Have you ever been Jumped/Beaten up?

Miscellaneous Topics
#21

It depends a lot on where you live.

I have lived in Birmingham for over 20 years, and apart from the story I posted above, I have never had anyone intimidate or hassle me in any way. Same was also true when I lived in Hong Kong.

In contrast, when I lived in Canterbury for 4 years, over that time people would drive past and shout abuse on an almost monthly basis (for the whole 4 years). Also happened on the only time I visited Margate. I also had lots of occasions in Canterbury where people would threaten me whilst I walked home.

#22

Maybe half a dozen times I’ve actually received blows? I kind of lost count. Mostly it was when growing up in SF, junior high years, early 1970’s. No tennis shoes involved. I did manage to keep it multicultural, can remember getting a pounding from hispanic, asian, black and white.

Last dozen or so years, no such incidents. I’m 6’2" now. I also keep my radar on. And am still frequently on public transport in East Bay and SF, including Oakland where I lived for about a dozen years. Scariest thing there was a fellow at 3AM firing a six shooter in the hallway of the house where I rented a studio, then knocking on my door. (I didn’t think it was wise to answer, or to move, or to breath.) I think he was under the mistaken impression I had reported his drug dealing to the police earlier that evening. Actually, I had been out at a rehearsal for a show that evening and knew nothing about there being a police visit (until a neighbor told me about it later). The show was going to open in a week. I had composed the music and was performing, and I knew the scene at this house was deteriorating to where it would be prudent to move. But I made the mistake of deciding to wait until “just as soon as” the show was over and thinking if I kept a low profile all would be cool. After that little visit, I hired an armed guard, got a uhaul and moved out the next day. Spent the duration of the show in the basement of the lead singer…

Another scary one, as an adult, was gay-bashers, but I managed to escape. Explaining that you are not gay is neither persuasive nor relevant in that circumstance. Apparently there are jackasses that drive to SF from the suburbs to engage in this sport. I recall this happening near Ghiradelli Square in the edge of North Beach. Go figure. I know lots of people are scared of SF’s Mission district, and/or have had bad experiences there, but I never had trouble there despite going to clubs and shows very frequently (on a weekly basis for a couple years).

My comfort level in Oakland went up when I started playing basketball at one of the playgrounds, a sort of rotating 3-person half-court thing. I was pretty much accepted despite being usually the only white player, and got no more “abuse” than anyone else also playing. Did that for almost a full year, every Saturday. What a great feeling to run into one of these fellows on the streets kind of at random and get a friendly ‘hi’, when previously an approach usually meant either a pan-handler or trouble. The tensions in Oakland subsided, to a significant extent it seemed to me, after the “Million Man March”. It was like the black male population collectively took a deep breath, exhaled, and let their anger levels go down a notch or two. I’ve never experienced a mass change in environment like that before.

I now live in Albany (just north of Berkeley) and it is relatively tame, very safe feel for pedestrians, even late at night.

Sometimes people are just looking for trouble, and there is little or nothing you can do to anticipate what is going on in their reptile pea brains.

#23

I lived in a shitty neighborhood until 21. I’m white and a minority there. There was a lot of racism, in and out of school. Other kids would throw rocks and try to be tough guy bullies. I’ve been in a few fights that got broken up by teachers. It’s better than letting yourself be picked on.

At about 15 at a park, some other kid wanted to fight. He hit me in the head before I realized we were fighting and I fell, but he slipped and fell too. I was a wrestler in high school and took his back and put on a (poorly executed) rear naked choke and banged his head against the ground until he gave up. I’ve since done BJJ (I’m a Gracie blue belt) and know how to choke properly. 3-4 seconds and someone can be unconscious. :slight_smile:

One time I was meeting friends at Dairy Queen (in Burien near Seattle). My friends were already there. A bunch of kids were hanging around at the door. I tried to go in but one blocked my way (big, but small for a Samoan guy). We talked for a couple minutes, I knew some of the people from his neighborhood (South Park in Seattle, shitty place). Then he said “what set you from?” a few times then punched me in the head. I staggered and he and all his friends ran away. I was left standing very confused.

I’ve never been mugged or in a fight as an adult. Kids are stupid. Once you get away from the stupidity and hopefully from the bad areas, it doesn’t seem to happen much. If you are young and this shit happens to you a lot, just persevere and know that it isn’t always going to be like that.

Talking about avoiding it is nice and all, but there really isn’t much you can do if a group of assholes wants to mess with you. Crossing the street isn’t going to help. Turning around and trying to get away before anything happens might work, but presumably you were going that way for a reason, and you can’t be so paranoid and scared that you turn around because someone a block away looks mean. Reality is, you’ll be too close to them in a subway or on a bus or train, and there isn’t much avoiding you can do.

Not much you can do when outnumbered. Even with training, if there are more than one attacker, the chances you would lose are huge. Best to try to just get through the situation without any violence occurring. I don’t mean to just hand over your money (unless they have a weapon), but do it if you think you really have to.

180lb is just a little above average. Without knowing what you are doing, killing someone is surprisingly hard. Humans are resilient. Look how much MMA fights result in death, and these guys are pros. Your size also doesn’t help you if there are 2 attackers or a weapon. Your attitude is probably the only thing that helps. If you look like a target, you’re more likely to be one.

For the OP, you sound like a good target. At the very least, your shoes made you a target. Once you knew some jackers might be watching you, you should have been more careful about where you go. Maybe this wasn’t possible though. No idea why you would get on the same bus as them. The end of your story where you get set up by your own sister really makes me wonder if these bad things happen to you for a good reason…

#24

I got jumped once. Once. ;D