Safety After Hours

[cheerfulgreek]

I was raised in a really small town in Minnesota, so it took me some time to get used to living where I live now. I live close to campus so it's not that bad. I mean, anything can happen anywhere, but I feel safe. I still don't go out late if I don't have to though. When school is in session, if I'm leaving the library late, I always leave with my study group or before it gets too late.

[GeekyPenguin]

When I was in college I lived in an sketchy neighborhood. I tried to follow safety in numbers - if it was after 9 or so, I'd have friends walk me home from the bar. My school was pretty good about reminding us to have safety in numbers and use shuttles/call for escorts whenever possible. Unfortunately you can't always do that in the real world. Whenever I go back there to visit friends, we try to arrange it so they'll walk me to my car and I'll drop them back off at their house/the bar to make sure they get inside safely.

That being said, there's still some places I won't go. There's a beautiful park in Minneapolis that I won't walk through when it's dark, so I'll walk a mile out of my way to feel safe when I'm in that area. To me, it's worth it, but I have friends who take the gamble.

It's a tough spot to be in.

[aephi alum]

Wherever I am, I make sure that I give off the appearance that I belong where I am, I'm fully aware of my surroundings, and I know where I'm going. For example, I never use my iPod while on the NYC subway.

Back in college, we had the option of calling the campus police if we wanted a late-night escort to the dorms. Despite many late nights at lab, I never availed myself of the option. The biggest "threat" I ever met was a river rat.

These days, there are a few places that I won't enter alone at night. Aside from that, I find that the "I know where I am, I know where I'm going, I can kick your @$$, so don't f$&% with me" attitude keeps the bad guys away.

[KSigkid]

Originally Posted by aephi alum

Back in college, we had the option of calling the campus police if we wanted a late-night escort to the dorms. Despite many late nights at lab, I never availed myself of the option. The biggest "threat" I ever met was a river rat.

My college had the same thing - the oddly-named "Escort Service." Maybe it's something about the Charles River?

[Elephant Walk]

Concealed Carry.

[AOII_LB93]

I try not to hang out in sketchy areas after dark, but I think living in Europe for a while gave me a false sense of security, and I lived in Paris, but it's like people have already said, look like you have your shit together and people don't really mess with you. I came back home and went out with my friends to celebrate my 21st birthday a few months late and was getting ready to leave and said "See ya" and one of my friends said, "You're not walking to your car by yourself." I had forgotten that I shouldn't really do that.

On the other hand, I got mugged in broad daylight while in Paris, in front of my apartment by a group of 10-12 kids (12-13 year olds) and was yelling for help with people walking by, and no one did shit. So I called the cops, who were super nice, and they caught a couple of the kids and scared the crap out of them. Whenever they (the kids) saw me after that, they would cross the street or walk the other way....that's right, don't screw with me...I speak French fluently you little bastards.