# Signs you may be in the ghetto... **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 14, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911 "2013-11-14T14:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/101 "2013-11-17T22:10:39Z")
Former gas stations that are now empty lots with the mounting bolts for the pumps sticking up. Abandoned cinder block buildings with garage doors. Faded signs for stores that closed over twenty years ago. Cars that will block a residential street for fifteen minutes while someone stands in the street and chats with the driver. Women who scream and curse at their children upon the least provocation. Overly tight leggings. Litter strewn along the sidewalk for a three-block radius from the convenience store. Expired phone minutes cards. Tiny, dingy stores that mainly sell\* pop, candy and energy drinks. (\*at least among their legal products). Hand-lettered signs posted on telephone poles announcing cash for clunkers and houses. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/102 "2013-11-17T22:18:23Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > In Rio de Janeiro: > > \*Suddenly you have spectacular views of the sea. > > - There are no roads, just steps. > > - There is washing out everywhere. > > \*Everything is painted fun colours. > > \*Mail for everyone is left in one box. > > \*There is loud funk coming from somewhere with unspeakably disgusting lyrics, and little children are shaking their _ahems_ to it. Ahh…the hillside favelas\> In many ways, some of the best places to live-great views, free electricity and water (stolen). But a heck of a climb with your groceries! ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/103 "2013-11-17T22:55:42Z")
The kind of takeaway food shops where you don’t need to look at the menu- you just look at the street outside. There’s a bunch of guys standing around, who watch you intently as you pass. You go past in the opposite direction 4 hours later, and they’re all still there to watch you go back. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/104 "2013-11-17T23:01:55Z")
Buildings with large, visible holes that aren’t ever repaired. Retail “beauty supply” stores. (I’m sure there are stores that sell beauty supplies in all kinds of neighborhoods, they just don’t announce themselves as such.) More than one tax preparation business in your line of sight. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/105 "2013-11-17T23:32:43Z")
Shops, restaurants, beauty parlors, even grocery stores - without parking lots. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/106 "2013-11-17T23:39:18Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Yep, because no one buying ‘loosies’ smokes anything _but_ Newports. And selling 'em individually is quite profitable, too. At 75 cents a cigarette (they used to go for 50 cents), a store owner can get $15 off a pack normally selling for 6 or 7 bucks. Six or seven bucks? I wish (or at least I wished when I smoked). Around here, cigarettes go for 12 bucks a pack. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2013, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/107 "2013-11-17T23:46:26Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > Six or seven bucks? I wish (or at least I wished when I smoked). Around here, cigarettes go for 12 bucks a pack. Haha. Yeah, I don’t live in New York. That being said, I could be wrong here. I haven’t bought a pack in 12 years (when they were 3 bucks a pack). ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/108 "2013-11-18T14:51:22Z")
Seen frequently in/around Detroit: Cars with temporary license plates (a printed piece of paper taped up in the rear window). Bonus points if it expired years ago. Extra bonus points if it looks like a photocopy of someone else’s temporary plate. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/109 "2013-11-18T16:41:19Z")
Convenience stores sell individual Hugs. No, not those, but rather the [barrel-shaped plastic bottles of pure artificial flavoring.](http://littlehug.com/) You often see a black woman with kids in tow go up to the Asian/Indian cashier and say "Give me a Hug!'. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/110 "2013-11-18T16:44:03Z")
Someone is operating a Tire repair shop or barbershop out of the garage of his Section 8 housing. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/111 "2013-11-18T16:50:49Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > Seen frequently in/around Detroit: > > Cars with temporary license plates (a printed piece of paper taped up in the rear window). Bonus points if it expired years ago. Extra bonus points if it looks like a photocopy of someone else’s temporary plate. Triple score if the car doesn’t even have a temp plate but has a hand written ‘waiting for plate’ sign. The sign is sun bleached. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/112 "2013-11-18T17:31:16Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Someone is operating a Tire repair shop or barbershop out of the garage of his Section 8 housing. It’s illegal to work as a barber (or, for that matter, a beautician, hair braider, nail technician, etc.) without a license. Oh, you can cut your friends’ or kids’ hair yourself, that kind of thing, but as long as you don’t call yourself a barber, etc. My state’s licensing website has tons of people listed who got in trouble for this. ---
