Having Doubts?

I didn't go out at night for recreation or I should say very rarely. I worked part time two nights a week. Just to clarify.

Daytime events happen too, just not to me or people I knew. I tried to keep the crime list short, it could go on forever.

Hi Dnt8wup,

Great point!!! Night is when many of the bad things around here happen -- and generally late at night or in the wee hours of the morning.

And this also made me realize that I do need to clarify something: my definition of being out at "night" on weekdays is usually no later than 10:00 P.M. (after most stores and restaurants are closed), and I am never out much later than midnight on the weekends. Also, I am married and I don't go to bars, or clubbing or anything like that.

SO everyone, let me restate my position with my edits in parentheses:

I go where I want (as long as those places are well-lit, non-deserted public places, and that are known for being generally safe) When I want (usually no later than 10:00 P.M. on the weekdays and Midnight on weekends, and NEVER in the wee hours of the morning).

Again, the crime problem here is very real and very serious and is not to be taken lightly. But I do not live in fear, and if I did, I would not be living here.

Just my .02 -- your mileage may vary.

🙂

P.S. Thanks for clarifying your post Teresa. Even though I misunderstood a part of it, I still think it was an excellent post!

10pm and 12am is pretty late or do you just sleep in all day and party all night?

10 and 12 is late? Really?

No, I am just young(ish) and have lots of energy!

🙂

Actually , I repeat once more, a lot of the bad things happen a lot earlier than the wee sma' hours. Company St. in the heart of C'sted was not (and probably still is not) a safe place to walk alone much after about 7pm. The restaurants and businesses in that area of C'sted were talking about privately hiring a patrol officer to reduce the threat of early evening crime. Does anyone remember what happened to that initiative.
If you go where you want and then add a caveat that those places have to be well lit, non-deserted public places that are well known as being generally safe, that would speak to the fact that one cannot actually go where one wants. One's freedom is significantly curtailed by the fear of crime.

ditto to Jane you really take your chances after 7 or 8pm when the sun goes down I try to leave. At least most of the dealers and professionals stick to company which is a block back. Most of the bums in c'sted are harmless(like David and Richard), but there are a couple that are pretty agressive and you have to be Very firm with them.

Don't give Richard a PENNY or he will follow you around all day, thanking you profusely and trying to get more. My son the soft-hearted gave him $5 and Richard was like a bad booger you couldn't shake off....

I'm with Betty and Jane - I had my molly tail home after dark....and if we were out, we were sure we were running with a pack......do not park off the beaten path downtown after dark. Matter of fact, just go home at a relatively early hour....even after the Jump Ups, we left early - the later it got, the stranger it got.

lol...that is a funny richard story...hes always a fashion maven unless of coarse he's in the process of ripping his clothes...since i worked downtown he would hit me up about once a month...he will come up to me and say you know i havent bothered you in a long time....

To those who don't know, the prior posts refer to locales on STX and WOW that's too bad! I don't think I would very much enjoy living in a place where I felt like I couldn't go out past 7:00 P.M. 🙁

I personally don't feel this way on STT where I live, but again, that's just me. I am not suggesting that anyone else should, could or would feel the same.

Also, contrary to what a previous poster suggested I do not feel that my freedom is curtailed in any significant way by a fear of crime. The habits I adhere to on STT are the exactly same as those that I had while living in many various low-crime suburbs in the states.

Peace all and have a wonderful day!
🙂

Just my 2 cents as someone who lives on STX and actually does go out after 7 or 8--

I am usually with my sig-other and we often go out at night in C'sted and F'sted, stay on the main streets and restaurants and do not have problems. Sometimes we park on the little side streets further up in town and tend to watch our backs a little more (in C'sted). We live west so are much more familiar with f'sted and so feel alot more comfortable in walking around at night there. Before midnight on weekends when there are still a bunch of people around at the local bars, I have no problems walking alone from from one restaurant to the next a couple blocks over (say from the waterfront to king street). I do not walk above King street alone in the dark because those streets tend to get sketchy.

I am a night person--I work nights so on my nights off, if I go out, I tend to stay out late, so as not to get off schedule :). I do not feel limited in where I can and cannot go at night on STX. Like Mell, my habits are the same as when I lived in NYC and Boston and Miami. There are some streets I feel absolutely fine walking around at night on, there are streets I stay away from.

I have a good Richard story. I used to slip him a buck now and again, or buy him a sandwich. One day he came up to me on Queen cross St. and asked for some money. I told him truthfully that I had none on me....so he reached into his trouser pocket (yuk) and solemnly handed me a quarter and told me to have a good day!
I used to like his women's shoes and rolled up trouser leg phases. I didn't like the one by Richard & Ayers old office who used to scream about killing white people and carried that huge stick. He was not nice in the broad daylight.

