This afternoon I have to deliver a cake to THE most dangerous neighborhood in our twin cities. That said, the people I'm delivering to are very nice, articulate people who happen to live there because housing is so expensive. ANYWAY~ it's not unusual for bullets to go flying in the evening, drug busts, rape, etc. I'm delvering late afternoon and I'm not going alone, but was wondering if anyone else has had to deliver to dangerous neighborhoods? This state is far more violent than people want to believe.
It was first set up as a "pick-up", but they were in a bad car accident and have only one car. Besides, I'm supposed to locally deliver the majority of my cakes anyway.
The hairs are standing up on the back of my neck just thinking about it...

I would def. NEVER deliver a cake if I didnt feel comfortable. Your safety is the most important thing. Is there a way you could meet your client half way?

Sorry you feel this way.

I would try to do it half-way. If it's THAT bad. Or you could have someone, or several come with you.

Wow, I've never been faced with this so I'm not sure how I'd feel about delivering to a place like that. I'm glad you're not going alone, that's the important thing.

One of my sisters is an RN and works for a visiting nurse company in RI. She sometimes has patients to see in the housing projects. She phones into her office when she arrives and tells them that if they don't hear back from her in 30 minutes to call the police and report a problem. I personally think it's crazy that she goes alone, but thankfully she's never had a problem.

Good luck, I hope the delivery goes smoothly, keep us posted.

I made it back unscathed The lady was nice enough to meet me at the sidewalk and luckily her building was RIGHT on the corner so it was quick.

Seriously though, if I mentioned this particular street by name, I bet almost everyone in our state would know the street I was referring to.
Deb, you might even know since you're right in Mass. This street is ALWAYS in the news for crime, assault, child abuse, murder....
Can you believe the private high school I went to was just down the street from "crime central"? We saw prostitutes on the corner every morning outside a particular convenience store.

On a positive note~ she told me she is going to be a repeat customer. And the family is vegan... which I didn't realize. She doesn't speak much english, so her son helped quite a bit.

I'm happy that you're back safe and sound! I feel bad for the poor people that HAVE to live in places like that, or that those places even exist in this country. We don't realize how very fortunate we are................

Last year I had to deliver a cake to a really bad part of town. I made sure my mom went with me since my DH couldn't. A simple drop off turned into a nightmare with getting turned around and there is mainly one way streets there. It was such a pain. It was at night also so that made it worse, but everything turned out fine. The b-day girl loved her cake so I can't complain.

Glad you got back safe and you'll have a repeat customer. That's great.

I'm so glad that you updated your post after reading the first one! I'd never deliver to an area that I feel unsafe in.. perhaps they could arrange to meet you somewhere in between next time? I'm so glad you took someone with you as well! Always error on the side of caution! I'm so glad you're safe!

Wow, is it really that serious, it must be very uncomfortable to always require your husband to be home for pick ups. I don't think I could live like that for long. Good to hear you are all right, and will have repeat business.

As a home health physical therapist assistant, yes, I do have to go to some bad neighborhoods and even bad houses. Some can't help where they live.

One elderly lady lived right next door to a crack house. I had to go in the morning before noon because the next door people slept until noon. The weekend before I started seeing this lady, there was a drive-by shooting and the man across the street was killed. As I was knocking on the door, I realized there was a bullet hole right about my head in the door trim.

Another pt's daughter had just gotten out of prison and she proceeded to cuss me out because she thought I wasn't doing my job--calling the doctor about something that is not PT related. Told me she wasn't scared of jail or police. I politely finished treatment with my patient and told her I would see her the next day. Left and called the office. Told them I would not be going back to see the patient.

Our safety is first and foremost--if we are uncomfortable about something or have been threatened, we don't have to go.

I NEVER deliver to the dangerous/bad parts of my city, no matter what..I ALWAYS have them meet me half way..my life is more important to me than a cake delivery gone bad.

K2cakes okay now you have me wondering what happened in 1984????

Me too...Some articles popped up about two girls, and a 18 yr old lady and a couple.

ok I know I'll probably be scolded, but dangerous neighborhoods never scare me. This is why: I used to work in the inner-city in San Francisco at a non-profit. I would take the bus into work everyday and walk 3 blocks or so to work. On the way, all the drug dealers in the area work that side of the street by the hotels.

These hotels are old hotels from the 1920's that have been converted to cheap one-bedroom apartments with shared bathrooms. THey are low rent and lots of shut-ins and transients live in these old hotels. I would often hear people yell, "Vicodin!! Vicodin!! Codeine! Codeiene!" and do deals right then and there.

Two guys would come down from their hotel room/apartments every morning to smoke on the steps. I would pass them everyday and they would be talking drugs, women, etc.... they often would do the two-finger wave to me when I passed since it was always the same time every day and they knew I worked up the street.

One morning I was passing and this was their conversation, "I tell you man.... one day Imna pull it together and get myself a job, get myself a place and get myself a girl JUST like THAT." then they pointed and waved. I still laugh when I think about it.

I just used to know to cross the street when I saw people dealing drugs up ahead and the other thing that people should remember is to be bold. If someone was following me which happened once in a while, I would wait a block or so and stop dead in my tracks. Turn all the way around and look at the man, eye-to-eye for at least 2-3 seconds, then slowly turn around and continue walking. Then the person knows that YOU know he is following you. And they stop 99% of the time.

Here are some tips I learned from working in a dangerous place for 5 years:

1) watch with your eyes and be vigilant. Use your peripheral vision and be aware of what is going on around you at all times. Don't be distracted in conversation if you can help it once you get off a bus or out of your car.

2) Be bold and don't look like a wimp who could be mugged or worse. Stand tall and walk briskly.

3) Look a potential follower right in the eyes. It tells the person that YOU know they are either following you or just watching you.

4) walk on the other side of the street if trouble is ahead

5) avoid nighttime and very hot weather. Believe it or not, people are out and about in hot weather and causing more trouble because they usually don't have air conditioning in their rooms, they are more irritable and tend to fight, and kids are out of school in the summer and are downtown, up to no good. Lots of reasons to be more careful in crime areas in hot weather.

I delivered in a semi-bad neighborhood once, but took someone with me and it was completely fine.
There are some areas of my city that I would not go to under any circumstances. One time when my son was a baby, I was driving around looking for a specialty shop, got kind of lost by kept going, kept going until I ended up in a very scary part of town I did not even know existed. I was freaked, but the chances of something happening to you the one time you are there are pretty slim. People live there for years and years and never get shot or raped or attacked.
But still, if you don't feel safe, make them pick it up.