Several people I know wouldn't visit America if you paid them. And the main reason is the widespread belief that it's like Dodge City everywhere, with rival gangs doing shoot-outs or drive-in shootings or whatever at all hours of the day and night.
So is this a fair impression?
How many of you have actually seen or (God forbid) been caught up in such a ghastly situation, with guns and things going off all over the place?
Is it really like that, or is it all a myth?
2006-10-15 10:26:06 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Entertainment & Music ➔ Polls & Surveys
Yes.
And let's be clear that it's true BECAUSE we can't sit around all day with tea and scones and rowing over the Queen's latest goings-on like you Brits do, can we?
We wouldn't have time to re-load our guns if we played cricket all day like you Brits.
And we'd be stuck in council flats and on the queue for the dole if we didn't steal from each other.
Lol -- Umm, don't let TV rule your impression of any culture. Part of TV's charm, and movies as well, is their ability to fabricate existence as seen fit.
Brilliant! :)
2006-10-15 10:30:01 · answer #1 · answered by fitpro11 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most of this kind of thing happens in the larger cities. But it does happen too much. I have been in a situation where the police stopped traffic in order to keep people back while arresting a bad guy. But this as close as I have come.
No this is not a fair impression of America. 99% of us here are law abiding people. Just like where you live I would presume. But here, we put it all on TV for the world to see. We hide very little. I would imagine that you have criminals where you live also. I would also guess that there are murders committed there.
You will not see people wearing guns in public. You will not see people fist fighting on public streets. (Usually anyway.)
There are some parts of the larger cities where people do shoot it out on a regular basis. But these are the ghetto parts of the city where drugs are rampant. And your friends would not go anyway.
I really don't know what else to tell you. We are a country of human beings just like you. We have good and bad. Just like you. But no, it is not like the Dodge City of old west times. Dodge City still exists and it is not a wild place anymore. No more horses running down the dirt covered streets. No more bad guys in long black coats. No more Colt 45 pistols or Winchester rifles in saddle scabbards. Just plain folks like you and me.
2006-10-15 10:47:24 · answer #2 · answered by It All Matters.~☺♥ 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well...
I live in Atlanta, Georgia. The "south" for a better choice of words.
I have only been around shoot-outs once in my life. I was very young and living in a very bad neighborhood. It was nothing serious though, no one got hurt. However, I must admit America is a very violent country. The whole government is a bully and a pimp combined. We attack if someone so much as say our name, and we tell our own citizens lies. Think about it...no one that answers this question can probably tell you the color of the Iraq uniforms. The government tells us anything these days.
In contrast, it is not all bad. There are good places to live and there are people that never experience any of this in their entire lives. I wouldn't live anywhere else in the world. America is the nastiness foulest racist meanest sweetest loving caring most beautiful place in the world. And I stick by my opinion.
2006-10-15 10:31:55 · answer #3 · answered by atlsfemaleassassain 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It's not that way in central Illinois. All too often the media highlights the bad things & ignores the good.
Wouldn't it be refreshing to hear about the kid that mows his elderly neighbor's yard for free or the many non-profit organizations that raise money to help the less fortunate.
2006-10-15 10:45:40 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have never ever seen or even been near this situation. I do not know a single living person that has either. You hear it on the news, but that is about it. It must be a reality somewhere in America, but not in any part I have ever lived in.
2006-10-15 10:34:23 · answer #5 · answered by Nikki Tesla 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I am from Sydney Australia and yes, I must say that about 10 years ago many of us Australian's had that impression, mainly about NYC. But now it is so different. Now I think of NYC to be much safer than Sydney because our violence levels have gone up ridiculously high. My father visited America (NYC, Los Angeles, Las Vegas) and he said that he felt so much safer there than in Sydney.
2006-10-15 10:31:00 · answer #6 · answered by Hanky 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
We do have ghastly situation, with guns and things going off, but is only 15.7 % of the America.
2006-10-15 10:29:32 · answer #7 · answered by justmejimw 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Well it depends if you live in a really bad neighborhood in a really bad area of the city. But Jersey City is safe from my point of view
2006-10-15 10:29:01 · answer #8 · answered by ? 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some poverty-stricken neighborhoods are war zones because of drugs and the associated crime, but they are not included on the tour routes set up for tourists.
2006-10-15 10:28:53 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have never seen a gang fight, or even any gang members..not one. but it depends on the city, just lyke any other country, if you go to downtown new york in a dark alley, yea, you'll see plenty
2006-10-15 10:31:02 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