It's strange that a little over a month ago, I was traveling the unexplored regions of Southeast Asia and in what appears to be a blink of an eye, I have been deposed in Hartford, CT - home of the largest conglomerate of insurance companies in the world. The transition has been remarkable - considering the drastic spectrum that I have traveled since my time on the other side of the world. Of course, my deposition in Hartford merely signifies the end of my freedom, and quite possibly the end of one of the best summers of my life: the first summer in a long time in which I did not have to work.
Hartford also symbolizes the beginning of much hard work, time sacrifice, and intense focus - the likes of which I have not experienced since the end of that tumultuous senior year in college, where I managed to pull off crew, a year long senior thesis, work study, and a full course load to boot. Alas, the fun has come to an end, and it is finally time to move on to bigger and better things in Connecticut.
Hartford has a way of welcoming visitors into the warm open arms of the city streets; and by this I meant my experience this morning - when upon exiting my apartment, I discovered that my car had been towed from Farmington Ave. In retrospect, I should have been more attentive to the signs - not taking any risks in a new city. But then again, I was heeding to the calls of nature, not to mention I was frustrated from the shear amount of loose packing my parents managed to shove into my car before I departed.
Nevertheless, the car debacle resulted in me having to run the 3.6 miles to Corona's Towing - costing me not only my morning (I did manage to squeeze a workout from the ordeal), but also nearly $140 in which I will never get to use for any purpose other than retrieve my vehicle. Lesson learned: I will no longer drive my car at night - and I shall refrain from parking my car on any major roads in Hartford for the remainder of my time here.
This lesson could have simply been handed to me on a piece of paper. Instead, I had to learn the hard way. But I am a firm believer in the silver lining within every dark cloud. While I was running angrily towards Corona's, I ran through what many would consider the so called 'ghetto' of East Hartford. In my opinion, my run two weeks ago through Albany Ave. appeared to be far worst in terms of infrastructure and overall negative effect.
However, something dawned on me while on the run: There is a pervasive culture among the white elite (i.e. those who grew up among a white majority in mostly affluent suburbs) where anything that does not resemble their general white neighborhoods, may very well be perceived as a threat. A major reason for this may be attributed to media portrayal (i.e. Training Day, Boyz in the Hood, Replacement Killers, to name a few quickly off the top of my head), where the ethnic minority are generally portrayed to be up to something sketchy. What happens thereafter is the permeation of stereotypes that form the basis of fear among the white elite, thereby causing them to skip out entirely on those regions deemed to be 'unsafe' (translation: ethnic neighborhoods).
But I ask you this: how many of the people that I have spoken to - who have warned me about the dangers of certain neighborhoods - have actually stepped foot and interacted with people in those neighborhoods? Granted, I am not advertising that I have not succumbed to media portrayals - but at least I can say that I have managed to accidentally throw myself into the middle of these areas deemed to be 'unsafe' (I still wouldn't run there at night), and would continue to do so (albeit unintentionally) until otherwise. What I saw today - in spite of a few sketchy characters lining the streets at 11am - were fully developed ethnic neighborhoods with a strong sense of community, particularly that of the Latin population in East Hartford. In fact, the neighborhood around Park St. reminded me of the Chinatown ghettos in which I have I have been a part - just people trying to make a living - supporting one another in some way possible. Even the neighborhood around Trinity College (Broad St) didn't seem that bad at first glance, in the morning, especially after hearing dire warnings from people to avoid the neighborhood outside of Trinity's campus at all costs.
Perhaps I need to make myself more available for these kinds of situations. What I truly enjoy about living in Hartford - aside from not being towed - is the diversity that is prevalent throughout the city; a diversity that cannot be found in places like Saratoga Springs, NY or any other small towns that harbor college students. That way, the diversity will hopefully open eyes as to the world beyond the sheltered lives of many of us who pursue advanced degrees, and even college degrees, so that we may truly understand one another beyond the media-portrayals of the news and Hollywood. I may not say yes to any business propositions from some guy name Tyrone outside of the Dollar Store in Farmington, but at least I will not avoid him, but shake his hand confidently, and smile when I introduce myself and say "No" to whatever the heck he wants to sell.
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