I could have been mugged

[StinkyTheGrump]

Re: I could have been mugged

Wow those are cool pics! I really like the first one.

[acousticlady]

Re: I could have been mugged

Ahhhhh! Thin film interference beautiful pics!

[Walkoff Balk]

Re: I could have been mugged

Those photos remind me of a REM music video.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: I could have been mugged

I like the first one. I've got a photo very similar to the 3rd - but the flower is behind the fence - makes it look "imprisoned".

[localmoco]

Re: I could have been mugged

Of course, that man could simply have been curious about what you were doing. You're an unfamiliar face in what used to be his neighborhood. (Sounds like he was moving out of that apartment.) If you were standing around with a camera in an empty parking lot and taking a picture for reasons that are not readily apparent (and a puddle of oil isn't the most obvious candidate for a snapshot), he might have approached you simply to get a closer look at what was captivating your attention.

That was my first thought, too. If a stranger was wandering around outside of my home taking pictures, I would be wary. From the description, it doesn't sound like the guy was acting threatening but just wanted to make sure the OP knew he had his eye on him. I probably would have reacted the same way. That guy is probably telling a similar story to his friends about how he could have been mugged by some weirdo taking pictures of puddles.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: I could have been mugged

I'm not paranoid, but my head is on a swivel like I'm on the special teams on a football field when in unfamiliar surroundings. The tragic killing of the teacher at the Ewa shopping center brought out that budget cuts resulted in crazy people could be walking around anywhere.

Ironically though, Asa (who happened to be one of my sister's close friends in high school) was killed in a shopping center that she frequently visited.

You're absolutely right about always being aware of your surroundings and the people around you, but as this sad story goes to show, senseless and unexpected tragedies can happen even in the places that are most familiar to you. And in broad daylight, no less.

[MyopicJoe]

Re: I could have been mugged

Thank you for the kind words; TurtleGirl, TutuSue, and StinkyTheGrump (is that character from Dave Chappelle?)

Ahhhhh! Thin film interference beautiful pics!

Ahhh, "thin film interference"! Thank you for giving me the scientific name. Google is more useful when you know the right search terms. My daughters asked me why oil slicks look like rainbows. I knew it had to do with film thickness and wavelengths, but I was fuzzy on the specifics.

Those photos remind me of a REM music video.

I should become a CD cover designer! The only REM video I remember is their "Stand" one, though.

I like the first one. I've got a photo very similar to the 3rd - but the flower is behind the fence - makes it look "imprisoned".

Did you ever post the pic on one of the photo threads? Yeah, the fence gives a prison look. The flower in mines is making a jail break!

If a stranger was wandering around outside of my home taking pictures, I would be wary.

Yeah, a camera is a tool which can invade a person's privacy. Most people are shy of cameras because they're self-conscious about their looks. Some people are afraid of being photographed for other reasons.

As I said in my original post, I wasn't in any real danger during this encounter. Rather, I was critical of myself for not reacting in a safer manner.

What I do find suspicious was how often he insisted I not take a photo of him, even though I was standing in the parking lot of a business (not his home) and taking pictures of the ground (and not the cars at his apartment, door of his home, his neighbors, etc.). Maybe he's a former model trying to escape the glamour of the runway, and doesn't want to be found.

Ironically though, Asa (who happened to be one of my sister's close friends in high school) was killed in a shopping center that she frequently visited.

My condolences to your sister :_(

Yeah, sometimes sh*t happens and you're in the wrong place at the wrong time. Situational awareness, which Walkoff Balk talks about, is a tool for making lazy criminals pick someone else as a victim. If someone wants to kill you without warning, there's a whole different set of skills and mentality you need (probably one reason why soldiers returning from war have a difficult time integrating back into civilian life).

Even a police officer with a gun (holstered) is in danger from a criminal with a knife. Somewhere within 21 feet is the danger zone, where they can rush the cop and stab them, before they have a chance to draw their gun and get an effective shot off. The only way to stay safe is to be aggressive and treat everyone as the enemy. Fine for war. Not so great for civilian life. I'd say being a police officer (or a soldier on peace keeping duty) is more stressful than being a soldier assaulting a known enemy position.

[tutusue]

Re: I could have been mugged

[...]
You're absolutely right about always being aware of your surroundings and the people around you, but as this sad story goes to show, senseless and unexpected tragedies can happen even in the places that are most familiar to you. And in broad daylight, no less.

This excellent advice drives home my stupid actions in my own condo building (not Makaha!) last Friday, early evening. When one least expects it one can be confronted with a dangerous situation.

I was on one of the lower parking floors, having just retrieved a stack of papers from my car, and was waiting for the elevator for the ride up to a much higher floor where I reside.

The elevator door opened revealing a lady, a little older and smaller than I, holding a bag of groceries with more bags at her feet. I'd never before seen her. I immediately noticed that "something's not right with this picture"! Her head was down and she was staring at the floor. She raised only her eyes to look at me and the look was chilling. My intuition told me to wait for another elevator. My brain told me not to be paranoid and just get on the damn thing!!! I hesitated probably about 2 seconds then got on. As soon as the doors started to close the lady went into a verbal rage, aimed at me, becoming more and more agitated. She was clearly psychotic. I notice she is going to the same floor as I...waaaay up the building!!!

Shortly into this rage the elevator slowed to stop on another low floor. This agitates her more. I'm relieved because that's where I'll get off! By now the lady is sneering, breathing heavily and saying over and over in a very gutteral manner, "Oh God. Oh God." It was then that I realize she was probably more than capable of attempting a physical assault.

The elevator doors open and a man gets on. The lady scoops up her bags, makes another gutteral remark and charges out of the elevator almost knocking the man over. Since she was headed to my floor I assumed she was going to wait for another elevator. The man and I rode the elevator, discussing the anger in this woman.

