Nigga stole my iPod

[Kibiyama]

I just got robbed.

So, there I was, walking home from class. My class on Tuesday lets out at the same time as a city high school that's on my path home. So, I'm approaching that point in my stroll. Now, my iPod occasionally fucks up and won't change songs, so I have to do it myself.

So I pull it out and change the song, and put it back in my pocket. There's a lot of kids milling about, and one of them says "Hey, you wanna sell your iPod?" I reply, "Uh... no..." and continue walking.

Then I get the feeling I'm being followed, and a quick glance over my shoulder confirms this. 4 of them. But "Hey," I tell myself, "you're only a block from home, and there's kids everywhere. Don't be paranoid, crimes don't happen in this part of the city."

However, I was wrong. Who I presume to be the leader of this young posse, the one who asked, grinningly, if I wanted to sell my iPod, runs across the street and I can barely make a step before he's upon me and throwing his arm into my pocket.

I grab his wrist and pull toward the ground, but it's no use -- he's got it. I leap toward him and notice the other 3 coming across the street. He retorts "Go ahead, run at me!" and I pause.

They run off, and I immediately run the last block to my home, where I yelled at my sister to get up, and ran back out the door without my backpack on. But they were completely gone.

We called the cops, gave the descriptions, blah blah blah. They show up, take me around to look for them. We find nothing.

Really, I could care less about the iPod. I'm fine, physically, and I think the fact that I can afford an iPod says that it wasn't exactly a financial make-or-break for me.

But what irks me is how cavalier he was, and that none of his friends intervened. They seem to think it's a way of life, but it's not. Society demands give and take on the part of each member, and if all you do is take, you're going to find there is less and less to take.

To anticipate some of the questions:

"Why didn't you fight back?"

I just had a vaccine (so my arm was very sore), I'm skinny (programmer, hello) and there was 4 of them. I had no weapon, but they very well might have.

Another acceptable answer: I'm not an idiot.

"Were they black?"

Yes, and that infuriates me to no end. I hated having to tell the police they were black, and it was actually one of the first things I thought of when they did it. Among the least educated and fastest-growing populations of America, victims of discrimination for ages -- the least you could do is try to break the cycle a little.

Also, a fucking Apple Update just popped up.
Penis.

[BLUEPOWERVAN]

You need to either man up and fight, or puss out and flight, not just delicately pretend you live in too good an area to be subject to such uncouth ruffians.

I got mugged delivering pizza at 3 in the morning, 2 black guys ran up from behind while I was waiting at someone's door, hit me and grabbed the pizza. I turned and swung on the guy who hit me, and chased the both of them (while on the phone with 911) back to their apartment where they stupidly ran to. They're in jail now.

You had to know that guy was going to go for your ipod after that comment. Either run (probably the smart move with 3 others of them) or swing on him, and start calling the cops if he runs after you.

I'm sorry, but you reacted like a dumb sheep, because you were too proud to run. I'm a pasty never-works-out programmer now too, so we are about even.

[Tehw00tz]

I once punched a guy because he stole my wallet



Turns out he was giving it back to me after it fell out my pocket.

[Dekar]

I guess you should have called the other kids for help and run after these guys immediately. As long as they dont try to seriously hurt you.


Well, be glad that nothing worse happened.

[AedharinSadai]

The problem lies within your society.

[Discombobulator]

The problem lies within your society.

qft.


Funny Amerikans, think their country is good.


I live in a third world country which has perhaps 30% less living standard then the USA, but it's safe to walk alone at night in any part of any city.

[Kibiyama]

You need to either man up and fight, or puss out and flight, not just delicately pretend you live in too good an area to be subject to such uncouth ruffians.

You had to know that guy was going to go for your ipod after that comment. Either run (probably the smart move with 3 others of them) or swing on him, and start calling the cops if he runs after you.

I really didn't think anything could or would happen. If it'd been night, I would've been more wary and not even had it on my person, but daytime with a billion people walking around, on some of the busiest streets in the area... I thought, at most, they would try to swindle it. It just so happened that it was perfect conditions for them. Nobody was walking in that part of the street at that moment, and no cars either. I mean, I don't live in a dangerous place, really. The only place I thought was less than safe was that high school, and my younger cousin went there for a while and was fine.

I guess, in a way, I was just trying to prove to myself that there was nothing to fear; that I just had a mistaken preconception. Turns out, not so much.

I mean, you are right, but all this is ridiculous. Why are we talking about what I should've done, when I shouldn't have to do anything at all?

All this makes me wonder, though. The way I'm headed, I'll have to move to SF, Austin, or Chicago. SF would probably be the ideal, but just walking to my hotel from VGL was scary enough, I don't think I could handle living there. On top of which, are all my fears that America is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better. Maybe I should move out of the country. /sigh
Penis.

