As all of LA goes under curfew tonight, I'll be thinking of a kind man named Bob Kim who's been guarding his eyeglass shop all day.
After police fired rubber bullets into the crowd at Fairfax & Beverly, Mr. Kim pulled back the gate to his store & let me in to get my bearings...
After police fired rubber bullets into the crowd at Fairfax & Beverly, Mr. Kim pulled back the gate to his store & let me in to get my bearings...
He lived through the '92 riots when he had to guard his employer's eyeglass store in Ktown against looters with a rifle he learned to carry during compulsory military service in South Korea.
He was convinced if people saw him in his store they would leave it alone....
He was convinced if people saw him in his store they would leave it alone....
He had a fire extinguisher by the door to his shop in case any of the confrontations between police and demonstrators spilled into his strip mall.
But he was hopeful that today would be the worst of it. Just downtown and here, right, he said. Not as bad as '92.
But he was hopeful that today would be the worst of it. Just downtown and here, right, he said. Not as bad as '92.
I tried to see if I could repay him for letting me stay in his shop and using his wifi. He said he didn't want anything. Then he hesitated and asked if it would be OK for him to stay past curfew.
I thought it safer at home. But he wanted to keep protecting his store.
I thought it safer at home. But he wanted to keep protecting his store.
When I said bye, he thanked me for caring. And he helped me organize the cables I had dropped because I was more disoriented than usual.... And he handed me my sunglasses that he had wiped with cleaning fluid because he saw they were smudged.
This is Mr. Kim.
This is Mr. Kim.