We had our characters on STT as well. There was or is this one homeless guy who acted in your normal crazy way. Yelling and talking to imaginary people. He sometimes wore his pants up to his armpits. He usually hangs out in front of Wendy's in Havensight. He liked to karate chop the air and other than peeing on the sidewalk, he wasn't much trouble. I found out that he used to be a prominent lawyer on island and a black belt in karate. He got into drugs too much and crack ate his brain. If you talk to him, he calms down and you can carry on a 'normal' conversation. He is 'tuned in' some times.

There is a wacko homeless guy that I hate. He was new to the area, at least I had not seen him before last year. He was or is a tall, white, skinny, mean guy. He told me twice that I was to die and would point at me and curse. Than he would say something about Jesus and walk away. He would walk the whole island almost every day. I would run errands and see him downtown, Red Hook, than Smith Bay. I don't think he got rides, but who knows.

My other favorite was a little hump backed man who wasn't homeless but appeared that way. He used to own a grocery store and his sisters took care of him, but he would walk the street during the day. Whenever I was getting gas in Estate Thomas, he would come up to my window and when I would look up (sometimes in surprise) he would just say, "gimme a dollar". Nothing else and then he would walk away usually swinging his shirt hitting his back to keep mosquitoes off of him, I assumed.

I kind of feel for these people. There is so much poverty and depression among Islanders and not much hope unless they can go to college and get a 'real' job. It made me feel like I didn't belong on island when so many were just trying to survive and get by while I am trying to make my own family a good living. If we had stayed and got our kids in private school, we would have definitely been involved in change for the community. It is hard for me to understand why continentals want to move to the islands and then ignore the community's issues and separate themselves from it.

Okay done with talking and I am not storytelling, these people are real.

Teresa

"It is hard for me to understand why continentals want to move to the islands and then ignore the community's issues and separate themselves from it."

It's really no different than people who move to Atlanta, Miami, Houston, Chicago, Denver etc. and opt not to involve themselves with the homeless in their community. In fact I suspect most people are only peripherally invloved in the communities in which they reside.

DNT is absolutely right.Plus... in Houston etc. one can live in one's frilly little suburb and pretend there are no mentally, alcoholic etc. people on the streets. In the VI, oops, there they are!
I was attacked with a brass plant pot in Subway in C'sted by a crack addicted transvestite wearing a mini skirt and no panties. The police never bothered to come even though the manager of the Subway was the one to call 911.
PS. to the "It's OK before the witching hour belivers" amongst us, this was at noon on a workday in the middle of C'sted's tourist and business area!
And before we follow on the " it's ok on the island that I live on - it must be just StX" trail"...not it is not just StX. StX is no worse that the other comparable island in the chain, STT.

dntw8up,

You're right. We (personally) do get involved in Atlanta and our community and do what we can for poverty in the U.S. and abroad. Of course that gets overwhelming and we concentrate on where we are and who we can help in our own community. I just hated to leave the island with work undone, so to speak. It just seems that the separation from the rich from the poor seems to widen instead of balance out. I am not good with words, but I hope everyone understands what I mean.

On island, the population is not that big and anyone can make a difference if they want too. I guess that is why I was talking about St. Thomas in particular. I am not trying to offend anyone or make judgments at all. there are a lot of people that care and do work to make a better community for more than just themselves. I guess I just had a new thought when I actually got to know who these people were that were begging for money rather than just ignore them. I used to work downtown Kansas City, MO and had to walk to work a few blocks, sometimes at night. It wasn't the safest place and I took precautions, but anyway, I got to know a few homeless guys and they would sort of look out for me if someone sketchy was around. I worked with some shelters to know some people. It opens your mind and your world when you stop and actually get to know people that are homeless or in poverty. I mean you have to be smart and not put yourself in a bad situation, but I mean just stepping outside your world or box or whatever. Anyway, my point is lost, I just mean that it is humbling and I felt better being connected to people rather than ignoring them.

I shouldn't have said that I hated that one guy. I didn't get to know his story as I didn't appreciate being told to die. Some people I don't have time to deal with. I do what I can. Okay, the end.

Teresa

Well, I am in a hurry today, but I only have one comment/rhetorical question, and then I have probably said all that I will say in this thread.

A poster said:

"It is hard for me to understand why continentals want to move to the islands and then ignore the community's issues and separate themselves from it."

Comment/rhetorical question:

This is a merely an assumption not a fact. On what are you basing this assumption? This assumption is most certainly incorrect as it pertains my husband and me and many other "Continentals" that I know.

As I said, this is simply a rhetorical question that one can answer or not -- it is not a challenge, debate, argument or anything like that.

