Urban Legend or Sad Reality?

Why did a crackhead in an ape suit walk into my office today? I mean, a bonafide crackhead wearing a damn ape suit had the audacity to step foot in my office! What is the world coming to? It doesn't have to be Halloween for me to be frightened by a crackhead. I fear for my life every time I encounter one because they have nothing to lose. Seriously, you are selling your shoelaces for a hit. Who is to say that you won't stab me for a quarter?

Anyway, gone are the days of innocent Halloween celebrations. It used to be that this day was reserved for cute kids knocking on your door begging for candy or just a reason to dress like a skank. At most, we feared that some neighborhhod crazy might poison the candy (usually a quick wrapper check would assure us that we were safe).

Well, times have most certainly changed. My entire agency shut down early today due to news reports warning of a local gang initiation. Apparently, the Bloods are using this Halloween as initiation night and slashing African American and Latino women is on the agenda. In a ritual called "100 Stitches", gangsta wannabes are sent to the streets with the goal of cutting a random person. If the cut is severe enough to require 100 stitches, you become a recognized member.

My initial reaction to this was that it had to be some high school urban legend. I mean, several of the girls in my program came to me earlier with the bizarre story. Dramatic teenagers will believe anything was my mindset. It wasn't until I got an email blast from my Executive Director instructing us to head home early, that I realized this was real.

My question is: When did material from urban legends become our reality?


TRC- Imitation is suicide...