Reality TV

One of my favorite shows on TV is the Power series that features a crazy Caucasian character named Tommy who navigates the ethnic world of drug dealing. As one of the lone white characters operating as a drug kingpin, I believe the show does a pretty good job of portraying how dangerous the outlier can be.

To an outsider entering Koreatown, their nervousness may be the result of being surrounded by foreigners with black chili bowl haircuts and the smell of mothballs on Korean labeled clothing. On the contrary, I’m always on the lookout for the oddball of the group that is a completely different ethnicity. This person has proven his craziness to be part of that small ecosystem.

Karaoke Nights

I’ve met a few characters like Tommy but one of the most memorable ones was at No Rae Bang (aka karaoke) in the old school part of Ktown. I distinctly remember one night where I met up with a buddy of mine who introduced me to his old friend who had tagged along. He was a rather tall, stocky, white guy who seemed larger than life. As we sat in the room drinking, my buddy started talking to him about squashing beefs between different groups that they hung out with. Even though the white guy was loud, he clearly explained that he expected beef in the area and wasn’t his part of town.

Nevertheless, we were enjoying ourselves when my friend excused himself to use the restroom. He came back and said he ran into this FOB (Fresh Off The Boat) character who had previously talked smack to him. I went out of the room to observe who he was with and noticed a group of other FOBs walking tall like they owned the place. Perhaps they had come back from a church retreat and were feeling the power of God. Or maybe business was booming at their local dry cleaners or donut shop.

I didn’t think much of it so we continued to party and relax in the room. Then the white guy excused himself to go to the restroom as well. A few minutes later, I heard a loud commotion so I walked outside to see what was going on. I then saw that same FOB running out of the bathroom and out the door like he had just seen a ghost. The white guy came walking out afterwards and started laughing. What is going on here?

Apparently, the white guy had ran into that same FOB that was talking smack in the restroom and cornered him. Then he pulled out his gun and pistol whipped him. I thought oh, that’s why that guy was bleeding on the side of his face. I’m not sure why we stayed to finish out the hour and I cannot understand why the cops never came. Bad move on our part.

As we were leaving, we said our goodbyes and the white guy jumps in his car still laughing about the whole incident. Then he rolls down the window and yells like a cowboy and shoots the standalone sign in the middle of the plaza a few times. Tires screeching, he waves goodbye and heads off to the other side of town. I’m thinking to myself, wow…this is different.

Every time I pass by that plaza, I still see the bullet holes in the sign. I think to myself, for every stain, bullet hole, or cracks on these walls and signs…I’m sure they represent some wild stories. But I always tell people, beware of the Tommy’s in Ktown. Southside represent.