Time to re-instate a rule
The "no one walks home alone" rule.
Not that walking with someone will necessarily help in some cases. But it can't hurt.
It's inevitable that when living in a city where most people don't drive to get where they have to go, you'll find yourself walking home alone late at night. Hey, I do it every single weekend, whether it's walking home from synagogue on Friday or Saturday nights or from a friend's home after a nice meal or get-together. And 99% of the time, I feel safe. Hell, it's not like I live in the middle of Prince George's County. I live in friggin Foggy Bottom, a few blocks from Georgetown, right off the GWU campus, near a big hospital, etc etc etc.
But, there's always something. Two years ago, an old lady was mugged and beaten right outside of my friend's apartment building, 1 block from the Foggy Bottom metro and 3 from my apartment building. Lately, we've been hearing about muggings and assaults in Georgetown, and now this.
But human nature is to acknowledge and then ignore things like this until they hit home and affect your friends. And then you start to care, and then you start to worry. And then you start to glance over your shoulder just one more time while you attempt to find your keys in your bag, wanting them in your hands, just in case. And you start to avoid walking down L Street between 24th and 25th, even though it's the quicker route home, because the street lights don't work. So you find and take another route. And then you ask those close to you to call or send a text message letting you know that they got home safely, so you don't have to worry as you try to go to sleep.
Maybe I'm paranoid. Or maybe I'm just taking extra precautions and being responsible. Who knows. Who cares. That's life in the big city, right?
Not that walking with someone will necessarily help in some cases. But it can't hurt.
It's inevitable that when living in a city where most people don't drive to get where they have to go, you'll find yourself walking home alone late at night. Hey, I do it every single weekend, whether it's walking home from synagogue on Friday or Saturday nights or from a friend's home after a nice meal or get-together. And 99% of the time, I feel safe. Hell, it's not like I live in the middle of Prince George's County. I live in friggin Foggy Bottom, a few blocks from Georgetown, right off the GWU campus, near a big hospital, etc etc etc.
But, there's always something. Two years ago, an old lady was mugged and beaten right outside of my friend's apartment building, 1 block from the Foggy Bottom metro and 3 from my apartment building. Lately, we've been hearing about muggings and assaults in Georgetown, and now this.
But human nature is to acknowledge and then ignore things like this until they hit home and affect your friends. And then you start to care, and then you start to worry. And then you start to glance over your shoulder just one more time while you attempt to find your keys in your bag, wanting them in your hands, just in case. And you start to avoid walking down L Street between 24th and 25th, even though it's the quicker route home, because the street lights don't work. So you find and take another route. And then you ask those close to you to call or send a text message letting you know that they got home safely, so you don't have to worry as you try to go to sleep.
Maybe I'm paranoid. Or maybe I'm just taking extra precautions and being responsible. Who knows. Who cares. That's life in the big city, right?
posted by elanit | 8:12 AM
7 Comments:
It's a good and sensible rule, although from a practical POV, unless people live in the same buildding, someone will always end up walking alone (now, I think having that someone be a guy is a sensible implementation of classic chivalry...)
One of the things I firmly believe with regard to street safety is that there is a reverberant effect - the more people feel safe, the more they walk around, and the more they walk around, the more people are outside. The more people outside, the safer the area gets. The converse is true - when people stop walking in an area, it becomes even less safe to walk there, and becomes even creepier (the scariest places for me are places where I'm the only one on the street; that happens a lot in the burbs...)
I agree with you on being extra careful. I've been taking Friday night duty at the Mikvah because then I get out around shul time and can walk home with others. One Saturday night I was walking home alone from the Mikvah after 11pm and I felt a little uneasy.
You're right that having someone else around doesn't prevent things from happening, but I think I just feel better knowing that there is someone else there in case, God forbid, something does happens.
"No one walks home alone" is a good rule. Period. Shoshana and I offered to walk a young man home Friday night, and he said, "But I'm in college!" I advised him that street crime had been on the rise in the area and that I always offer -- even to people several years his senior -- to escort them home. I never dreamt something like this would happen so soon to drive that point home.
I'm all for being self-aware, and not being stupid (i.e. listening to your iPod while jogging late at night). But I side with David on this that fear is self-perpetuating. So, people freaking out about this SOLVED murder, are actually keeping people off the streets, thus making it feel less safe to be around.
So, once again, everyone walks in pairs for a few months and leaves their outside lights on at night ... then stop.
What I can't agree with at all is a "no one walks alone" rule. I think its disempowering. It's essentially saying that unless you have a companion who can walk you home, you should just stay inside. I think in most cases, a healthy dose of caution is just fine.
I am extremely frustrated by the thoughtless reactions to this senseless, horrible crime. Bad things happen everywhere. We live in a calm area, so people pay attention when something awful happens (most of the time -- see below). Georgetown is no less safe than it was 2 days ago; in fact it's safer, because these perps were caught, and allegedly they were responsible for the armed robberies going on.
A student was murdered at 33rd and N in January but the same panic didn't ensue because it didn't attract much media attention.
Oh, and before I'm accused of being heartless, let me state for the record that I was the victim of a horrific crime as a teenager. It freaked me out and I'm still paranoid, but I still have my wits about me. I didn't become a shut-in, and believe me, you wouldn't have blamed me if I had.
Yes, fear is self-perpetuating. But I don't think that people freaking out over this is actually keeping them off the streets. Those that I've talked to haven't even hinted that they will now lock themselves in at home and not go out unless they have a "buddy" with them. But people are now more aware; a bit freaked out, yes, and that's only natural, especially when it hits home. And this murder hit home.
I'm not advocating that if you can't walk home with someone then you should just stay home. What I'm saying is that we should be more vigilant about making sure that people arrive home safely, especially if you're with a group of people who live in your neighborhood. Walking in a group is safer than walking by yourself, and most of the time, you feel less vulnerable. And if something, God forbid, does happen, if you're with someone else, there's a higher probability that that person can potentially get help faster.
Michael, there was a murder 4 blocks away from me at 33rd and N a few months ago at 10 p.m., but it didn't make page A1.
The Georgetown attack was on TWO people walking together. This was, I think, a very random crime, and one that - while extremely, extremely disturbing and sad (I feel SO bad about the man who lost his life... he was, like, our age - will not make me live in a self-protective cacoon for the next few week. There are common sense precautions one must take when living in a big city, and beyond that, what can you do? Never leave your home?
On a related note, I guess the Mayor just declared a state of "crime emergency" in DC because there were about a dozen murders in the last 11 days. I can't wait for my parents to see it on the national news and start frantically calling to check up on me every hour on the hour...
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