Sunday 11 December 2022 I made an attempt on the first night in LA to walk the 6 blocks to Burlingtons but abandoned that idea shortly after leaving the hotel as the streets became quite deserted, dark and dotted on both sides with the homeless tucked in for the night, either in a tent or a doorway. Over the 5 days I've been in LA, I have been aching to shop at Burlingtons. So today was the day, mind you, I don't have a good sense of direction from where the hotel is in "downtown" - a very nice Hilton positioned close to LAPD and a variety of court houses dotted around City Hall. So I had two choices as I was navigating an L-shaped walk to Burlingtons on a morning with misty rain but not too cold despite it being winter in the northern hemisphere. To my regret, I chose the wrong route and about three blocks from leaving the hotel, I found myself in San Pedro Street (known to the locals as the border of "skid row"). As I progressed, more and more tents...