LA Riots

There has been a lot of media coverage over the past couple of days regarding the the verdict of the trial for the beating of Rodney King and the subsequent LA riots which happened just about 20 years ago. At that time in my life, I was living in Oceanside, CA, approximately 80 miles from the outskirts of Los Angeles. I was finishing up the Spring semester of classes at San Diego State University where I had begun to complete my Master's in Communication Disorders. I had about two more weeks of classes and exams before I was to drive to Baton Rouge, Louisiana where I would meet Craig. He and all of our stuff lived there now. We had PCS'd to the land of the perpetual sauna ("It's gotta be good for you!") over my Spring Break and he was stationed there as the Officer Selection Officer in Baton Rouge.

So here I was, an impressionable mid-20's gal, living in our empty condo (I had a couch, a TV and maybe a microwave). I remember walking into the house and turning on the TV and seeing all of the drama unfold. I was glued to the TV. It was pandemonium with not a law enforcement officer in sight because he or she would most definitely have been killed. No one was outside in my neighborhood; granted it was the afternoon and early evening and most people were still at work, but seriously, it was silent. I remember eating a frozen burrito (unfrozen, of course) whilst seated on the floor and calling Craig on my corded telephone to tell him what was going on and how creepy it felt to be watching it unfold in an empty condo with no activity outside.

All I can say is that I wasn't too unhappy to leave California two weeks later. Baton Rouge turned out to be a great decision. I finished my Master's there at Louisiana State University where I came to appreciate college football more than I could ever have imagined (Geaux Tigers!) and met some fantastic people during the process. In addition, I learned a lot of  first-hand lessons about race relations in the South instead of just watching them on TV.