**Author:** ![Whammo72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/77aa72/32.png) [@Whammo72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whammo72)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/113 "2013-11-18T18:43:47Z")
Sadly, this only re-affirms my notion that I live in the Ghetto. ---
**Author:** ![AdmiralQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@AdmiralQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdmiralQ)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/114 "2013-11-18T19:10:49Z")
You know you’re in the ghetto when you’re driving behind a car that stops in the middle of the street after flagging down another car going in the opposite direction with a hand wave. The drivers of the two cars will then have a 3-5 minute conversation between themselves, all the while ignoring the incessant honking of the ever-growing backup of cars growing behind them for blocks. Well, they ignore it except for an occasional middle finger waved to the backed-up motorists behind them. I’ve seen this happen on at least a dozen occasions, and don’t know if they are talking to their drug dealer, their pimp, their baby-momma, or what, but it’s something you will never see anywhere but the hood. However, it never happens in the Mexican/Hispanic hood, but only in the black hood. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/115 "2013-11-18T19:11:34Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > It’s illegal to work as a barber (or, for that matter, a beautician, hair braider, nail technician, etc.) without a license. Oh, you can cut your friends’ or kids’ hair yourself, that kind of thing, but as long as you don’t call yourself a barber, etc. My state’s licensing website has tons of people listed who got in trouble for this. I’m sure it is. And? ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/116 "2013-11-18T19:21:36Z")
> [@AdmiralQ](#): > > You know you’re in the ghetto when you’re driving behind a car that stops in the middle of the street after flagging down another car going in the opposite direction with a hand wave. The drivers of the two cars will then have a 3-5 minute conversation between themselves, all the while ignoring the incessant honking of the ever-growing backup of cars growing behind them for blocks. Well, they ignore it except for an occasional middle finger waved to the backed-up motorists behind them. It’s funny, how some of the things here are also signs of The Boonies. Drivers stopping in the road to chat with each other could also be a sign of being beyond the suburbs (you won’t have a huge backup of cars in that case, but there’s no hurry to move if it’s only one or two). As are abandoned gas stations, semi/non-functioning cars that don’t seem to ever move, unlicensed tire/auto repair out of a converted building, and occasional outbursts of trash. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/117 "2013-11-18T19:30:09Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Convenience stores sell individual Hugs. No, not those, but rather the [barrel-shaped plastic bottles of pure artificial flavoring.](http://littlehug.com/) Glad you clarified that. I was imagining a guy so down on his luck, he couldn’t afford a prostitute for anything beyond a single, chaste hug.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Kolga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e56c9b/32.png) [@Kolga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolga)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/118 "2013-11-18T20:00:57Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > The ones I’ve seen are usually pregnant, and wearing pajama bottoms no matter what the time of day. If they have other children, they are always black regardless of what her race is. I assume you mean that these children are biracial if the mother is not also black, unless you ascribe to the “one-drop rule.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/119 "2013-11-18T20:52:32Z")
> [@Kolga](#): > > I assume you mean that these children are biracial if the mother is not also black, unless you ascribe to the “one-drop rule.” Unfortunately, there **was** a “one-drop rule” that still has a cultural legacy today. Whether or not it’s just or rational, the default in the US is that if you visibly have African ancestry, it’s presumed that you are part of the African-American subculture; i.e., “black”. “Biracial” is usually reserved for very light-skinned people who would be called “creoles” in other cultures. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2013, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911/120 "2013-11-18T22:02:10Z")
The alcohol thing must vary widely by state due to state regulations. What if the fast food restaurant is Rally’s instead of Checkers? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/signs-you-may-be-in-the-ghetto/673911.md?page=7)