So, has anyone seen the show "Gangland" on the History Channel? Specifically the "Maniacal" episode?

Of those of you who have, did one of the Humboldt Park intersections ring a bell to you? Did you then see my former apartment on the show? Pretty crazy that I lived on what, only a few years prior, was (according to the program) the highest earning drug-dealing corner in Humboldt Park. As I told my brother, at least I can say I lived somewhere moderately famous...

Now, let me tell you...I don't think of myself as someone who really grew up having it rough. Yeah, you know, my neighborhood wasn't the greatest in the world, and it has only gotten more dangerous since the day I was born. I can say I'm "street smart" and I like to think I'm not oblivious to what's going on around me. But it's funny, and a bit scary too, to think that me and Butch, who lived there with me in that apartment, couldn't read the signs about this place.

Yes, none of us got hurt, nor did any of our loved ones. Yes, generally, we were left alone. And, yes, we didn't live there during the absolute worst time -- the 1990s. However, it's not as though it was all peaches and cream around there. There were Sunday nights/Monday mornings when I'd be coming home from in-season PFW work and I'd have to park about 2-3 blocks away from the apt. and walk, at 2 or 3 a.m. through that neighborhood. I never saw anybody, and I guess my oblivion kept me only marginally fearful. But I was scared enough that I would be up for the next hour in bed trying to get my nerves and senses off high-alert/high-awareness. Plenty of times, Gina would come over, and then leave, and she'd be parked a block or so away, and somebody would make comments and crap. She was scared, and I was nervous, but not enough to worry heavily about it.

I just guess I wish I would have been less stupid about it. In retrospect, I'm caught by surprise. Yeah, you know, I got a hello from this or that person on the street, and most of the other people generally left me alone. But still. I pride myself on staying out AND away from troublesome/dangerous situations, and I guess, after seeing this TV show, even though it's mostly based on events that happened five years or more prior to my arrival, I'm disappointed in myself. I should have done more, better research at the time, and now I feel very lucky to have gotten away from there with few to no incidents.