But there he was. POPS, the neighborhood boogeyman and gangster, who was notorious for popping out of alleyways. This was 7 Mile & Bauman, and POPS ran these streets.
One of the most significant differences between then and now was the freedom we had to play outside and explore our neighborhoods. Our parents didn't hover over us or worry if we were gone all day as long as we came back when the streetlights came on. This way of living was common all over the country. I can’t honestly say that’s the case today.
As a grown man living in a far different world than in the 80s and 90s, I’m not naive to the fact there were child abductions and other crimes that happened in those days. Even as a kid I knew this. I disliked looking at the back of milk cartons because I didn’t want to see who was missing. I looked anyway, because I knew it was a reality.
I can still vividly remember the public service announcement, “It’s 10pm, Do you know where your children are?” Can you imagine something like this being aired on television today?
Every GenX kid will admit their unease when they heard the opening intro to “America’s Most Wanted,” the television show hosted by John Walsh, who happens to be 78 years old at the time of my writing this chapter.
Walsh became an anti-crime activist following the kidnapping and murder of his son, Adam, in 1981.
The unease you felt listening to the opening of the show could only be appreciated by kids from that generation. And if that wasn’t enough nightmare fuel, you could count on “Unsolved Mysteries” to completely stoke your anxiety as a kid.
Maybe this was all something that helped me in my career later in life; training prison guards and other security personnel around the country on drug recognition and narcotics detection. The stories I heard from probationers and parolees is enough to write a book.
But when you’re a kid, especially in those days, you throw caution to the wind.
For me personally, growing up in nineteen eighties Detroit, playing outside was the ultimate freedom. It was truly visceral. Just imagine what it was like going out each day unsure of who you were going to run into while adventuring. There were certainly people and places we knew to keep away from, and this was what helped us create deeper bonds with our neighborhood friends.
It was nineteen-eighty-something and we were riding past the local liquor store heading home for the day. The light was fading quickly and the street lights were warming up to their steady glow. This meant we were risking two things, getting home before dark, and missing a warm meal.
But there he was…
POPS, the neighborhood boogeyman and gangster, who was notorious for popping out of alleyways. This was 7 Mile & Bauman, and POPS ran these streets.
I was always told you should never look him in the eyes. The kids around the neighborhood would tell stories of running into POPS at one time or another. Many stories ended with, and that kid was never seen again.
I was always fascinated by POPS so I looked right into his eyes that day. He got a good look at each of us because we just froze. He seemed to recognize us as kids from the neighborhood, so he decided to walk right past us into the liquor store.
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