The thing is, there are groups of teens hanging out in our area as a matter of course, and I'm used to them. But at first, I didn't read these guys as "kids from the neighborhood." And yet they probably were. There are definitely guys from the neighborhoods farther south and east that are trouble, but these weren't them. Once I cut out the irrational automatic reflex, and started really looking and "reading" them, I could see that. It's hard to quantify it - some of it's just several decades of people-watching, and I can't be more specific. But I'm annoyed that I couldn't apply those lessons from the start.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2007-08-10 02:23 am (UTC)The thing is, there are groups of teens hanging out in our area as a matter of course, and I'm used to them. But at first, I didn't read these guys as "kids from the neighborhood." And yet they probably were. There are definitely guys from the neighborhoods farther south and east that are trouble, but these weren't them. Once I cut out the irrational automatic reflex, and started really looking and "reading" them, I could see that. It's hard to quantify it - some of it's just several decades of people-watching, and I can't be more specific. But I'm annoyed that I couldn't apply those lessons from the start.