Adelaide street likened to Baghdad.

Adelaide street likened to Baghdad.:

"'It's very inflammatory, extremely inflammatory and I'm not really sure why they would come up with such an inflammatory statement,' she said.

'I walk down Hindley Street all the time but quite realistically it's this kind of comment that makes people believe that that's exactly what it's like.'"

There are some people who believe Hindley Street has always been Hindley Street and should be left like that. In the past I have been threatened by a nutter with a broken beer bottle because I was stupid enough to go into a pizza place. He had no idea what he was doing . He was just very angry, very aggressive and very difficult. I do not hold it against the business. It is not a place which attracts undesirables. It has also happened to friends of mine in the past and one of them just got out of it because he looks and sounds scary but he is actually very, very tame! He just bluffed his way through an aggressive incident which was disturbing a place and got the people causing the problem to leave. I doubt Hindley Street is like Baghdad. Highly unlikely but it's a modern turn of phrase, I suppose. At one stage we used Aceh as a benchmark and it was we felt that they copped the worst the world could offer...but we used it to say we were not as badly off. The people in Aceh are still suffering. The aid organisations are bogged down and so the people are still homeless and living in disgusting circumstances. Baghdad, according to today's news is really spinning out of control and the cradle of civilisation has been smashed to bits. Hindley Street is not like that...but for all people saying it's always been a bit "like that" we didn't ever tell people not to go there and to look out for their safety. When I blogged about it before I was told it wasn't a problem. Many of us consider it to be the place we avoid. There are shop owners there who are feeling uncomfortable and losing business. For as long as it is denied and discounted the balance will not be restored. A bit on the other side is fine but fearing for your safety is not.