Brass Monkey

This is on the back of the hotel room door.
It's the first western hotel I have ever stayed at, that tells its guests not to open the door, unless certain of the visitor on the other side.
I don't take travel information found hither and tither on the internet, seriously. It would be naive to assume that all one reads is a true reflection of a destination. By all means, be wary, but descriptions of the city in general as a 'warzone' are stupid and narrow minded.
I know there are neighbourhoods we wouldn't even want to drive through (aren't there in most cities), but putting visitors off the 5th largest city in the US, by publishing damning comments on the web, is stupid.
A smile seems to go a long way, in a place where the atmosphere is generally insular. Also, true to form, the people who are accused of wrecking this city have so far, turned out to be the most warm and friendly towards us.
Last night, we couldn't get out until late and ended up in the Hard Rock café on the corner. I would usually avoid this kind of joint like the plague, but we were hungry and tired and the food was good, as was the atmosphere.
Full of what I would describe as thirty and forty something family types and professionals, it was a bit disconcerting to me, that only 50 metres away and through a set of closely guarded double doors, roam a lot of people I can only desribe as extremely poor.
Maybe it's just the way things are here, but it it didn't sit right with me at all.
Nor am I saying it put me orf my dinner, but it did make me wonder about quite a few things.
It's been a long time since I last saw someone picking through other people's stubbed out cigarette ends, to find one to re-light and smoke.

Across the Delaware river a few miles away, New Jersey on the far shore, specifically, Camden.
I'm not going to go into details about THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE IN THE US!!!
Nuff said.
Fuff out.