Ciao and have a wonderful rest of the day all!
🙂 Mell

Hello Mell,

I think Teresa is referencing that some folks, on this board perhaps and very likely that she met or saw on island while living here, may seem to want to ignore that societal problems exists or may just go about their lives knowing they exists but not trying to do something about it. And like dntw8up pointed out, this happens everywhere.

You alluded to the fact that there are ways to get involved on St. Thomas and some residents do. For those who would like to learn about the groups they might get involved with here in the VI there is a great website with various associations, groups, clubs listed of different types. Give me a moment and I will find and post it.

--Islander

It is the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands website at http://www.cfvi.net/.

For the directory of community groups you have to go to Archives and its called "Directory of Community Organizations, 2006". There is also a 2 page 07 update to the directory which is on the site's home page.

--Islander

Whew, than goodness you said mid day. I usually save my cross dressing for weekends only.

And before you think that it still could be me......let me just tell you that I always wear panties.

Now if I could only do some Mell smilies.

Another problem is the lack of help for mentally ill people. Also, they can't be forced to take medication that would help them. In some cases, the families have disappeared or given up IF they even have families. Some do not want to go to shelters & are in their own private hell. This is a nationwide problem. Often they are targets for bullies who beat them up. It's flat out sad.

Lots of good stories about Richard. He was, at one time, a very talented drummer - playing with major bands in NYC before the drug use started. Back when there was a club (The Parrot's Perch/Lizards/Calabash Club) above Baci (formerly Colombian Emeralds on Strand Street) I once saw him insert himself into a set with the hired talent. They put him pretty far away from the mics - it was hilarious and sad at the same time. Richard was obviously enjoying himself, but he was playing something entirely different than the band - this from a guy who was at one time a sought after session drummer. My favorite part was when he took off his shoes and shoved them down the front of his pants. And don't forget he was once nominated to run for senator - there are still bumper stickers with his picture around - the slogan was "Vote for Richard - He Couldn't Be Any Worse".

He's among the "scarier" looking individuals in C'sted, but he's pretty harmless and I always speak with him, as well as Keith, George and the guy that is cruelly nicknamed "Tripod". It's partly a safety measure on my part - these guys seem to get around everywhere and I'm pretty sure they'd assist me (to their ability) if I ran into trouble because they know me. By the way, Keith and George have sad stories too as, I'm sure, do most of the others. Sometimes it's not a case of lack of mental health services, but rather a "consumer's" (clinical term) refusal to use them (and that's true stateside as well).

So true Joanne, so true.
Richard's family sent him off island to rehab, but he started using almost as soon as he got back. Sometimes it really is a case of nothing we can do but wait. I have always said that a measure of a society is how it treats and provides for its weakest members - the US and the VI are not scoring very highly right now.
The VI needs an outreach team, staffed by a mid level provider, nurses, a social worker etc. to go to the mentally ill and homeless where they are. They will not come to a clinic. They could monitor health. administer meds, first aid and sandwiches etc. There are mental health professionals who support this idea, but not much higher up, ie funding. See what you can do, guys.

I admire that the posters to this thread have shown such compassion toward those with mental disorders on the islands and stateside.
My brother worked in the Mental Health profession for most of his life, and has really opened my eyes about the real sadness of the situation. Some of which could have been avoided by using less drugs and alcohol, and some which could never have been prevented.
I myself, had a pretty scary situation in St. Maarten when a man focused on a friend of mine who had fallen behind me and my friends while we were walking down a back street. When I noticed my friend was far behind us, I tried to get the others in my group to wait for him but, they were in deep conversation with each other and continued on. So, I went back to our lagging friend, only to witness a man coming out of the dark behind, ready to wrap his hands around my friend's neck. All I could do was to intently focus on the man's face in a shocked "I see you!" look.
The man hadn't been looking at me at all but, to my surprise he suddenly froze as if I had screamed it out loud in his ear, and looked up like he was searching for who said it, and saw me giving him the hardest 'stink-eye' I could muster. I realized immediately he was insane by his following reactions, and curiously, my friend was oblivous to the whole thing. I have never experienced my heart racing as hard.
There will always be those that live at the edges of reality, and with continued compassion as shown in this thread, it will touch the hearts of the readers who visit this site.

I just wanted to clarify that, I have never had a bad experience in the U.S.V.I on any of my visits there.
It's always wise to be aware of your surroundings like these people have advised, and my experience in St. Maarten only brought that home to me even more.

"I have always said that a measure of a society is how it treats and provides for its weakest members - the US and the VI are not scoring very highly right now."

I think the measure of a society is how many of it's members take advantage of the opportunities given them. Some people choose to take drugs and ruin their lives. They are not my responsibility to 'fix'.