Cousin Mike
Member
I could have turned around and walked up 6 miles of highway to my apartment. I could have hopped right back over that fence, and walked a number of different places off the freeway... I didn't - in part because like I said, they had no reason to be concerned with me... In part because I refuse to walk 6 miles out of my way to get past a group of bangers.
I had my gun... and I had a plan forming. If anything hostile had been said once my name was confirmed, it would have been the O.K. Corral.
I'm willing to bet anything that had I turned around once I saw what was going on, I'd have been dead meat... The fact that someone in the crowd knew me, of course, was the deciding factor in how things went down - there's no questioning that. But my actions weren't an accident. You can't ALWAYS avoid trouble... No matter where I walked, I would have still been in the neighborhood Cosmo... I would much rather have come up on the crowd I did than the gangbangers down the block that I DIDN'T know...
Running away is not always the answer. Why should I have turned around once I noticed I was in the wrong colors? I got a free beer and an armed detail to escort me to the store... all for being myself. I much prefer what actually happened to being ran over by some half-sleep trucker, trying to walk 6 miles of dark freeway at night. As for where I should have never gone, well... I didn't have a choice where my car broke down, Cosmo... If I did, I would have chosen a nice all-girls college dorm on Ohio State's campus to break down in front of.
Oh, but yes I really did every last one of those things. Eye contact, always... Stand my ground? You bet. Not standing my ground would have been to do as you suggested, and turn away - going miles and miles out of my way to avoid people I don't like the looks of... In my logic, and this comes from actually living somehwere where there really are street gangs, I'll be the first to tell you. You NEVER show that kind of fear and weakness to a gangbanger. You're just begging to get robbed, or worse.
Showing that kind of cowardice really brings the sadist out in some criminals.
Dialogue took place before that guy presented himself, and things were said that I could not find a way to clean up for this forum. He recognized my voice. Act politely once things changed? You bet... Another rude response would have probably gotten me killed. I grew up and went to school with a lot of kids like that. It's not just something I read about, Cosmo. I lived a nice part of my life in places where you probably wouldn't even get out of the car. The fact of the matter is this... I shouldn't have done ANYTHING else... I did exactly what I should have. And that's why I am here typing.
The same guy who saved my ass that night ended up killing someone else not even 3 years later. If you don't catch the irony there, well...
I had my gun... and I had a plan forming. If anything hostile had been said once my name was confirmed, it would have been the O.K. Corral.
I'm willing to bet anything that had I turned around once I saw what was going on, I'd have been dead meat... The fact that someone in the crowd knew me, of course, was the deciding factor in how things went down - there's no questioning that. But my actions weren't an accident. You can't ALWAYS avoid trouble... No matter where I walked, I would have still been in the neighborhood Cosmo... I would much rather have come up on the crowd I did than the gangbangers down the block that I DIDN'T know...
Running away is not always the answer. Why should I have turned around once I noticed I was in the wrong colors? I got a free beer and an armed detail to escort me to the store... all for being myself. I much prefer what actually happened to being ran over by some half-sleep trucker, trying to walk 6 miles of dark freeway at night. As for where I should have never gone, well... I didn't have a choice where my car broke down, Cosmo... If I did, I would have chosen a nice all-girls college dorm on Ohio State's campus to break down in front of.
You didn't do anything of the kind.
Oh, but yes I really did every last one of those things. Eye contact, always... Stand my ground? You bet. Not standing my ground would have been to do as you suggested, and turn away - going miles and miles out of my way to avoid people I don't like the looks of... In my logic, and this comes from actually living somehwere where there really are street gangs, I'll be the first to tell you. You NEVER show that kind of fear and weakness to a gangbanger. You're just begging to get robbed, or worse.
Showing that kind of cowardice really brings the sadist out in some criminals.
Dialogue took place before that guy presented himself, and things were said that I could not find a way to clean up for this forum. He recognized my voice. Act politely once things changed? You bet... Another rude response would have probably gotten me killed. I grew up and went to school with a lot of kids like that. It's not just something I read about, Cosmo. I lived a nice part of my life in places where you probably wouldn't even get out of the car. The fact of the matter is this... I shouldn't have done ANYTHING else... I did exactly what I should have. And that's why I am here typing.
The same guy who saved my ass that night ended up killing someone else not even 3 years later. If you don't catch the irony there, well...