Brian got mugged on
his way between the T stop and Cambridgeside. The story’s a bit scary and a useful reminder to the rest of us that
crime happens:
They started towards my walking trajectory. One faster than the other,
as to get on either side of my path. My instincts at that point sounded
the alarm. That’s not right. My liberal side kicked in “Don’t stop
walking because they’re black. They’re dressed cleanly, although very
urban, that doesn’t mean they’re going to do anything. Lots of people
mindlessly walk into people’s path.”
I
have to admit that I wrestle with this feeling a lot myself when
approached by or approaching “urban” youth. Like Brian I try to focus
on how they are dressed, not their race or ethnicity, but in his case
clothing was not a good predictor. I guess the fact is that crime is
going to happen, and who gets mugged is often just a game of
statistics. Even if you carried a gun (as one of Brian’s commentators argued for), what are you going to do, pull it out every time you felt somewhat threatened?
I’ve never felt that stretch between the T and the mall to be
dangerous, and I’m disturbed by the police statistics showing
otherwise. I think we should also be more careful even around our
neighborhood — though again, it’s hard to think of concrete things you
can do to prevent this kind of crime. Sounds to me like Brian handled
it about the best anyone could have.
