Random Chaos

So as I may or may not have said, I'm currently stuck in the same 'jects apartment as my pops; despite what I may sound like in text and in person, I almost grew up here, never really a stone's throw away from some project or another.  So today, when I get flagged down my my folks as I'm trying to do something I've done a thousand times before—walk to the bus stop to go somewhere—I'm a little surprised by the almost violent reaction my stepmother has to seeing me walking around the neighborhood on the way to the bus stop.  My usual route—cut around so I can admire the looks of this local Masonic temple (they're really gorgeous, seriously) results in avoiding anyone I usually see on a daily basis, them included.

When they see me they flip out.  I'm not dressed oddly or anything.
Just a chick walking to the bus stop, same as you see on these streets every day, though my MP3 player is different from the usual Bluetooth headsets you see around here.

Turns out my stepmom has a double problem with that:  I) me walking around, and II) the headphones.

As I've said, I've done this a thousand times before.  I've been out in admittedly worse neighborhoods.  I've even once had to forcibly persuade (read: fight) someone off of me who wouldn't take no for an answer, and this was in an allegedly good neighborhood where this happened.

So yeah, I can hold my own in a situation where it calls for it; there's no need to worry about me at this point, really.