hurc *thinks* he got mugged
ok. so I've been neglecting this blog. I've got a lot of little anecdotes I'd like to tell you guys, but for now, here's something that happened to me last night.
I was graciously invited over to Deviline's place for dinner last night. I decided that it was a pretty decent night, a little cool around 8pm but still good, so I would just walk over. Door to door, wearing my trusty iPod, it took a 10-minute brisk walk to get there.
Dinner was already ready when I entered. It's always nice to have a home cooked meal. Thanks Deviline. :) After eats, we watched CSI. It was alright last night, not one of the best I've seen. After the show, it was around 10pm, time to go home. M. had offered to drive me home, but I declined. The time it would have taken to go to the garage, drive out, wait for the lights, etc etc, was not worth the trouble. It's only a few blocks. What could possibly happen?
Halfway home, I was walking past this house when some guy exited the front door. Didn't think much of it.
He walks right up to my left and says: "Yo!"
I take off my iPod to hear him better. "You got any spare change?", he says.
He looked a little agitated, so I figure a little generosity would save me some trouble. I pull out my wallet to give him some change.
As I'm doing that, he says in a quicken pace: "You got any loonies? Twonies?"
So I open the change pocket of my wallet, grab a few coins, and reach out to hand them to him.
Then he says: "You got any bills?"
At that exact moment, I started to get a little nervous. Bills? I mean, pan handlers usually that aggressive, at least not the ones in Montreal. Even the squeegees are happy with a couple of quarters.
He continues with an even quicker speech: "Comon', comon'. Gimme all your change. "
Now, he's no longer really asking me to spare change. He's telling me to do it. Without thinking, I empty out the pocket and hand him all the change I had. I don't even have time to freak out when he turns around and starts chasing after another guy who passes by an alley on a bike.
"Hey you!", he yells at him, as he runs away with a handful of my change.
I'm two blocks away from home, so I continue walking, still not really realizing or even understanding what had just happened. I keep looking over my shoulder, thinking he would come back after me and ask me for the rest of my money or even my iPod. I quickly enter my building and into my appartment. I stop and ponder on the events of the last 10 minutes.
This guy never pointed any weapon at me, nor did he scream or talk to me in a loud voice. But he did look and sound agitated. He wasn't really threatening me, and I don't think I was ever in any real danger. But I did feel threatened. All he took off with was maybe $5 worth of change. I should be glad nothing else happened.
Did I get mugged? Did I get lucky? Am I being paranoid? Still feeling a bit weird today...
posted by hurc @ 11:00 a.m.
4 Comments:
I know how you feel. I somehow got conned out of 10$ to some total stranger due to persistance. Didn't really think about it until afterwards.
Sucks to know how vulnerable we are.
I've never given money to beggars and never will. I have, on the other hand, bought or donated them food.
When someone asks me for money, I simply answer "Sorry, but I can't help you"... which is true, because even if I gave them money, it wouldn't help their larger situation.
first of all, i think women are more 'aware' of potential situations (at least, i hope we are) because all the warnings when you grow up to watch out for your surroundings. partly i believe it's physically being smaller than your average guy that has taught us that to survive you must be smarter about your surroundings. anyhow, in the streets i never ever take my wallet out for panhandlers - sorry. it leaves too much room for others to take advantage, even if the panhandlers/beggars won't. i'm glad you are ok, and that not much money was lost... but i would take it as a warning to be more aware of surroundings at night especially alone. even when i'm driving, i walk briskly to my car, key in 1 hand, cell phone in other in case i need to dial for help quickly. first thing i do when i get in is lock my doors. you can't avoid every dangerous situation, but you can do your best to reduce possible situations by being more aware...
When I was a teenager and working part-time at a chinese restaurant, I had the habit to stopped by Jean-Coutu across from Jarry Metro to get some misc stuff on sale before heading home by metro. If you know the area, there are a few beggler around there, I had given money before. One evening, after work and after getting out of Jean-Coutu, a teenage girl was outside begging me for money because she's hungry (or she said). "I just spent all my cash at Jean-Coutu", I explained (and I wasn't lying), but she was hungry, so I had pity and handed her a can of Chef Boyardee that I had just purchased. She looked at me and said, "No thanks, that's not enough". At that point, I just realized how I got mugged previously (and how stupid I was, luckily, I was still a teenager, so, still quite naive). Never again I gave money to ppl on the street.
Ok, here's another story... A recent one... A friend of mine drove and parked at a public parking lot, then a guy approached her and handed her a parking ticket and said, "It's $5." Without thinking, my friend handing him a $5, he gave her the ticket and left saying, "Don't worry, I'm not ripping you off." Then she realized that she had to pay to the machine and that guy wasn't a parking attendant.
Moral of the story? Just don't keep cash on you... haha
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