Live and let live. You don’t have a right to silence, so you can’t just cancel the kid.

That said, you can easily cancel (most of) the noise. Get a decent pair of active noise-cancelling headphones. (I recommend Anker Q20+, at $69.99 on Amazon, as a solid budget option.)

Then use that morning time as your signal to listen to music or podcasts or whatever. Turn a bug into a feature with some self-centered quality time.

ROBERT H. PEABODY

3014 Evergreen Way

Ellicott City, Maryland 21042

Telephone: 410-988-9803

Cell: 410-370-9461

Bob Peabody

Pros:

Price Quality of work

Cons:

Speed (he’s often booked up a few weeks)

I wasn’t replying to the OP’s post in that response. I was replying to another person’s characterization of “the way Columbia is now,” (or something to that effect.)

The “safest city in the country” thing is pretty much a meaningless story. That said, crime records are public information, and much-scrutinized.

By nearly nearly every metric, Columbia is in 2023 a remarkably safe place for a city of 100k.

Sorry if I was confusing. And sorry for your friend’s experience in 2009.

I just expressed skepticism.

That said, Columbia is littered with cameras. Most HoCo traffic light intersections have cameras. The HCPD got DHS money 20 years ago because of our proximity to DC post-9/11. We are one of the counties with the most ubiquitous persistent surveillance in the country.

If someone pulled a gun on you at a traffic light, it was probably captured on camera. At the very least, the vehicle and plate probably were. IANAL, but aiming a pistol at someone generally carries a charge of aggravated assault.

The camera footage really would be your only recourse. Push to get you the footage.

[Edit: sorry, I think this reply landed in the wrong place. Was meaning to reply to a “Given how Columbia is today” characterization.]

Generally speaking, Columbia is not a dangerous city.

I’ve lived in Columbia for 35 years, incl. 20 as a journalist. Not saying it didn’t happen. Just that I’ve never even heard of a drawn-gun road rage incident.

Sorry, but the more I read through the story, the more skeptical I became. Given that, all I said was to expect some skepticism.

And if OP is telling the story exactly as it happened, def. push to get the intersection footage.

Will preface this by saying that I don’t know you. So, your personal level of character isn’t available to me to either buttress or impugn your story.

All I would say, having read the story on its own, is to anticipate some skepticism.

Also: surprisingly, as I found out today: Walmart. At $1-$2 a pack. Maybe a dozen different scents. (And thanks, all, for the suggestions!)

Big BLM protest after George Floyd. The (then) HoCo Police Chief, Lisa Myers, marched in solidarity with the protestors.

Oh, wait. I see the shootout is now “at least” 10 people.

Uh huh.

Again, a “ten-person shootout” would be HUGE news. Please post the URL(s) of news about this event.

Something perhaps with a little more credibility than Fwd:fwd:fwd:fwd HUGE SHOOTOUT IN OAKLAND MILLS!!!!!!

I’m calling 100% bullshit on a “10-person shootout” in Columbia — at least during any period since 1986. That’s when I moved up here to start my career as a journalist. Post a link to the news story, please.

Also, it’s important to understand that racism needs those ridiculous levels of exaggeration to sustain itself.

Yeah, it’s all pretty quiet. But bigger thought: scope out some neighborhoods which have lots of toddlers — AKA your kid’s future friends! That’s literally the best thing about Columbia IMO.

Pushing fearful “high crime” ads — even when crime is demonstrably not high — is standard GOP strategy. Especially when their candidate is running against a black opponent.

They’re not subtle.

THB?

I didn’t know they did banh mi!

GOOD chicken. 👍👍

Same.