These words were penned during one of my recent trips to Houston, Texas. I am posting it here for posterity-sake.
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December 2, 2005
Part-fantasy and part-reality. These are the exact words I would describe the moment I stepped into the fabled roadways of Houston, Texas.
Visiting one of my old friends in Houston proved to be a big treat for us hikers. A night of darts, driving and dancing can even make the season road-veteran crinch. Nonetheless, we were billeted well and had one of the most meomorable experience ever!
Houston is not a place for the faint-hearted. Or so I thought. JJ (my friend) was telling stories of street gangs, crime rate hike and the like. But I was not discouraged. What else is new in America these days. In fact, I am even more intrigued. I mean, such phenomenon almost always exist in any one city in America anyway.
And like most American cities, Houston is often known as a haven for gangs. If a person does not fall into the trap early, fine. But for people with strong emotional attachments to his/her race or culture, gangs are a way to establish belongingness, oneness and sense of importance in an otherwise individualistic dog eats dog society. Asians, blacks and most other minority migrants seem to share a common angst againts the dominant class.
Hence the resentment contained, suppressed until eventually exploding into a vast array of crimes, petty and all. Having to witnessed one myself at close range myself makes you wonder why such human tendencies still plague humanity for ages!
It is an irony. Or opportunity masked as one?
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