The trick is to open your shop 40 years ago and be nice towards the kids who will grow up to commit all sorts of crimes. But because they've had a rapport with you since they were kids, they will avoid directing their criminal activities in your direction.

You always have a risk from kids or outsiders who don't know about you, but it's certainly a lot safer being part of a community than an outsider - which is what you're seen as if you start literally putting up walls between yourself and your customers.

The outside gangs still have to face of the local gang in order to get to you. I agree that will probably not stop some random meth head from grabbing your tip jar and running, but the more organized criminals will at least think for 60 seconds before deciding if you are a valuable enough target to be worth getting into a turf war.

You don't have to be "bad" to be disliked, you just have to be distant and distrustful. In that neighborhood it's not irrational to build a fortress in your business, but that's exactly why this one diner stands out, he's one of them and he lives with them in his business.

You probably couldn't go in and safely start a business there, because of the terrible reality of the neighborhood, and because you're not part of the neighborhood. It's plausible that a local could do it.

> The article doesn't really give me the confidence that I could open a shop in that area, be nice to people and everything would be fine and dandy...

what i can't reconcile is that it did kind of did give me that confidence. in my belly anyway.

brain still says no.

> The article doesn't really give me the confidence that I could open a shop in that area, be nice to people and everything would be fine and dandy...

You would never feel safe enough. All those kids out there causing trouble, John knows who they are and who their parents are. Imagine if your best friend tried to rob one day. The second he opened his mouth, you'd know who he is, and you could say, "Jim? What the hell are you doing, man?"

Maybe if you moved there to open a shop, started with the bulletproof glass, then took it down one day after you got to know everyone, you could do that too. But it requires a different mindset than most people trying to operate a business.

But it's no guarantee. There was the time this guy found out midcourse that the old lady he was robbing was Rosa Parks and went through with it anyway.

That's what I meant when I said, "But it requires a different mindset than most people trying to operate a business." Business owners want guarantees. John's in it for different reasons.

If John got robbed, I doubt he'd go all Fort Knox. He'd just chalk it up to random luck and go about his days as he always had. His house and car are doubtless already paid for. He doesn't need to sweat his bottom line anymore.

Maybe the cause and effect is reversed- every place may start off like this, and then they get robbed, so they put up security.

The ones that randomly have never been robbed end up with no security.