Eine Kleine Bus Stop Musik

If there is one thing drug dealers can't stand, it's classical music:

Transit workers are installing speakers this week to pump classical music from Seattle's KING-FM into the Tacoma Mall Transit Center. The tactic is designed to disperse young criminals who make drug deals at the bus stop or use public transportation to circulate between the mall and other trouble-prone places…

The attack by Bach, Brahms and Beethoven follows the theory that prompted the city to stage pinochle games on dangerous street corners: Jolting the routine in such spots throws criminals off balance.

What is apparently lost on the proponents of this plan is perfectly clear to a bus riding teenager:

Vrahmel Obleanis, 19, playing a Nintendo GameBoy at the mall bus stop, said troublemakers won't like the orchestral strains, but they'll probably just move somewhere out of earshot.

"They'll say, 'This is whack,' and go over and hang out at the mall or by Babies 'R' Us," Obleanis said. "The music isn't going to change the attitude of the kids."