Reply to Union Station at 10 PM on a Wednesday?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I would have been in the “land the helicopter” crowd a few years ago, but we moved away from DC and I am back visiting. We’re staying on Capitol Hill and are shocked by the aggressive homeless people in and around Union Station, as well as how many shops are closed, etc.  If you haven’t been there lately, it’s not the place it was pre-pandemic. I think the metro would be fine, if it’s running that late, but I wouldn’t want my naive kid standing around waiting for an Uber at that time of night. [/quote]

Exactly my point (OP here). It is NOT the place it was pre-pandemic. I loved Union Station then. The aggressive homeless are out of control. Going there at 10 AM to take a train to NYC, not really concerned. Coming home when the train itself could be late, then has to try and find my husband? I'm just not comfortable with that. He's shy and quiet and would be the perfect victim frankly. At least with a bus, he's coming home into a quiet suburb where he can be picked up directly at the stop.

People can tell me to cut the cord all they want. Don't care. He went off for a month on a student exchange to Europe at 16 and I was only mildly concerned as I knew where he was going was safe and he wasn't traveling alone. I know he's excited to take the train, but he really doesn't understand the station and the area at late at night is different then during the day. There's a time and place and this is neither.[/quote]

I’m the “it’s not the place it used to be” pp here, and I just got back from the Nats game, which concluded with running out of the stadium with my teen and hiding with him in the bathroom of a restaurant. We kept hearing gunfire and there was zero information about what was happening. I was really proud of my teen — he wasn’t with me when it started, but he called immediately while I was still fumbling to get out my phone, and we found each other and made a break for it. However, he was terrified.  He’s just a few months away from being 18, but I saw tonight that he is still a kid in many ways.

And, seriously, this isn’t the town it used to be. I’ve been to a dozen games at Nats Park, even when the neighborhood was less gentrified than it is now, and while I am always careful in crowds, it has never occurred to me to be afraid there. I moved here in the 80’s, and worked downtown when it was still seriously sketchy, and this seems worse. [/quote]OP here. Well that’s scary as hell and I’m glad you both are safe. There are so many people (my husband included) who are in denial about the changes going on. I’ve expressed my concerns and am getting the ‘you are crazy’ talks and looks. Husband said he will park car and go to the platform or as close to it as possible to pick up our kid. I’m now at the ‘you have to experience it for yourself’ phase of this and will silently pray that nothing happens to either. I can do nothing to change their plans. Add to this that I’m in a sensitive place now after my neighbor losing their 21 year old daughter to unexplained sudden heart failure a couple weeks ago.  That beautiful, lively, intelligent, previously healthy girl is gone and I’m struggling for them and with them. My heart is broken. It drove home how fragile life is and how short our time can possibly be with our kids.[/quote]

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