Judge after you observe

In the recent weeks, an alarming number of people have been posting and complaining about how dangerous, embarrassing and unsanitary downtown Kelowna, especially City Park, has become. It's about time these problems were brought to light. Something that deeply upsets me, a resident of Rutland for 18 years, is that if you ask anyone in Kelowna what the most dangerous area of Kelowna is, 9 times out of 10 they'll say Rutland.

In my 18 years of living here, a small, relatively defenseless girl like me has never once been in danger, whether it be walking home alone or driving. I have never been approached, followed or attacked in Rutland. However, all three and more have happened to me downtown, I have been followed by either homeless, drug addicted or just creepy men and women both nearly every time I have visited downtown.

While waiting for the bus at Queensway I was relentlessly taunted by an obviously drunk man two times my age, asking me for my number and if I'd go partying with him. He followed me onto the bus and sat next to me, trying to get closer and asking repeatedly for my phone number and address. The worse thing was, no one was doing anything. The bus was almost full, so it's not like anyone couldn't hear what was going on. I was trying to make it very obvious that I was uncomfortable, including changing seats a few times. Luckily for me, a gentleman finally intervened, telling the man to back off, and thankfully he did. The other guy stayed next to me the rest of the way, making sure the drunk man didn't come back. He even apologized for the other man's behaviour. 

What saddens me is that this is likely an uncommon occurrence, someone actually intervening. As sad and wrong as it is, downtown is not somewhere I would recommend going if you are a woman by yourself. The amount of creeps and drug dealers down there are ridiculous, and you'll be lucky if you can find a police or security officer anywhere.

Back to the main topic however, people need to learn to only judge a place after they've observed it for themselves, instead of listening to rumors. I'm not saying that Rutland can't be dangerous, what I am saying is that anywhere you go, there is potential for harm and a beautiful place like City Park need some big improvements by the City before I'm willing to walk there alone again.

Sam Fy