Monday, March 22, 2010

(Not) Being Mugged III

Third time around: 2009

This time I think it was much more stupid than anything else... but like I always say: no pain, no gain. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And all the other clichés of the sort.
Well, I was right across from my work at night, waiting for the bus after a long long day of endless teaching. The bus stop is right in front of this huge supermarket, which was still open and crowded at 10pm. The bus stop itself was full of people, but I remained a little far from them - like, 3 meters away. Holding my backpack, looking tired and listening to music in my iPod (safely in my pocket).
This guy, a little bit taller than me, stood right in front of me looking pissed, and said something to me. Since I was listening to music, I only saw his jaw moving up and down; not that it mattered, I knew perfectly well the message he was trying to convey, by the look on his face! Unmistakable, really.
Nonetheless, I pretended not to get what he wanted, and not to be worried about it. It was real fast thinking, and I've always prided myself on having quick reflexes (I'm just not sure they're the right ones all the time...). Looking nonchalant, I took off the headphones, looked at him cooly and asked:
"I beg your pardon?"
"Gimme your mobile."
What IS UP with these people and my mobile anyway?! Let it go!
I had a better cell phone then; it still didn't have bluetooth nor camera, but it was cuter, and it didn't fall apart every time you held it.
I wondered why he wanted my cell phone, since I was clearly in the possession of some kind of mp3 player. But then it hit me: he obviously thought I had one of those fancy mobiles, that play music, take pics, make coffee and fry hamburgers. He thought I was listening to music on my mobile. The minute I handed him my really not-at-all-fancy cell, he'd realize I had something else that played music, and would demand it too.
He could even take my humble cell - but NOT my iPod nano!
I looked at him: not much taller than me, really thin and shirtless. And he either had no gun or he wasn't happy to see me. He was obviously trying to rob me using only the intimidation factor: "Yeah, okay, she's a skinny tiny little girl, all alone and looking meek. I'll intimidate her and get her money or whatever!".
Buddy, sorry to break it to you, but I really think I could take you!
The guy was like 5 cm taller than me! I'm a 5'1''; if I were intimidated by taller people, I'd never leave home. Besides, my quick reckless thinking told me there was nothing that this undersized man could do to me right next to a whole bunch of people and an open crowded supermarket.
All of that crossed my mind in a sec. So I immediately turned to him:
"Sure. Where's your gun?"
He had not seen that one coming.
"What?"
"Where. Is. Your gun?"
He looked even more pissed. But his quick thinking told him the same thing mine had: people all around. And also: "She's got a point, you know. You have NO gun."
He stared at me, and I stared back - hey, I'm great at this game. I'm never the first one to look away.
He gave up after 5 seconds, and walked away, still glancing back at me sometimes.
Big-eyed, I got closer to the other people at the bus stop - almost sitting on their laps, really, while my quick thinking yelled at me: "You're so goddamn stupid, what the hell's your problem?!"
"Hey!" I answered "YOU told me to do that!"
It sighed. "We need some serious help. We gotta get over this Rin Tin Tin complex."
Agreed.


11 comments:

Ricademus said...

You do think quickly. That's a great trait. Nothing good ever comes from panicking. I really admire how cool you under stress. If muggers had a network they would all know to stay away from you!

OMGosh, you know Rin Tin Tin??? How many people know Tiny Toons and Rin Tin Tin? That's so cool. My grandpa was a fan. In one of the FEW dreams I remember from my childhood, that dog helped me save a train from bad guys--I lived next to train tracks. Hahaha, this is incredible!

PS-It took me a few times to learn my lesson about standing away from the crowd. Twice during school fire drills I walked off to get away from the crowd and found myself surrounded by punks. Fun times! =)

Rml said...

Hahahhahahahhaha, a muggers' network, lol! I'm the muggers' worst nightmare - I'm basically Batgirl then!
Hehe, I know Rin Tin Tin cause we had a lot of reruns when I was a child... it's old, granted, but Tiny Toons, hehe, c'mon! That was a brand new cartoon when I was 9, 10...
And yeah, always stick with the crowd, dude... at all times!

beanizer_05 said...

do take care next time..
you can never read all muggers' minds..

Rml said...

@bean: yeah, exactly, it was stupid... but I know better now not to count on my luck every time. Well, thank the gods that was the last time someone tried to rob me - hope I can keep it that way!

Ricademus said...

I just meant I don't think there are many people from the Tiny Toons era who also know about RTT. I think that is special. But then I know them both, so I guess it's really just that you are special! LOL

Rml said...

@Rick: well, then you're special too! But then again, we all know that. =)

Anonymous said...

ummmm.....i dont kw what to say....!

Daydream Believer said...

You are very brave! If I was ever mugged, even if the guy only wanted my cell phone, I'd probably hand over everything!!

Rml said...

@Jamie: hehe, thnx! Weird thing is, I was never brave enough to walk up to an interesting guy and talk to him - but apparently, I see no problems in standing up to a mugger!

@bella: hahhaah, well bella girl, even so, thnx for stopping by as usual! Always nice having u here. =)

Ricademus said...

Hahaha, I guess that post made me sound like Mr. Magoo! But my eyes are fine. I wear glasses to see things at a distance, but not for reading or blogging or anything indoors--except going to movies.

But I'll keep eating carrots, just in case.

LuMa said...

Wow, you're pretty brave and thankgoodness you're a quick thinker.
If it were me, I wouldn't have noticed about the gun until they had left with my precious Ipod! :[
Next time be careful though, some of these thugs are dangerous even without guns..take care!! :]