The iPhone cometh…almost with high caliber gunfire and blood

August 26, 2008

I’ve finally joined the ranks of the enlightened multitudes (as Ernest Lawrence Thayer would have called them) and purchased an iPhone.

I got this fantastic gadget from a guy in a slightly seedy Jamaica Plain neighborhood, though it’s not what you think. The transaction was set up over Craigslist and the seller was a perfectly normal guy with no obvious ties to crime, gangs, deceit or anything untoward. His beautiful house was just in a part of town that didn’t have as much refinement as I’m used to.

Is that classist? I suppose so. But maybe when you read the following bullets (not actual ones – although they could have come soon enough) you will understand my concerns….

• I rode the scooter into Jamaica Plain and found the seller’s house. It was on a one-way street accessible only via a series of other one-way streets. When I first arrived I chose to break the law and drive the wrong way up the one-way street to avoid a crowd of teens hanging around a tricked out Honda Civic.

• While I waited, no fewer than three other cars came up the street the wrong way as well. Perhaps they were blind or blatant traffic law breakers, or they were also staying away from the ‘gang’ at the end of the road.

• I was too early so I went for a ride to a local pub where Boston Media Makers meets – Doyle’s. I used the facilities and received a call from the seller informing me that he was now home. I returned to the neighborhood.

• This time I decided to brave the crowd of kids – that had now turned into two crowds of nearly nine kids in each group (that’s about 20 teens taunting each other). As I approached, one kid pulled an aluminum baseball bat out of the front seat of the Civic and started to chase a girl across the street. She ran and he turned and tossed the bat back in the car. I buzzed past the group and then saw the police car.

• Just a half block away from where the kid with the bat assaulted (that’s what threatening with a weapon is called I believe) the girl, there was ANOTHER gang jostling about and being approached by two uniformed cops. I kept going. Real nice neighborhood.

• Once I got past that group I thought I was home free until a group of younger kids, five youths between 11 and 14 years old, chased my scooter for about 10 feet before giving up (I’m very glad I got the bigger engine as it accelerates quickly).

• When I arrived at the house, the iPhone seller advised me to put the scooter out of sight and near the door to the house.

Now what do you think? Nice place to visit?

Bear in mind, it was the middle of the summer and it was only 6PM. Still light out. People around everywhere.

Oh, I almost forgot. As I came out of the house, three more cops raced down the guy’s street to assist the police officers who were there already.

Now that I’m all worked up again I need to do some yoga and breathe deeply. I’ll tell you about the iPhone in another post.

More to come…