Monday, June 2, 2008

Old Oakland: Safety

By Jasmin, Vanessa B., Jessica, Ernesto

Old Oakland seemed to be okay, as far as safety is concerned, but we didn't see any police or security guards. There were a lot of little stalls and stores, but it didn't seem that anyone was afraid. While walking around, it felt kind of safe. It didn't feel like anything was going to happen because everybody seemed busy trying to buy stuff. It still felt like something could happen though, since it is out in the open and people are too busy to notice anything suspicious. They put up roadblocks at the end of the streets to let people know that they can't drive in there. It made the place seem safer.

People at Old Oakland were really nice but we did not get that many interviews from the stall-keepers. The reason why we didn't get a lot of interviews was because a lot of the times when we asked them they were with customers. We think people were really nice when they said no because they said it in a really nice way. A guy even gave us Crepes for free. He just said to tell people where he was. That was really nice of him.

In the Farmers' Market in Old Oakland there were a lot of different people. Generally, people were nice, but there were also a few people that made us feel unsafe. This one guy was making rude comments at us girls, trying to flirt with us. He said to one of us that she was blushing when she looked at him, but she wasn't blushing, she was just looking at the stuff that someone was selling. He also told one of us that he thought we were nice, and that we should stay together to stay safe around Oakland. He then said that "you can pretend you're ignoring me, but I know you can hear me". We just walked away. There are people like that everywhere, but it really tainted our experience of the place.

1 comment:

Dream-er said...

I felt safe as well in that area. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that there is a police station at Broadway.