This will be a very interesting read for you all. We have had some incredible experiences already on our trip with the occasional hurdle here and there which we have been able to overcome. But this experience in Los Angeles will for ever remain in our minds as one of the most negative aspects of humanity we have ever encountered.
As mentioned in our first stint in LA before going to Vegas, we had already felt unsafe in both the area that we were staying as well as the tourist area on Hollywood Boulevard. The street performers and characters are very pushy and aggressive; they will demand you give them money for a photo or else they would follow you down the street continuing to hound you for it. Don't even think of trying to sneak a photo, they are on to you! The homeless people are another story and they really do seem like a population that has been forgotten. There are a lot of mental issues with these people as well a substance abuse and it makes for very angry and aggressive people who have no fear in who they antagonise. As you walk past them they spit on you and swear at you and they definitely make it hard for you to negotiate the footpaths in a wheelchair and a dog.
The worst is yet to come, but what amazed me was the lack of police presence around the city. I probably noticed maybe two or three police cars in the whole week we were there. Yet when we went to Memphis, the second most dangerous city in America, there were police squad cars on every corner and officers roaming the streets everywhere. They at least made you feel safer because they were there and never once in our time in Memphis did we see any violence or abuse like we saw in Los Angeles. It does not instil much confidence in your safety in this place that's for sure.
We decided to make the trip to Venice Beach as it was pretty much the only place we didn't get to see before we left for Vegas. We couldn't wait to see the famous boardwalk, the muscle beach and the basketball courts that I remember watching in 'White Men Can't Jump.'
I did all the research on which bus to catch to take us there and we made our way to the relevant stop. We had to take two buses and the first one we caught we had a lovely driver and a very comfortable ride towards the Venice Beach Boulevard where we would transfer onto our second. It was on this bus that we experienced the ultimate LA drama.
It didn't start off well when the lift to get me into the bus would not work and the passengers were getting a little irate at how long we were taking, but we eventually got on and were settling in for a 30 minute drive to the beach. The driver was obviously in a hurry as he manoeuved the bus like a rally car from stop to stop. Mel had to hold my shoulders as I could not balance myself, so she stood beside me to make sure I stayed upright. This was nothing compared to what happened next.
All of a sudden a homeless man pushed Mel aside and sat down in the middle of the bus beside my chair and as he did so, he fell backwards cracking his head on the seat in front of me right where Roxy was sitting. It must have really hurt as it was quite a loud bang, but I was just hoping that he didn't see Roxy and think she had anything to do with it. Luckily she just lay there curled up out of sight. This man was covered in dirt from head to toe and quite smelly as you can imagine. He had a very large blanket which he held over his shoulders (it was hard to tell, but it seemed as if he was without clothes as well) as he curled up on the floor in the middle of the bus. When we arrived at the next stop, another gentleman in a wheelchair next to me needed to get off, but the homeless man did not want to move to allow him off. Everyone was yelling at him to stand up and move. As he remain seated he started sliding himself backwards down the isle, but Mel was standing right behind him holding my shoulders up so I wouldn't fall, which stopped him from clearing the way for the wheelchair man to leave the bus. The Man in the wheelchair asked him to stand so he could get through. The homeless guy eventually did but would not move out of the way of Mel and starting pushing Mel calling her a bitch. The bus driver came to put the seat down where the wheelchair had been which made room for the homeless man to sit in his place. He then proceeded to spit on everyone and I will never forget how sick in the stomach I felt when it landed on my arm from 3 feet away. Apart from this repulsive act he was also very abusive verbally, calling people terrible names, swearing and attacking anything that took his eye.
We called out to the bus driver to complain about his behaviour and asked him to remove the gentleman, but the driver did nothing. He did at one stage come down and ask us whether we would like him to stop the bus, call the police and terminate the trip, or see if he settles down so that we can get to our stop. The driver made us feel a bit guilty about stopping the bus permanently and inconveniencing everyone by calling the police, so we stupidly let his behaviour continue on just to get to our destination. In hindsight we should have stopped that there and then, as it only got worse.
His verbal attacks started to really offend and he picked an elderly African-American woman who threatened to physically hurt him if he continued. It was an absolute disgrace what he was saying to her, and I wouldn't have blamed her if she had taken her walking stick to him. Once again she yelled out for the bus driver to do something and surprisingly the driver got stuck into her about disrupting him doing his job of driving. She eventually did the smart thing and moved from her seat, but the spitting still seemed to reach us and her. An hispanic gentleman got on the bus and sat next to the homeless man not knowing what had happened the previous 10 minutes on our journey and I could tell this was not going to be a good mix.
