talking about.

How about not tarring everyone with the same brush? If I did that, then I would be of the view that all white people are violent (as I've been attacked by a white gang), all black people are racist (as I've suffered black on white racism from a family of black people), all gay men are bitchy and rude (as I've seen two gay men act bitchy and rude), all women hate men... need I continue?

"Never judge many on the action of a few"