#outdoor hallway discourse

[nerves-nebula]

where i am the outside hallways aren't called anything because the only places that have them are small motels and mayyyybe a few other places. They're more likely to be referred to as a walkway/sidewalk with an overhang than anything else lol (though I live up north, like the type of north that sometimes in winter it's so cold your eyelashes freeze if you're outside for a few minutes, so)

im from the midwest, like one of the parts where it can get pretty cold, and tbh i havent really thought a lot about what they're called either since i dont see them a ton. where im from we'd probably not call them a sidewalk, MAYBE a walkway. but i think if my family was staying a motel and I was like "where is X Person" and someone responded "they're in the hallway" I wouldnt really bat an eye so idk why this is hard for some ppl to grasp.

[nerves-nebula]

wait sorry adding to the sidewalk with overhangs ask, "outside hallways" is associated with sketchiness where I am. It's a sign that a place either didn't have enough money to actually pay for a hallway/walls, a place that's old and/or rundown, a place that doesn't care about the safety of their customers/people who'll use it, or an american business trying to move in (but failing, and here america is kinda dunked on lol)

It's odd seeing people talk about them in a positive light because here if they are ever talked about (so rare that I've had MAYBE one conversation about them, but that's it) it's in a negative light. It's cool that it works in other places though!

woa, idk where you're from, and maybe its the poor in me that makes this next observation jump out to me, but associating outdoor hallways with sketchiness is kind of interesting to me. cause the two main places i see them (where I'm from) are low income housing and motels. two places that are famous for housing poor people and poc. maybe thats why ive never really associated them with anything bad despite their bad rep, cause i kinda like those groups of people.

not saying that kind of prejudice is necessarily whats happening where you're from (i have no idea where ur from) but its an interesting thought to me.

any dunking of american business is usually deserved so w/e

[nerves-nebula]

oh shoot sorry it sounded like prejudice, my apologies

(long, also tw??) It's more like in my town there's only like 2 motels and one is 1000% a love motel (which, not saying those are bad, but that building is such a health hazard that it gets closed down a lot. Anyone going there is risking their life tbh). And the other one shut down a while back after the roof collapsed.

There's a fair bit of shady things that go on around here (we're a town that's big enough to be considered a city but it's more like a small town that just kept growing to include other small towns. It's weird and means that there's sections of town that's built up and large sections of older houses kinda falling apart) which means we're uhh on route between larger cities for not great things. (trafficking, kidnapping, etc sorta bad stuff).

Even though there's strict gun laws here there's a surprising amount of covered up shootings (and in general murder and unnatural deaths) that happen, like we're not in america and we have multiple-times-a-year shooting drills at school. Our town was once called the murder city before the 2000s lol.

It's more for general safety, though there's a huge homeless issue here. There's not enough homes, rent is extreme, there's far more people than there should be dying on the streets of overdoses, etc etc and a lot of covering it up/it not being reported/publicized. However the locations of the motels are too far from the main downtown so it's more of a "it's horrible that people have to choose between the streets and walking for an hour or three for an overpriced mouldy room".

ig that's just reflective of the current climate here, I could go on but the town's gotten pretty bad lately. Cops suck, town section divides, stalking/harassment, and all the other stuff I could go on about. It really is terrible that there's nothing happening to push for more affordable housing and help for those that need it, and I really really hope the best for everyone in a bad situation (i myself was homeless for a month before getting an overcharged room with a shady dude. I ended up sleeping in trees lol) but it's like balancing between sympathy and not wanting to get attacked, hate crimed, stalked, or whatever else.

Not to say that it'll happen the moment someone goes outside, but it's also like.. more common than it should be. I've had some run in with people on the bus harassing me and trying to find out where to find me where there wouldn't be surveillance. It's pretty easy to find drug deals going on. There's extremely few mental health resources and even less that are even available and there's a huge shortage of doctors. There's a tent town that has appeared in the news coercing children into "moving in," and the police basically said the kids are choosing to run away and if the parent's can't stop them it isn't their issue. A guy one of my cousins was dating was shot by a cop because his older brother was involved in all that (RIP).

ig it's a thing my parents taught as a way of protection. Kids in our family get pocket tools (aka protection aka legal way to carry a knife) once you're old enough to be out and about on your own, and it's probably added to a part of the family having to talk to protective services because of gang related issues and other stuff. My uncle (ayy hunter moment) on one side is a known child predator with a group of friends with similar tastes and has tried kidnapping a different cousin (and possibly other kids) and tried doing that to me at his own son's funeral (my name was changed so I could better avoid him). He's connected with my aunt who was forced into a situation where they were group raising kids and a few died and child protective has done nothing :/

We ain't rich and it's more of developing a radar of "will that place kill you or not" sorta thing, possibly related to all the shit happening in my family. Like there's SO many people cut off because they've tried killing kids or other stuff. We've been robbed the few times. My family will choose to park the car outside of the city and sleep in it rather than use the motel rooms, or camp in the better seasons. We had to do that when I was in grade 7 because we were homeless for a few months. Had a lot of sleep overs that time lmao.

Sorry for rambling, I've been trying to move outta here for a while but the nearest towns are pretty bad too. The only times I've been to the motel is when helping out my cousin who does prostitution sometimes and sometimes has had clients that are too much trouble so there's definitely some trauma association there.

Anyways I'm glad to hear that outside of my town outside halls are good and not a sign of risk!!

no need for apologies i was sure you had reasons and I didn't necessarily expect an explanation, it just reminded me of stuff going on in my home town is all.

im sorry you're in such a shit situation, it sounds awful. I hope you can move away sooner rather than later. but for now your "will that place kill you or not" radar seems useful so I'm glad you have it.

and i dont mind rambling. i like to hear about other people's lives (in case that wasn't clear from me reading and responding to almost every ask I get hah) and I like hearing why you think the things you do, or why you have certain associations that I don't. its always interesting.