Walking alone at night in Provo

[NerdGirl]

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/58846/

So this one time, I was at school really late after the Star of Bethlehem planetarium show. I lived a couple of blocks west of campus at the time. It was about 2 in the morning, and I was walking down the RB stairs, and I got to the bottom and there were 5 huge deer one the lawn. I just about peed my pants. I successfully got away from the deer, and I was almost at my apartment when this really big guy came out from behind a hedge. He said, "Excuse me, miss? I done something real bad. Do you think I should tell my bishop?" And I was just like, "Um, yeah, you should, and I have to go now." It was very weird.

[Unit of Energy]

I try not to walk home alone at night, but it doesn't really worry me that much. I do dislike walking in the morning while it's still dark though. To me five in the morning is scarier than midnight, because more people are out and about at midnight.

[TheAnswerIs42]

Nerdgirl, that is hilarious. Mainly 'cause I wasn't there.

[Marduk]

So, there's a nineteen-year-old girl that I work with who will be continuing to attend BYU in the fall, but now will move down to Provo (from Highland). They offered to let her transfer to the store down in Provo, which will be like, three blocks from where she lives, but she refused, and is quitting instead. Her reasoning? She doesn't want to be riding her bike alone in Provo at the time of night she would get off work.

[Imogen]

i was never afraid of walking in new york city alone late at night (i'm talking 2 or 3 in the morning). there were always police everywhere, and i knew the neighborhoods well. but i am TERRIFIED of walking alone at night in little rock, arkansas or the town i live in in texas. there are no people around, and it makes me so nervous. i have a car, so it's no big problem. but i do get nervous walking to my car alone at night. i always make someone go with me.

[Craig Jessop]

Walking around the ghettos of Brooklyn wasn't really scary except one or two nights, and it wasn't because I was scared for my virtue or anything. Being followed by thuggish black kids is scary, I don't care who you are, ESPECIALLY when they pretend not to be following you.

@Imogen, where did you live in New York?

[Imogen]

craig, i lived in poughkeepsie most of the time, but i spent a lot of time in brooklyn, specifically the fort greene neighborhood. not ghetto, but very empty at 3am, when i usually got home. i also spent lots of time in harlem and washington heights. as far as i know i was never followed. i got more annoyed/frightened by the guys who would cat call me in broad daylight.

[Craig Jessop]

craig, i lived in poughkeepsie most of the time, but i spent a lot of time in brooklyn, specifically the fort greene neighborhood. not ghetto, but very empty at 3am, when i usually got home. i also spent lots of time in harlem and washington heights. as far as i know i was never followed. i got more annoyed/frightened by the guys who would cat call me in broad daylight.

Excuse me for immediately judging you for living in Fort Greene Did you date a guy who read thick books he didn't understand, grew a wispy, ironic beard, wore flannel shirts, rode a single gear bike, and shopped entirely at Brooklyn Industries? I served in Bed-Stuy/Southside Williamsburgh, so I was right there. We actually went through Fort Greene on the bus along Myrtle (the B54? 52? I can't remember) all the time. Small world.

Open mike question: who else knows how to properly pronounce Poughkeepsie?

[bobtheenchantedone]

Ooo! Ooo! Not me!

[Hypatia]

Imogen! Craig! We are all from the same area! I have been telling people for years that the City is one of the safest cities in the world. BUT I WILL HAVE YOU KNOW last week I was walking down CPW and boarded an uptown train instead of the downtown train I meant to take. I got off at 125th IN THE MIDDLE OF A FRESH MURDER SCENE!!! There were cops everywhere and over in a corner there was something that was CLEARLY a body underneath a thick black tarp. I ran up the steps, crossed the street, got on the downtown train, and did not breath again until I reached Columbus Circle. Other than your occasional murder, NYC is a marvelous place!

[Hypatia]

Craig: "Puh-kip-see"

[Imogen]

@hypatia HOLY MOLY!!! that's insane!! the closest i came to a murder was bumping into jesse l. martin (ed green on L+O:original recipe) in chinatown. and when i say "ran into" i mean it literally. he was very gracious...and hot...

@craig NO!! my cousin lived there because the apartment was cheap when she bought it twenty years ago. of course, now it's worth a fortune. she lived on south oxford and lafayette around the corner from BAM. BEST. NEIGHBORHOOD. EVER. you served in the neighborhood my friend lives in now. it's ok, but i'm not a huge fan. i loved fort greene, so you can judge me all you want, but i don't care!

also, it is a small world. my one friend from home (south texas) who lived in the city the same time i did happened to run into me in union square my last day in nyc. but not literally this time.

[C is for]

I would've guessed Po-kihp-see which was pretty close...

As far as the original topic goes, I am a damsel in distress and can't help it. When it got late I didn't like walking by myself. Usually I didn't stay anywhere late. Here's an illustration of what happened one time: Board questions know all.

Oh man. I'm just remembering how wimpy I am. Walking from an unfamiliar apartment complex to my car makes me nervous.

[Craig Jessop]

Wait, so Hypatia, are you in the Park Slope ward?!?!?!?! Or Bushwick?

[Hypatia]

Craig, I'm from the burbs, so no. BUT I lived in the Village when I was very little so I can still claim NYC roots...right? I would tell you which ward I'm in, but since I'm the only person currently attending that ward between the ages of 18 and 35, I might be revealing too much. I will tell you that I was born and raised in CT. I'm applying to Columbia for my PhD so, knock on wood, I might end up in the Morningside Park area or the Upper West Side (my FAVORITE neighborhood!).

[Werf_Must]

good luck Hypatia

[Dragon Lady]

I'm not sure why, but I'm always nervous about walking alone at night. And I hate that I am. I think it's just because we hear so much about the bad in the world that it gets into my brain and I always think about how I wish I lived in the good ole' days when walking at night was considered safe. But I've never had reason to think I wasn't safe. But I always get a bit nervous when someone happens to be walking behind me. And I often come up with situations in my mind and wonder if I could reach into my pocket unnoticed and silence my phone, then dial 911 and wonder if they'd be able to figure out what was going on by just listening to what was going on. And could they track my phone?

Or I'll just call someone, usually my mom, and talk to them while I walk alone at night. And if it's my mom, I always tell her where I'm walking. Just in case. Knowing full well that I'm just being paranoid and hating myself for being like that.