[Gerardo]

I have a Fallbrook story. Back in my high school days, we played them as our initial game in the Basketball postseason. They were ranked a lot higher than us, and they should have just run us over given they had Duke-level recruits, but our scrappy team of Filipinos, Mexicans, and Blacks from the South Bay gave 'em a hard time and they didn't get away from us until the very end. Hard play, hard fought, everyone goes away happy, or so we thought.
Fast forward to us exiting the locker room. To make it to the bus we had to walk a gauntlet of sorts, with a large crowd behind a wire fence screaming, throwing things, and in general just being racist and crazy, in a testosterone driven fury.
I've been to a lot of dangerous places and in situations that were not conducive to wellness, but I've never felt as unsafe as I did next to that racist crowd hurling every insult and derogatory term available to them, pelting us with whatever was at hand.
This was a few years after the skinheads had their moment of glory on the Geraldo Rivera Show, and when Metzger was at the height of his abilities, based in Fallbrook.
From that experience I learned that people in groups are dangerous, irrespective of race, color, or creed. That hate and fear are very contagious in a crowd, and that whackos come in all flavors and vestments.
I haven't returned to Fallbrook since, although I've driven through it a few times. It seems the avocado trees are still there.