Everyday from the world: In the United States, the number of violent crimes is so clearly rising that it cannot be overlooked in one’s daily life, writes ‘s US journalist Yuri von Bonsdorff.
WASHINGTON A meter-long dark spot stands out against the faded asphalt of the sidewalk. I ride it with my dog.
Around the corner of our apartment building, two characters wash the steps that lead to the terrace of a Cuban restaurant. One uses a pressure syringe, the other threshes with a brush.
The vision is unusual. It takes a while before my head cuts. They wash away the blood that spilled on the street.
The 19-year-old boy who had been stabbed had tried to fetch an acquaintance living in our house after the attack. Inside, however, he did not have time to run out of forces on the cold concrete.
Somewhere the young man’s mother cries out in pain. On our stairs, a cleaning company removes the traces of violence, and the dog marks its territory against the street lamp.
There is a lump the size of a stone in my stomach, but the next day is everyday and life goes on.
It’s no secretthat the United States has always been a violent country. I myself have lived here for almost fifteen years. Never has violence come under my skin in the same way it does now.
In the last few months, my home corners have been shot at least half a dozen times. Small shops and cafes have had to repair their shop windows frequently. One entrepreneur found a bullet in the cushions of his barber chair.
A few weeks ago, after the chase, police shot the man who threatened a gun. Withered bouquets and dirty plush toys were in place until recently as I jogged past them.
In recent days here in the U.S. capital, headlines have resulted in deadly car hijackings.
There are residential areas around Washington DC where there are few violent crimes. Elsewhere, they happen almost daily.
My own area is home to both a well-off middle class and a poorer and more diverse population.
There used to be crime every now and then, but now it feels like it’s everywhere.
According to statistics, violent crime in our neighborhood increased by more than forty percent last year.
In the largest cities, the number of homicides has increased by about 30 percent in two years.
I myself have had to thinkhow increased violence affects my own life.
My daughter in her twenties returned home from the bar around Christmas half an hour before bullets swarmed across the street. Should adult children also be required to return home?
My wife and I decided she wouldn’t go on an evening tour with the dog anymore.
Otherwise, our lives will continue to be normal. I’m a little more alert in the evenings than before, but I don’t want to give too much room for fear. In spite of everything, there is much more beauty and human warmth in the world and in our own neighborhood than there is anger.
But will your own shell harden or will your heart get cold if you raise your arms and accept the evil that is happening around you as part of your life? You don’t want to get depressed, but the numbness doesn’t feel good either.
Nine children were shot dead in Washington last year, 11 in Los Angeles, 36 in Philadelphia and 59 in Chicago.
It has something to digest from a birdhouse in Finland.
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