I hate to say this, Sam, but I'm genuinely disappointed in you. I understand that you greatly prefer the country to the city. That's fine, I have no problem with that, whatever floats your boat. However, your post perpetuates stereotypes about the inner city that are blatantly false.

Very rarely, if ever, are innocent, un-known people who happen to be driving through a certain part of town - even if it's the "bad part" - murdered. Sure, it may be scary. I wouldn't want to drive through a part of DC I didn't know, either. I'm scared of Southwest ("bad") DC, too. That doesn't mean you, or I, or ANYONE doesn't have "reasonable odds" of getting out of the area alive, though. My dad, who is just about as "white boy" as you can get, used to drive down to SW DC on a regular basis, and he was never in any danger.

There have been four murders on my block in the ten years we've lived here. Does that mean that i'm afraid to walk down my block at night? No. I AM afraid of walking down the street at night - but that's only because I'm afraid of the dark. I'm just as scared, if not more, in Potomac, Maryland - although it's one of the poshest suburbs in the immediate area, there are no streetlights on the back streets.

Saying that getting off the interstate in the middle of a city is "throwing your life away" is the same as saying that gypsies are all thieves, or that African-Americans are stupid, or that suburbs are safe. None are true, and it doesn't reflect well on you when you choose to believe any of them.

Kiki