fuck this city is full of crazys winnipeg only dreams of.

So I use to live two streets north of hastings on lakewood (and dundas)
this neiborhood was full of prostitutes, junkies, dealers, low incomes and young folks.
The most exciting encounters that happened were;asked if I wanted to buy drugs (by very large sketchy men),walking down dark streets with people out crusing for prostitues or drugs nothing too over the top yet not a sunture.Now on my bus ride home I get to wait for my bus at Fraser and broadway. I was warned about this neiborhood, I laughed I said

"ha I just moved from funkin' lakewood, fraser gansters are lame poor fools."

Well did I eat my mother fuckin' words tonight.The voice in my head told me to take the
bus to kingsway and wait for my fraser bus there.
It said,
"Oh ya stoned Julie don't forget to take the bus to kingsway",after I had already gotten off the bus and was visually stunned by the amount of people lounging in a door way yelling about scales and smoke. While the prostites to high to hold their heads/bodies up decorated the street corners.
"thanks voice" I muttered to my own subconciouse.
Crossing the street was un eventful.
I light my smoke aaaaahhhhh, after work nicotine tastes so good, fuck there is no where to sit too many people taking the transit not enough space (as ususal in vancouver).This man come raving up the street, askes to buy a smoke off me, flashes me a hand full of change, (this stunt is popular here, I have fallen for this a few times, it's usually by men I suppose to be pimps, I have my evidence, that will be anothere rant when it's ready) I porduce one for him, he holds a quater out flat in his hand, my instinc tells me not to touch this man, he clouses his hand fast and sneers at me muttering something crule I couldn't make out. He then prosseds to yell at this white gangsta,
"you fuckin' laughn' at me, this is not the street for the white man, you gotta get your ass out of here I don't like you, I was rasied on these streets and you gotta get the fuck out of here befor I change my mind, cause if I'm going down I'm takin' one of you with me."
At this point I'm in my safe bubble, white light all around me and I'm not looking at these people this is not my fight. Then bang, crazy guy has fuckin' suplexed, no it was more like a shoulder slam but with his forarm into the white guys back, while he was trying to walk away , and white 'buddy' is down on the ground yelling,
"You fucker, I wasn't even looking ect..."
ba, then crazy 'buddy'desides to start preaching at the rest of us about the morals and life teachings of his motha' all the while muttering about how soon he's gonna go down and he ain't going down alone.
Finally after my heart is beating so loudly I'm convinced the girl beside me can here it the bus shows up. I had lots of w**d and my rent money on me.
Fuck man I just wannted to come home from work.
The good news is I got a bike and I know the girl at the bike store (our community bikes!)and on friday after the store clouses we're gonna fix my bike, then I won't have to a)bus out of my way to be safe b)deal with the nightly crazy's.

I was trying not to live in fear because this city, like many otheres, lives in fear. There is always some story about this street and a guy with an axe or that street and the guy who killed prostitutes lots of that.But as I'm learning the violence is real.
cheers julie