As charming as a used car Salesman

Back in April of 2010, I was in the middle of a project for my documentary

class. Having traveled to the Fells Point District of Baltimore, Maryland,

I was awaiting the arrival for a group whom I had scheduled to meet for an

interview in the Historical Society located there. After getting permission

from the manager, I decided to use my time to shoot some B-Roll of the

Society's gift shop. As I moved my camera around, a taller, raven-haired

woman with binoculars walked into the store consulting the proprietor, a

short and stocky woman. The tall woman was an obvious tourist, going on and

on about how she was impressed with Baltimore while the proprietor nodded.

I fairly ignored the women until a part of their conversation caught my

attention. "What are the best schools near here?" the tourist woman asked.

I held in my laughter long enough to hear the answer. The proprietor

recommended Dunbar, the nearest high school in relation to the area. By

that point I couldn't supress the laugh any longer and pretended to sneeze.

What was so damn funny? This woman wanted to move her family to Fells

Point, an area being primarily renovated for Yuppies and hipsters with a few stalwarts in between. Secondly, Dunbar High school is a

predominantly black, predominantly "section 8", predominanltly tourist-free

part of upper Fells Point which may not be attractive to a very white, very

middle class tourist. But then, I still just had to laugh, because

bamboozling the stupid is where Baltimore's charm really lies.