redefining safety

I watched the movie The Soloist last night. It takes place largely on Skid Row in LA. I have been there so many times, during the day and night, yet the intensity of the place in the movie still surprised me. I have forgotten. It's not the same here.

Thursday nights we start outreach at 11. I walk there alone, to some of the worst parts of Athens. I have walked home alone from the center square at 2 or 3 am. Yet I don't really think twice about it. Athens is different from LA. Tonight on my way to the outreach center I saw the customary drug deals, the guys who are totally strung out shooting up right on the sidewalk, the bazillions of refugees in the streets, the girls at work. I suddenly realized how my perception of danger or being unsafe has changed.

Athens is not a dangerous place. Ok, it would not be shocking if I were mugged, or if someone broke into my apartment. Petty crime has risen with the poor economy and the increase of refugees and immigrants. But violent crime is so rare. It's almost unheard of here. In this way, my self is safer than my stuff. So I can walk alone at night (being smart, of course - it's not like I choose the darkest alleys or the worst areas and walk into them at 3 in the morning) without much fear. Seeing Skid Row in this movie last night made me realize how different things would be elsewhere. My perception of safety will need to be readjusted when I leave here. Maybe it will just naturally readjust in a different environment with different levels or definitions of danger.

In LA, it's not uncommon for people to hurt others. Here in Athens, it's more common for people to hurt themselves.