I concur; thought it was going to happen to me this a.m.

Posted on: March 10, 2020 at 16:45:17 CT

Went to the Secretary of State's office downtown at 9th and Olive to file something. Prefer a trip to the dentist. When you get to downtown, you have to stop it seems at every traffic light. There are no sensors and you can sit for two or three minutes at an abandoned intersection.

And that's the fun part. When you get out of your car, it is scary how many buildings are abandoned or vacant. The last few times I have been there I noticed about the only people out on the streets are drug dealers or homeless people.

As I was walking back to my car, one of the latter (or maybe a combination of both), approached me asking me to give him some money for this marijuana he had. I refused and he did not like taking no for an answer. He got real upset when I didn't give in to him. I opened my car remotely and thought he was going to try to get in my car on the passenger side, and then it would have been on. Fortunately, he walked off and I got in my car and got out of dodge.

I am a lifelong resident of St. Louis, and the last two or three times I went downtown I did not feel safe at all. I have never had an actual confrontation (not counting today; I am 6-1 about (a beefy) 240, so maybe they figure there are easier marks out there), but downtown continues to deteriorate. It's a shame.