Here I will compare my walk down Santa Clara Street at dark to my walk back up from Santa Clara Street at dark.
First walk down: Walking by myself around 7:30 with just a jacket and backpack. Within 9 blocks I was the victim of 2 "hey mami"s, 1 "hey you need a ride?", 3 honks, and I'm pretty sure at least 1 "Hey excu' me!"
Second walk back up: I made it to the Happy Thrift Store half an hour before closing time to pick up a lamp. Naturally, I was 1 mile+ away from the house and had to find an inventive method of transporting an awkward and bulky object back. The Asian thrift store owner has become quite the acquaintance after these past couple days of thrift store hunting and gathering and so he let me borrow his dolly for the second time for the small deposit of $5.00. So, here I am. Dolly and lamp in hands, rolling down 9 blocks up and 5 blocks over, making the most noise in all the neighborhood, and not receiving a single whistle or perverted stare. (And yes, they all look exactly like that.) It's the most amazing thing, really. I'm starting to figure out how to survive in this big city, one step at a time. The key is to act like you're crazy from the start. What kind of crazy mother effer is going to mess with a girl pushing a 7 foot tall heavy lamp on a dolly through the streets of San Jose at night? No one, that's who. New goal: get crazy before the crazies get you.
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