Cowardice as a Tactical State of Mind

[Cousin Mike]

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.

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...

 

[cassandrasdaddy]

if

you'd run it woulda been bad. i lived on naylor road in naylor gardens in mid 70's .We joked i was integrating the neighborhood. never had trouble had same approach and i was 5'7 135.too dmb to be scared and i didn't carry much then dc cops used to jaxk me up too often. the real tough guys used to call me mighty mouse. they were predators and like all predators woulda keyed on fear.
only time i got robbed in several decades of dumb stuff was in paliades a good section.

 

[Cousin Mike]

Before I get flamed about PTSD for my O.K. Corral comment, let me just say that was obviously a play on words, but to an extent. I would definitely have defended myself in that situation had things continued to go in a hostile direction though, and would have been justified in doing so.

What I will say is that this is Columbus, Ohio. The way things are here has nothing to do with how they do things in L.A., or NYC, or Spenard, Alaska. I grew up here, and I know my environment... I'm sure you all know your environments. Do what works. Were I'm at, the gangs exist, but they aren't hardcore, kill-on-sight types like the gangs in L.A. But that doesn't mean they won't kill you just as dead.

You do what you know how to do. Call it pride, call me stupid... I disagree. I'll never walk miles out of my way to avoid people. That does not mean in any way that I go looking for trouble. Not everyone is able to live in Alaska, or out in the country, in a relatively safe place far removed from big cities and their problems. And not everyone who lives in big cities is scared to go outside, nor should they be. Crime is not exclusive to large cities.

A drug addict is a completely different thing than a gangbanger... I would never advise anyone give an addict the time of day.

 

[Cosmoline]

You do what you know how to do. Call it pride, call me stupid... I disagree. I'll never walk miles out of my way to avoid people. That does not mean in any way that I go looking for trouble. Not everyone is able to live in Alaska, or out in the country, in a relatively safe place far removed from big cities and their problems. And not everyone who lives in big cities is scared to go outside, nor should they be. Crime is not exclusive to large cities.

I wouldn't call you stupid, but I would suggest that your nerve and eye contact didn't save you--the guy who knew you did. If he hadn't recognized you or hadn't known you, what do you think would have happened? It seems to me you just rolled the dice and got lucky. And there's nothing wrong with that--until it runs out.

Alaska, BTW, is not a relatively safe place. I currently live in Spenard and I've lived in the Butte and way out in the valley where the troopers fear to tread. This is in many respects the wild west, and my experiences here over the past few years have made me all the more cautious.

But nowhere do I suggest people should be scared to go outside. Or that they should live in a plastic bubble. I'm suggesting that discretion is the better part of valor, and when you see trouble coming it's best to avoid it.

 

[Cousin Mike]

Alaska, BTW, is not a relatively safe place. I currently live in Spenard and I've lived in the Butte and way out in the valley where the troopers fear to tread. This is in many respects the wild west, and my experiences here over the past few years have made me all the more cautious.

I've given this a lot of thought since I've come back from trade school here in Ohio. I got to see another side of life that I hadn't really sampled before. My school was WAY outside the city, so I had to commute everyday. It's hard to know who has it easier - the folks out in the "sticks", or the folks here in the city.

I can understand how life in a place like Alaska, or somewhere similar, can be compared to the wild west... There's no 911 to call when you live in places like that - it's every man for himself. I had never really given that any thought before meeting folks at school who lived in places I'd never heard of, and hearing their stories... so I understand your view a lot better than I would have when I joined this board.

I wouldn't call you stupid, but I would suggest that your nerve and eye contact didn't save you--the guy who knew you did. If he hadn't recognized you or hadn't known you, what do you think would have happened? It seems to me you just rolled the dice and got lucky.

I hope my post didn't seem appear to suggest that my "bravery" was the saving factor. I wasn't trying to be brave, I just wanted to get home... and I didn't want to be there. You're right - I probably would have at the very least, had to really do some slick talking to get out of that situation had that guy not made his presence known. At worst, I would have probably had to walk to the corner store naked.

But I do believe that one of the reasons things happened the way that they did was because I didn't turn around and go the other way once I saw them. That's one thing the crooked types around here get off on... what they see or interpret as fear - and that would have been interpreted as fear IMO. Sometimes, around here, walking through guys like that is better than going out of your way to walk around them.

However... sometimes, it would definitely serve one better to walk that 6 miles of proverbial highway. One's gut feelings should be the deciding factor.

 

[Vern Humphrey]

But I do believe that one of the reasons things happened the way that they did was because I didn't turn around and go the other way once I saw them. That's one thing the crooked types around here get off on... what they see or interpret as fear - and that would have been interpreted as fear IMO.

Phil Shoemaker, who is a licenced bear guide in Alaska and lives way out in the bush in bear country, makes the same point. The most important thing about carrying a gun in bear country is that it gives you confidence. When you have confidence, the bears sense it and tend to leave you alone.

 

[kikr]

sounds like intelligence not cowardice.

 

[Cosmoline]

Phil Shoemaker, who is a licenced bear guide in Alaska and lives way out in the bush in bear country, makes the same point. The most important thing about carrying a gun in bear country is that it gives you confidence. When you have confidence, the bears sense it and tend to leave you alone.

When did Shoemaker say that?

 

[Vern Humphrey]

When did Shoemaker say that?

In article in "Handloader" magazine entitled "Handguns and Bears", June, 2003.

In commenting on an earlier column by Dave Scovill, he said:

However, I don't agree with his assessment that using a handgun on an attacking bear is a "fantasy." I have had to use mine too many times, not normally to stop charging bruins, but in order to have the nerve and ability to stand my ground in order to intimidate them.

(My emphasis.)

In another part of the article he says:

Bears, like other intelligent animals, avoid confrontations when possible and prefer to use threats and bluffs rather than resort to physical contact where there is always a potential danger to themselves. Their reactions are not unlike those of a bully who, when someone stands his ground and shows resolve, will often enough back down . . .

And in recounting an incident when a sow with cubs menaced his daughter, Tia;

It takes a lot of self-discipline and courage to stand up to a charging bear with only a handgun, but without one it would be unimaginable, if not impossible.

And . . .

But a person who stands his ground si reacting the same as a typical big male bear. It is this confidence, bolstered by a handgun, that is your best defense when confronted by a truculent bear.

 

[Cosmoline]

OK, I see what he's saying now.