in the ghetto

Every day, to keep myself sane, I look at apartments on Craigslist. (You could argue that this is actually supporting insanity, but let's not split hairs.)

Today as I was clicking through the assortment of apartments in my price range that are located in an assortment of extremely sketchy looking neighborhoods, I was reminded of my lovely little shack in everyone's favorite armpit: Jersey City, New Jersey.

I thought about it because often on my journey through the latest rental properties Craigslist has to offer, I find myself skipping over certain zip codes, areas of town, neighborhoods, specific streets or intersections, with the following thought of dismissal: "My parents would NEVER let me live there."

I'm aware that I'm a grown person, and I can rent an apartment anywhere I want. Technically. And to be fair, I didn't know Jersey City from a ham sandwich when I found that place. And there was a Greek orthodox church on the corner! My Greek friend Harry says that the Greeks would never have a church in an unsafe area, because they're generally too nervous, as a people. That's reassuring, right?

Still. My parents would have NEVER let me live there.

All things considered, though, there were only police choppers circling that neighborhood ONCE in the entire year I lived there. That's pretty good, right?

cheers,

elizabeth