

Living in the USA seems harrowing
It depends heavily on where you are in the US. I grew up in a crime/poverty stricken area, and gun violence was pretty much a daily thing. But the town I live in now has literally never had a single act of gun violence. We all have guns, but we use them for target shooting and hunting. Moving to the woods from an inner city was like night and day. Growing up, if I heard gunshots I knew that someone was getting hurt/killed. Now if I hear gunshots, it’s just the neighbors practicing for deer season.








I used to work in a prison (I was a civilian kitchen supervisor, not a guard), and I encountered a lot of gang members from a variety of gangs. Kitchen jobs are highly sought after by inmates, because not only are they among the highest paying jobs an inmate can get, but the job also comes with essentially unlimited food. Normal inmates walking down the chow line would get 2 pieces on fried chicken day, but some kitchen workers would down a dozen or more. I say that to say: The gang members I worked with were on their best behavior so they didn’t risk losing their sweet gig. All feuds were on pause in the kitchen. Gang members who would otherwise be at each other’s throats were laughing and joking with each other, playing Spades during breaks, and eating at the same table. They all treated me with respect, and I didn’t have any issues.
The ones who didn’t work with me, genpop inmates, well sometimes things got very violent. I saw more stabbings/slashings than I can count on both hands, and I didn’t even work there very long.