Undercover Angel

My life is very, very different than it was a month ago. I’m really happy to be back in DC, and it does feel like home now (even though I’m still staying in a Hostel and don’t have a home yet). But that doesn’t mean I’m not at times taken aback by how drastically things have changed.

Little example: I got my haircut a few days ago. It was a pleasant experience and turned out great, but nothing unexpected happened. There was no disc sander massage; there was no violent neck crack. There was just a solid haircut that was 900% more expensive than the last one.

Big example: As part of doing research for LiveSafe, my colleague Samier and I went on a street patrol with the Guardian Angels this week in the Elvans Road section of the Anacostia neighborhood of DC, where a bunch of shootings have happened recently (indeed, the Angels were patrolling there specifically because of the shootings). Needless to say, it was an exhilarating 3.5 hours, but nothing really bad happened (all good, Mom!). What did happen, though, is that my “pale” skin attracted a bit of verbal attention. The disappointing part, though, after seeing pictures like the one above, is that I was heckled for totally the wrong reason – I mean, how silly do I look in that beret? Could I look more ridiculous & less inTIMidating? Samier had also never worn a beret before, but he almost looks stylish. I feel Rusty’s pain.