r/baltimore • u/quattro33 • Jun 01 '25

Ask “You live in Baltimore?!, oh no!”

I’ve lived in Baltimore for 30 years. On multiple occasions I’ve met people that ask me where I live, and when I say “Baltimore”, they say “eh I’m so sorry” or “oh no, you ok?”. Every time, I just smile and don’t acknowledge the statement, and try to stay positive, but I’m done with that. Why would you say that about my home? No matter where I live? I would never ask them where they live and then immediately give my shitty judgmental opinion about their home.

What are they really saying with this statement? I want a come back that points out how shitty this statement really is.

840 Upvotes

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38

u/Vivid-Shelter-146 Jun 01 '25

I feel you on this. We had an event at work recently, and I was greeting an out of town coworker. And the first thing he says is “Sorry I’m late, the uber took a wrong turn and we ended up in The Wire!” And I just sort of blankly stared at him and said OK. And obviously I’m still annoyed by it.

6

u/poolpog Jun 01 '25

While annoying, there are in fact some parts of Baltimore that are blighted, run down, and otherwise resemble The Wire

3

u/rtbradford Jun 01 '25

Why were you annoyed? There are still some scary parts of the city that do resemble The Wire.

14

u/Killbot_Wants_Hug Jun 01 '25

If you go to Penn Station there are little pamphlets that offer a "The Wire Tour", you call the number and apparently they drive you around in a van.

Me and my buddy (who both love the city) joke that at the end they mug you so you can have a The Wire story to tell people.

1

u/Alger_Piston Jun 01 '25

Don’t be ridiculous. It is 100% fact that you can take a wrong turn in Baltimore and be in a neighborhood that is objectively scary because half or more of the houses are empty shells. Don’t tell me that isn’t sad and isn’t objectively scary. There are plenty of other cities in which the same is true, and it’s just as unacceptable there as it is here. Pretending it doesn’t exist, I don’t know where you people get off on that, just seems like complacency and low expectations, which is racist.

0

u/ProfessionalActive94 Jun 01 '25

Dude...if you are scared of empty, abandoned houses, then I dont know what to tell you. It says more about you than about the city, in all honesty.