Minding your own business

[realist]

This week I was in court listening to a case and got to think that it really pertains to what our line of thinking is. There are some bad people out there and you need to avoid them as much as possible. But better yet you need to avoid the situation that puts you in that situation......

A guy (victim) is drinking in a bar and has too much to drink. Bar staff take away his keys and he decides to walk home, it is about 2:30 AM. His house is two miles away, so he starts walking. He is walking along a rural roadway (no street lights or sidewalk) that goes by another bar. As he passes the bar there are two people out front who also have been drinking (no additionally info is available). The two suspects try to talk to the victim but he ignores them and keeps walking rapidly. Both suspects jog up to either side to him and continue to try to talk to him. Then without warning one throws a roundhouse punch striking the victim above the left eye causing severe bleeding, which blurred his vision. The second suspect jumps on the victim’s back and the fight is on. The victim tries to fight back landing some blows to each of the attackers. The victim falls to the ground where he is kicked in the chest. The victim, who has had recent open heart surgery, tries to protect his chest by crossing his arms over it. The suspects proceed to kick him in the head and neck. The victim is able to get up and run away with the suspects in pursuit but they give up.

Alcohol was involved. The attack was by two suspects against one victim. One suspect was taller and outweighed the victim by about 40 pounds. The other suspect was shorter but of about the same weight as the victim. The victim although he had recent surgery he was still able to fight back. Race was not a factor, no hate crime involved. All participants were males. No weapons were involved with the exception of hands and feet. The reason for the attack is not known but robbery was apparently not the motive. So why the attack, just cause…. This was not a SHTF scenario, a TEOTWAWKI just an everyday situation. You need to understand that there are bad people out there that want to hurt you for no reason other than just cause.

What would you have done? It is easy to say you pull out you EDC and blow them away. That may be true but how would you come out in the long run? Yes you are alive and lived through it but you may now be doing the rest of that time in jail. No the system is not always fair. Do you realize that you just shot two defenseless young men in the prime of their lives? Here is a thought instead as they approach you and you open your coat and show them the gun. They then run away and you are good right? Well maybe no because they will run and tell the cops that you threatened them with a gun. Along come the cops, they stop you and find the gun, do you know who goes to jail?

So WTF do you do? Well back up to the start of this situation. What are you drinking to excess in a bar anyway? If you are carrying a gun then that is a no, no and will only lead to trouble. Okay it happens then, why didn’t you make a call for a ride? Drink with others with someone to watch your back, but why even put yourself in a situation that requires this. We need to not be stupid…………. Mindset is important know all your limits. Be careful out there……..

Just to reinforce these thought I thought I would include this article about some fine people who are out there to see you.
Police: Axe Murderer Eats Victim's Eyeball, Brain - News - LawOfficer.com (http://www.lawofficer.com/article/news/police-axe-murderer-eats-victi)

[Fatty]

Always have to remember to keep aware of location location location. Learning to utilize yOur mind's eye can help you avoid ALMOST any situation.


In this case he was drinking alone at a bar. Had to walk home, as soon as he came to the next bar and started getting haggled, he should have gone into the establishment and used the restroom and du ked out the back or done something until the aggressors got dissinterested.



Just my opinion.

[RedJohn]

Don't drink to start with.

[Stormfeather]

Situational awareness.

Dont drink to excess.

Dont let the bar staff take your keys unless they are willing to offer you a ride as well. (In some states, this is actually a law.)

Dont drink after recent open heart surgery, glutton for punishment.

If all else fails, you alone, are the judge of what it will take to survive, if it means the possibility of jail, is it worth it to you?

[Stormfeather]

"At the cemetery he said he ate the eyeball, which tasted like an oyster, and the brain matter,"

Some people will do anything for a hot meal.

[realist]

No it was a cold meal........I guess he should have has some lemon and vodka.........

[bacpacker]

Like has already been mentioned, done put yourself into situations like that to start with. There are enough low lifes out there that are just waiting to take advantage of someone to put yourself out to get in trouble. Hell there is enough crap you can get into without trying something like that.

[LUNCHBOX]

I don't know of any state that allows your EDC in a bar while drinking, with that you would be at fault..."Weapons Under Disability" on the other hand, your out walking a local bike trail just for exercise and two guys jump you. The key words after drawing your weapon if needed is "I feared for my life" (2 guys, 1 your size and 1 40 lbs bigger than you....justified)

I answered this way do to the weapon involvement and placed it at a heavily used area because it has happened here.

Out drinking/driving from a bar and you get your keys taken due to having to much and then you get jumped....bluntly, you get what you asked for. Avoid it and drink at home with friends/family. Fire up the grill.

[realist]

Well I got ya all thinking and there are some good points. The victim was just that a victim that doesn't have a clue. The crooks are both gangsters that hopefully will be going away for a while. You would be amazed at all the stupid things that I see people do. Note to self booze and dope will always get you in trouble especially when you introduce guns. AS they say you can't learn common sense..........

[GunnerMax]

If I drink, it is in the safety of my own locked apartment. If I do go out though, my wonderful wife is my DD and keeps me out of trouble.

[The Stig]

You need to understand that there are bad people out there that want to hurt you for no reason other than just cause.


This stood out as the crux of the entire post. I hope that most of us here know, accept and plan for this. In general society, however, I'm afraid there are hordes of people who simply don't understand this basic fact of life.

By getting drunk and losing his ability to drive our feckless heart surgery patient forced himself into a position where he'd be exposed to more bad people wanting to do bad things.

Being in a bar at 2:30am exposes himself to a bunch of people, some of whom probably don't have the strongest moral fiber.

Being by himself he exposes himself as an easy target to anybody looking to do harm.

Walking instead of calling for a ride places him in contact with more bad people.

Getting drunk in public....that should be obvious.

Once he made all of those hideously poor decisions he limited his options to the point where he was getting his ass kicked. I'm not sure there was anything he could have done at the point the two guys ran up to him to change the outcome.

What would I have done? The exact opposite of everything this guy did.

[captainhippy]

The few times I walked home from bars during undergrad I later regretted it. A lot of people just exiting bars (Around 1:30 in Missouri) as I was walking from downtown to my apartment (30 minutes walk) would yell and throw crap. Just being jacka$$es I suppose, but I should probably count myself lucky that it never escalated to anything more than that. Lessons learned though.

- I won't go to a bar alone.
- I won't walk home from a bar, at minimum I will call a cab.

That would have kept me out of this particular scenario. That said, I do occasionally go to bars but I don't go out to drink myself stupid. I drink to relax and enjoy myself, but I know my limit and cut myself off when necessary. I have noticed that alcohol can really turn some people into.... quite frankly something else. I guess the scary thing is that it really depends on the person. I have never gotten so inebriated I forgot who I was, but I have seen other people so drunk I couldn't recognize them. Spooky.