So the homeless man started on this new passenger and once again it was disgraceful language and verbal taunts. We were hearing things that no one should ever here and along with the flying saliva I really was thinking to myself " I hope this guy get what's coming to him". I'm not normally that kind of person, but LA, and even Toronto to an extent, has made me quite irritable these days, and I have a bit of a short fuse for these kind of things. But not in my wildest dreams did I expect my thoughts to happen.
After a couple of warnings to stop taunting him, the hispanic gentleman had enough and started to physically attack the homeless man with barrages of flying punches and kicks. All of a sudden, there we were on the bus on our way to lovely Venice Beach witnessing a beating and guess what .... the bus driver did nothing. The passengers did nothing. The homeless man was not really able to protect himself either as the Hispanic man kept laying in to him.
I could not believe that this was happening and all of a sudden I felt terrible for thinking the thoughts that I did. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting the bus finally came to a stop and fimally a Chinese businessman came down from the back of the bus to pull the hispanic gentleman away. The homeless man left the bus with a clearly bloody nose and probably broken ribs still swearing and spitting as he left. Everyone sat back down and the bus continued on with new passengers who knew nothing of what happened just where they were now sitting. Mel and I were amazed at what he had just witnessed. We sat in silence for the rest of the trip trying to take in the events and gather our nerves and thoughts.
We arrived at Venice Beach and the next blog will describe our experience there. It was better than this don't worry.
But this scenario got me thinking. We went through a myriad of emotions in a space of 10 minutes. How repulsed and angry we were at the homeless man for his behaviour towards us and wanting some kind of justice to occur on him, and then when it did happen at the hands of someone who had also been hurt emotionally like us, we felt sorry that the homeless man had to endure that kind of abuse himself. Which was worse? Neither in the big scheme of things. Both were as bad as each other. Why didn't we stop the bus and call the police in the first place? Why did 95% of the other passengers sit there with their heads down and ignore the whole thing? Why was this behaviour acceptable? Why was there no security for the passengers on the bus, or even for the bus driver? He made it very clear that he did not want to get involved so he must know what the consequences are for stepping in and protecting passengers.
It was more about why the situation occurred in the first place. I know nearly every city in the world will have their share of problems in regards to crime, and even though it was just one occurrence of violence that we happen to be a part of, when we told some of the locals about our experience they were not surprised???? Serious.
On our final night I was woken up at 3 am to the sound of gunshots not that far away. I knew them as soon as I heard them and it wasn't long before I heard the sirens and helicopters obviously attending the scene. The sirens and helicopters actively didn't stop for the next four hours and we did not get any more sleep. We could not wait to get back home and away from this city. All the fun in the world is not worth your life in a dangerous city like this.
This experience really changed my perspective on Los Angeles as a city. Yes we enjoyed going to Universal and Warner Brothers Studios, Santa Monica Pier, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, but it does beg the question, why is this happening in the backyard of some of the most richest people in the world? I know it's a Government/City Council issue as well as other residents. But are Brad and Angelina caring at all as to what is happening five minutes down the road from their multimillion dollar house in Beverly Hills? Probably not, they are too busy helping Third World countries, according to the magazine's.
There really is an issue of class in this city. The height of arrogance of the way people live in Beverly Hills is amazing. Did you know that the residents of Beverly Hills decided to paint all of their fire hydrants silver/platinum to be different than any other suburb of the city and show their wealth. The reason why they are painted bright yellow or red is so they stand out in an emergency so firefighters are able to see them. But no, it's all about asthetics for them. There were many other examples of 'elitism' in this town. All about me, how much I have and how can I get more.
I just cannot understand how this city is still allowing tourist to come, contribute to their econemy, and expect us not to see their faults or be effected by them. Are we meant to just put up with the behaviour of the people, both rich and poor, and take away only the good things about the city and promote it abroad? I'm sorry, the negatives far outweigh the positives in this town and I won't be recommending it for anyone to visit. It is a real shame. Of all the cities in the world that CAN afford to clean things up, give people opportunities, showcase peoples talents, create a better world. It doesn't.
I'm sorry for getting so philisophical towards the end here. I get heated up a little just thinking about all of this, but give me Disneyworld anyday. I know it's a made up, magical, make believe world, but Walt Disney was striving to create a better place for people. He may have done it by using a mouse, but really what he was saying was "You can design, create, and build the most wonderful place in the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality". Walt Disney
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