I was just mugged!

[chequita guevara]

Are you prepared to use a gun on another human being? If you aren't ready to kill somone, don't have a gun, because more likely it'll be used against you or it will escalate the violence. WHile it's true that sometimes a gun is the only solution, most often it will only make things worse, kinda like not wearing seatbelts.

Worse, are you prepared to deal with the consequences if you miss and kill a bystander?

[DanS]

i'm a young male whose lived his whole life in the city and is from the area... arent i like the least likely target statistically?

Maybe you look less like a "young male" than "a male with $100 in his pocket" anymore.

[Al B. Sure!]

Dans:

like i said... money wasnt there goal... they wanted weed so it really do sound like what my boy thinks is what happened... they thought i was a dealer who they could rob of his goods.


Chegitz:

i dont know... right now the main problem i got with a gun is the pretty high cost. that might make me not get one especially cause i got to buy my own food and rent and all that now or soon.

[chequita guevara]

Naw, my bet is that he looked like someone who might have drugs and he's scrawny, which means an easy mark. We've seen pictures of him. Although he's in relatively good shape, he's thin. Two thugs can handle one thin guy.

Course, they messed up. They thought by mugging a dealer they would get away with it, since a dealer can't complain to the police (but he can have you hunted down and killed). Now they've got the police looking for them . . . sort of.

[chequita guevara]

In the future, when you're getting mugged like that, where they don't have a weapon, shout "FIRE!" at the top of your lungs. People won't come looking if you yell help, but if you yell fire, well ****, fire could hurt them, they gotta find out where the fire is. Plus, people like to watch fires. Criminals hate attention, so the more attention you can attact, the better off you'll be.

Still, you did the smartest thing you could do. I'm glad you had the presence of mind to give up your wallet.

[Al B. Sure!]

chegitz:

yeah people always think i smoke or deal or something (i'm talking about nearly every person i know until they get to know how conservative i am)... i mean just the stereotype of a puerto rican (i aint rican but i look it) and the fact that my eyes are chinky (i've had people tell me that i got to smoke cause how would my eyes get like that?)... it was all about the weed... not the money.

it is a bit surprising though how far they went for weed... crack or something like that happens all the time but weed? i dont know.

[Alexander's Horse]

Its common practice to carry 2 wallets in dangerous cities - one for the muggers.

Better than a gun.

Hmmm, must remember that if I go to Washington later this year............

[Al B. Sure!]

chegitz:

there was numerous witnesses... a man and a woman was at their front stoop half a block away and the guy first asked me for weed four feet in front of them... and a couple people driving in cars did a u-turn after the incident to ask if i was alright... people saw it but no one helped... thats kind of typical what with the danger and the attitude (which ill admit i had) that someone whose getting beat down probably deserved it

[Al B. Sure!]

damnit i cant ****ing eat! my jaw is killing me everytime i chew...

[yavoon]

Originally posted by mrmitchell
File a report. Putting it on file can't hurt.

Start walking through a different part of town if you can.

Maybe you looked like you were a regular druggie--make sure to dress so that people DON'T think you're high all the time.

Put on some buff. People would be more likely to attack Bill Gates than Vin Deisel.

Walk with friends. Strength in numbers--hell, you learned that lesson from him! He got his friend out on you instead of doing a one-man job! Cheap muggers, can't even take down a guy by themselves.

My local Wal-Mart sells a bunch of hunting guns. I don't know really exactly everything, but they probably don't have these huge aisles of self-defense guns or something.

Does Philly have hidden weapon permits though? You could get in just as big **** if they found out you had a gun and you weren't supposed to.

what should he dress like? he has tons of money?

[Dinner]

I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you Albert. If it matters I don't think there was much you could have done to stop that from happening and satistically those guys will most likely end up spending alot of time in Jail for violent crime. You've done a good job of keeping on the straight and narrow path which will lead you to a happier life so don't throw it away because of those punk ass *****es.

BTW A gun probably isn't the anwser because all that would have happened is either you or them would have been shot but no matter what everyone's lives would have been ruined.

[Whaleboy]

Albert: If your jaw hurts, I'd see a doctor - you may have a fracture or something.

I do what Alexander's Horse suggests, buy a cheap wallet, perhaps put a few faked notes that look like originals at first glance in it.

Perhaps the gun is going a little too far, I do understand, but what would your neighbourhood be like if everyone had a gun?

A self-defence class may be a good idea, aikedo is pretty good for hand-hand combat, for example if someone tries to soc you. You could also buy some mace . I think its illegal here in the UK, not sure about the states, but if you get a load of malt vinegar, marinade some chillis (split down the middle) in the acid, then siphon off the liquid and put it into a small spray thing. Aim for the eyes, it'll have a similar effect to mace.

[C0ckney]

bloody hell, i'm never mugging elijah!

sorry to hear about what happend albert, just be more careful in future and don't worry about carrying a gun or any crap like that.

[SpencerH]

Here's my $.02 for what its worth.

Your alive enough to have a painful jaw. Thats saying something, it could have been worse. The pain'll go away in a few days.

Unless people are commonly mugged for some weed where you live, I think the idea about the dealer thing seems reasonable. Else, why do people keep asking you for some? Are you known for giving out freebies, are is it a cultural thing where you live?

Dont carry any weapon of any kind unless you're willing and able to use it. In this case, I doubt it would have helped, and it might have made it worse. You weren't prepared for an attack.

It sounds like you were lulled into believing that you weren't a target by virtue of where you've grown up. Dont kid yourself, most inner city crimes against blacks are committed by their black neighbors. On a per capita basis, Birmingham AL is in the top ten deadly cities, but where I live (15 min south) has almost no crime at all except around the malls. My point is that the gangs dont drive over here (black youths driving south in older cars are very quickly stopped by the police) and I dont drive over there.

When I first moved to Birmingham (not where I am now) I had to buy my groceries from a store about a half mile away and carry them back. I never had a lick of problems despite walking through some bad areas. Maybe I was lucky, but maybe it was because I didnt look like a target. After all, it wasnt every day those folks got to see a 5'6" 220lb (muscular) white guy in a T-shirt and shorts carrying 100lbs of groceries down the street through a thunderstorm while muttering to himself.

Your best defense is staying alert. I assess everyone on the street as a potential threat and I even scan the rooftops, but then for me old habits die hard.

[lightblue]

Build up some muscle.

I used to live in one of the roughest areas of Manchester (and probably the UK), and although I was a white student living in the middle of a largely Afro Carribean and Pakistani community renowned for its violence and crime, i never got mugged. I am 6'5" and about 220lbs (now, back then more like 190), and carry myself like a lot of athletes do. In fact, people used to cross the street at night when I was walking on the same side of the road as them. My shorter and skinnier friends used to get mugged fairly regularly, usually at knife point.