Following is a description of what happened. Looking for advice on how I can avoid being in this situation ever again.
I am 47M, in average shape. I live downtown in a small city, and consider myself pretty street-smart. I've spent a lot of time walking late at night, and have never had much of a problem. I make a point to treat others very respectfully when I encounter them, and I also carry myself in a way that indicates that I'm aware of my surroundings and have some ability to defend myself if necessary.
Last night around 10pm I left my girlfriend's place and started walking home in a westward direction, on a dark side street. As I was coming up on the main cross-street I saw a group of juveniles walking south down that street, on a perpendicular collision path with me. I could instantly tell from their body language and mannerisms that they were trouble. I would describe them as socially-maladjusted, 16-20yo predatory street kids, probably raised in really bad family environments. Most of them were wearing red - I don't know whether that was a coincidence or if they consider themselves Bloods.
I side-stepped, let them pass first, and continued walking westward behind them. One of them said something to me like "hey what's up dude how you doing?" It came across in a threatening, leering sort of way - like he was sizing me up, or testing me or something. Still, I was respectful in my reply: "Good, good man, how you doin' tonight?" Then he said "hey can you spare some change?" I said "Nah, I don't have any, I gave it all away earlier, sorry."
They kept walking southbound, and I kept walking westward with a purpose to my step. I wasn't running from them - just walking like I had somewhere to be. Pretty quickly I made it halfway up the next block (which was very dark) and I knew I needed to check behind me to see if they had followed me. I always watch behind me when I'm walking. Always. I turned around and sure enough, they had completely changed from their original course and were now following me down the side street.
If I kept going the direction I was headed, there was nowhere safe to go. It just got darker and more isolated. Continuing straight was out. So, rather instinctively I crossed the street. I stood for a minute and pretended to be fooling with my phone while I watched them from a distance to see what they were going to do. I walked a little bit of the way back to the main cross-street, which was much better-lit. I just stood and kept an eye on them. They were looking at me the whole time too, and talking among themselves. Eventually they did an abrupt 180, walked east back to the main cross street, and then headed south - the original course they were on when I first encountered them. As soon as they turned the corner and were out of eyeshot, I ran through a series of nearby alleys to get to my place.
There was no ambiguity whatsoever in this situation. I spend a lot of time around young people, and I know the difference between kids who are out walking and changed direction, versus kids who are following someone like prey. These guys were going to either confront me and demand money, or just jump me and take some combination of my wallet, backpack, and phone.
If they had not turned around, there is really no way I could physically defend myself against them. At my age, I don't have the reflexes or strength to successfully fight off even one of these street kids, let alone four or five of them.
I do not ever again want to find myself that vulnerable - standing on a dark side street with no good path to safety and nothing but a mobile phone in my hand, and a group of gangster kids bearing down on me. I also worry about my petite girlfriend, as she often walks the same path late at night heading to/from my place.
What are some things I can carry as a deterrent, or to improve the odds of a successful outcome if I do get jumped? Pepper spray? Taser? Personal alarm? (I know flashlights are recommended but I don't think one would have helped in this case. Also, note that I live in a no-carry state.)
Critiques of how I handled this? Advice on avoiding or better handling vulnerable situations like this again?
Submitted January 17, 2017 at 02:03PM by FlexNastyBIG http://ift.tt/2iMqBBf
No comments:
Post a Comment