[Tehw00tz]

Disco, don't turn this into an "America is the shittiest country in the world" thread, we all know we're going downhill, so don't state the obvious.

[Soulbourne]

Well, you could learn some basic self-defense moves, in case they're needed. Short of shooting you, then stealing your stuff, many martial arts will teach you too defend against weapons, knifes and guns can be disarmed with a well placed blow to the wrist in close quarters. So, just some basic hand-to-hand and defense against weapons will protect most of the time, what are the chances of them knowing how to fight someone who doesn't just take turns punching each other.



To summarize for those thats too long for, get basic martial arts training, for weapons and hand-to-hand, and hope they don't shoot you before they get close.

[jamn455]

Disco, don't turn this into an "America is the shittiest country in the world" thread, we all know we're going downhill, so don't state the obvious.

Maybe everything else is going down the shitter, I am in Florida, and nothing bad is going on here. I love where I live and I cannot say anything bad about it other than fucking red tide, but thats just shit from Mississippi trying to fuck our lives up.

[Tehw00tz]

Maybe, the only place I've been in America that I've stayed longer than 3 days in was Salt Lake city in Utah. It was nice, except it was nearly impossible to find any caffeinated drinks (Against the Mormon religion, along with alcohol)
I guess if you lived in New Orleans your perspective may be different, but my experience these past years haven't been great.

[Emufarmers]

You could always get pepper spray (assuming it's legal in your state).

I live in a third world country which has perhaps 30% less living standard then the USA, but it's safe to walk alone at night in any part of any city.

"30% less living standard"? That's meaningless unless you indicate the metric you're using (per capita income, etc.), but a country whose citizens are 70% as wealthy as their American counterparts is not a third-world country. Ultimately, the differences in crime and safety vary enormously within countries and regions: I happen to live in a safe suburb, but if I traveled a few miles into Boston, I would keep my eyes open.

I guess if you lived in New Orleans your perspective may be different, but my experience these past years haven't been great.

That's not really fair, given New Orleans' reputation of problems with crime. Cities can be very different from the regions they reside in: If you visited Salt Lake City and then expected the rest of Utah to be similar, you would probably be in for a surprise. New Orleans is very unrepresentative of the US, and my hometown is only marginally more representative. I don't think either of us (nor of most people responding in this thread) has the breadth of travel to evaluate the shittiness of the US as a whole, except by statistics and hearsay.

[BLUEPOWERVAN]

lol jamn, I've lived in florida all my life, (north and south) mostly gainesville or miami. miami was full of hoods, and I guess you are less to blame if you never heard of that shit before... if someone asks to see something or borrow it or anything that involves them holding it, they are pretty much looking to steal it from you. if you lived in florida and never had to deal with crap, it's just because you stayed in richie rich neighborhoods all your life

[jamn455]

Little Cuba is not a part of florida. Dont include the rathole of miami.

I live in southwest florida and I can say that there may be hoods and shit but you dont hear about shootings too often, and you dont have many robberies other than dumb ass rednecks thinking they can rob a bank with a 12 gauge and no disguise.

I live in anything but a richie rich neighborhood, I guess its just that I live around people that have enough common sense not to start shit.

[BLUEPOWERVAN]

Hey I live in little haiti not little cuba, don't be so presumptuous, miami is a lot of different cities

[Tehw00tz]

That's not really fair, given New Orleans' reputation of problems with crime. Cities can be very different from the regions they reside in: If you visited Salt Lake City and then expected the rest of Utah to be similar, you would probably be in for a surprise. New Orleans is very unrepresentative of the US, and my hometown is only marginally more representative. I don't think either of us (nor of most people responding in this thread) has the breadth of travel to evaluate the shittiness of the US as a whole, except by statistics and hearsay.

I've traveled to (the nicer) cities in Mexico and Belice, and it really surprised me. I thought everything would suck, suprisingly the only thing that sucked was the water and heat. The tourist visited cities are really nice, I guess it's because they have a flow of American money.
The crime in the part that I live in isn't bad at all, my highschool used to be located about 4 blocks away from where the levee broke from Hurricane Katrina (The 9th ward), so that's the worst neighborhood I've had to travel in most frequently. The entire city just really fell apart after Hurricane Katrina and only part of it has been put back together, and now the entire city's morale has been put down by the Saints going to 0-5 (0 wins, 5 losses) and yes, sports are that big of a part of Louisiana. Well atleast LSU is doing good.

[jamn455]

Don't lie. I have been to Cosumel, Cancun, and Belize City and I can say that each of them are fucking trash holes compared to the united states. They doll up the tourist towns, but you can see how shitty they are if you look at them.

[jamn455]

And by that I mean I went there on a cruise, and they doll up the ports to every city, then if you go do something in the town, you get to go inside of the shithole that it really is.