Expat Community > Ecuador

bentparrot
Joined 2010
Posts: 286

Crime! Crime! Crime!

13 years ago

Since crime, real or perceived, is a recurring topic on this forum, I thought I'd relate a rather humorous anecdote about crime's perception elsewhere.

First, I want to convey my sincere apologies to any victims of criminal acts. I am in no way trying to minimize what you've gone through. My purpose is only to show how fear and misconceptions of crime, and when and where they occur, can rule one's life, wittingly, or unwittingly.

The BW, to you newbies, my Beautiful Wife, manages reservations for a four-star hotel in north Houston. Yesterday, while she was on the patio at 3 P.M. enjoying her usual "cancer stick", she was approached by a guest who too, was driving another nail in his coffin. (Smoking is prohibited in public buildings in Houston.)

The fellow was a young petroleum engineer from Newfoundland, and he wanted to know if Houston was really as "dangerous" as they were being told. It seems, he, along with oil company workers from around the world, were attending a training seminar. and the first day was spent telling our foreign visitors how to avoid becomming a victim of crime in Houston.

From his remarks, I can only conclude the speaker was the same guy who writes the State Department warnings for the Congo or the Central African Republic.

This young man was warned which way not to turn if he ventured outside the hotel; he was told about how to, or not to, look at people; he was warned about Texans' propensity for "road rage" if he "wrongs" a driver on the freeway. And finally, he was warned about the "concealed weapons permits" Texans have that "allow them to shoot on sight" if one feels threatened.

If I were an Ecuadorian at that seminar, I'd have jumped into a cab to catch Continental's 4 P.M. flight to Quito. If I were me (Is that correct English?), I'd have challenged that fearmongering idiot.

The young Canadian wanted to rent a car and see Houston. The BW told him that we had just hosted the Final Four basketball tournament without a hitch. (We had about 100,000 visitors here who had a great time, and the only reported arrest was an over zealous pickpocket who pressed his luck with 18 victims at Reliant Stadium.)

Crime does occur here like anywhere else. We are a metro area of more than six million people and if a criminal activity exists, it happens here.

But forgive me if I find humor in some twit painting us so dangerous that a Canadian, from "crime free" St. John's, Newfoundland, is afraid to leave the confines of his hotel.

Does this sound familiar?

Ray

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