WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

LA Gang Tours

(Thanks to Annie Where-but-here and marfie)¹

¹Please post a comment asap if one of us* is going to be fired.

*Guess.

Comments

[Horace LaBadie]

Gang fights hourly! Fun for the whole family!

[WriterDude]

Riding the Metro Rail through South Central can accomplish pretty much the same thing for a $5 day pass.

[wiredog]

Many years ago ,during my first (and, so far, only) trip to LA, I was going from Huntington Beach to Manhattan Beach. So I pulled out the map and drove there via Long Beach. My friend in Manhattan, upon hearing of this, said "Dude! That's the hood!"

I replied that I figured that out when I saw the guys on the low rider bullet bikes.

Since that was back when I had a waist length mullet, and I was driving an 8 year old Honda Prelude, no there gave me a second look.

[Will]

"Are these gang tours a legitimate teaching tool? Or do they just cater to the unsavory curiosity of people while exploiting the city's dark underbelly? "

Yes.. definitely.

[Not My Usual Alias]

Make sure to wear neutral colors.

[Richard the Weasel-Hearted]

Doonesbury did this decades ago. Anyone else remember Rufus taking Mike, Bernie, et al on a "Ghetto Tour"?

[bonmot]

My father-in-law got us lost driving from some beach to LAX. We went through some scary 'hoods and saw no less than three police officers with guns drawn on a 45 minute trip.

Did you know they graffiti the SHRUBS in some of the barrios?

[Steve]

It isn't only in LA. I was once asked to take photos of a nuisance in a place way out in the country called "Granny's Branch". Granny must have been a tough old bitch.
I had two assistant "lookouts" with me. I took about five pictures when I heard, "Go! Go! Go!" and we all piled into the car.
I was too involved with the camera to see the guns but I was assured the others had.
I have to stop and think about how many times in my life I've had guns pointed at me and I've never been to LA.
I don't fear spiders and snakes because they don't shoot.

[Clankazoid]

Here in Northern Minnesota the " Bears at the Dump Tour " is only $ 29.95. You can throw snowballs at them for an extra $5.

[Hammond Rye]

I went to cover an Air Force exercise in Wisconsin back in the 80s. I was close enough to drive so I took a USAF staff car. I took the wrong exit off of the Interstate in Chicago and ended up in the wrong, wrong, wrong neighborhood. I felt very alone.

[bmb]

Are people allowed to take pictures of the drug deals in progress ? (and of course put them on facebook)

[Miss Chevious]

Richard,

YES! That was my first thought. Mike Doonesbury in the hood! ROFL!

[bonmot]

"Do you have to flash a gang sign to board the bus?" he asked, Criptically.

[Ralph]

What's new about slumming? It's been passed off as entertainment for centuries.

[Wes S.]

If they get jacked, I'm gonna laugh.

[Mad Librarian]

I didn't grow up in the hood, but when bike-riding as a kid I knew which street to stop at before I got there.
I did not get my distinguished-looking gray hair by doing stupid things like these people.

On the other hand, if they drove the tour bus through the hood while rocking out to John Denver, I would definitely pay for video.

[Will]

Mad Librarian: Are you kidding? "The Hood" will be lining the street with concession stands (yes even the drug dealers) Everyone around these tourists could get killed, but they won't touch them or the bus. Don't harm the money or the ride it came in on.

It could spark a whole new industry :)