I got back to my unit, had a glass of water, sent an email then decided to report the incident to security. I mention this laundry list because it illustrates a bit of time, maybe 5 minutes, went by before I left my unit to go to the lobby. As I walked out my door, crazy lady had just gotten off the elevator, headed for her unit which is directly across the hall, about 25-30' from my unit. She hears my door close, turns to see who it is and realizes it's...ME!!!!! By then her door was open and a man was standing inside. When she sees me she yells, "Oh God, now she knows where I live."!!!! I responded with, "What is YOUR problem?" then got on the elevator.

I make a verbal report at that point and a written report the next morning. I have seen her once since Friday and altho' no words were exchange she was still acting in a bizarre manner.

The moral of this overly long, boring story? I was very, very lucky! I instinctually knew to avoid that elevator yet I didn't. The lady could've had a gun. Or, maybe she has a gun in her unit. I don't know. She's extremely sick and is probably a threat to herself or others. She and her husband are on a 6 month lease ending June 1. Needless to say I hope they move but security mentioned they could also extend their lease. And, security knew immediately who I was talking about! They do not feel she is capable of hurting herself or others. I completely disagree and put that in my report.

Acknowledge and honor your intuition, folks!

[Frankie's Market]

Re: I could have been mugged

Sue, you should start documenting every bizarre activity that you witness this lady committing, including the day, time, exact location. Gather any evidence, if possible (photos, security camera footage, etc.) Immediately report specific complaints to the condo security and the AOAO, even if they are non-criminal in nature. This might compel that lady's landlord not to extend the lease when it comes up for renewal.

[tutusue]

Re: I could have been mugged

Thanks, FM. That's exactly what I'm doing. Last year when my Makaha condo was going thru a serious problem with a staff member, an attorney friend of mine told me to document everything; keep a paper trail! Attorneys for other owners told them the same thing. It's a little extra work at the time of an incident but it sure pays off in the end.

When I made my written complaint on Saturday I asked about the elevator cameras and how long the footage is kept. The head of security took me in to the room with the computer that stores the footage. We both reviewed my time on the elevator with crazy lady, the time she spent on the 2nd elevator and the time when I got back on the elevator to go to the lobby when CL was opening her door. What did I learn? That I need to remember to hold my stomach in! <g> Those are video cameras only; no audio, so while it proves my chain of events, the footage is pretty innocuous. It does show her almost knocking the man over, tho'. It also proves that I made no attempt to assault her...should she be stupid enough to try to accuse me of that.

Management stated that, with enough complaints, they'll contact the rental management company for that unit in the hopes that the rm company will drop that couple as clients.

[StinkyTheGrump]

Re: I could have been mugged

(is that character from Dave Chappelle?)

Very good

[matapule]

Re: I could have been mugged

I have seen her once since Friday and altho' no words were exchange she was still acting in a bizarre manner.

Tutu, I was president of a 180 unit condo association in California a few years ago. We had an elderly, single woman who was an owner and she was psychotic and schizophrenic. Neighbors reported seeing her dump pans of urine in the common area next to their unit, sometimes in broad daylight. It sure smelled like it. One day she disappeared from sight. We could still hear her dog barking inside the unit and I became concerned for her safety and called the police. Upon hearing the dog and getting no response at the door, the responding officer decided to enter, especially since the front door was unlocked. He asked me to follow him inside. The interior was dark and smelled of urine and feces. I thought someone was dead in there fo' shu' and didn’t proceed any further! The officer found the woman crouched in the kitchen. He said her refrigerator was full of food, she had a valid driver’s license, and there was gas in her car. I knew her HOA dues were current. The officer apologized but said he could do nothing because she met all the criteria for independent living. He said it was obvious she needed help, but the police were not the ones.

I next called Social Services. They could find no next of kin. They said unless we could get pictures of her dumping urine, there was nothing they could do. At this point it was a case of “he said, she said.” They said they had experience with a neighbor making false accusations against another neighbor in order to get them evicted and the laws had become very restrictive. They said they could do nothing without visual proof of her dumping urine. A social worker was sent out to check on her and she met the standards of living by law. They said the law protects everyone regardless of how “unconventional” their lifestyle was. They said that often times, someone gets hurt before they can get involved. The woman was still there and reportedly still dumping urine, when I sold my unit two years later and moved away.

I have been mugged twice in my life, once near downtown LA and once in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica. We were confronted by a young teenage black kid at 7am on a Sunday morning while walking in an upscale residential neighborhood (I thought all the druggies would be in church). He indicated a gun in his jacket. I gave him my cash which was about $30, but what really pi$$ed me off is that he took my wedding ring too. He ran off, never to be seen again.

We were attacked by a deranged rastamon Jamaican in Costa Rica and I still have the scars to show for it. Evidently he took exception (this is where we get back on topic) to my taking a picture of an old historic build from the public sidewalk. He grabbed the camera from my hands and tried to beat me over the head. My hands got cut pretty bad trying to protect myself and my uaifi. The camera was ruined. We were rescued by some Ticos (local Costa Ricans). They said they had observed him in the neighborhood the last several days acting strange. But hey, I still like reggae music!


Don’t be paranoid, but be careful out there.

[tutusue]

Re: I could have been mugged

[...]
Don’t be paranoid,

That's why I decided to get on the elevator!

but be careful out there.

That's why I won't get on the elevator with her again!

Thank goodness she's not an owner!

[Jim75]

Re: I could have been mugged

Here are the pics I "risked life and limb" to get. Oh the sacrifices I make for my "art"

LOL

*smirk*

What are you talkin' about "smirk"? That's a totally awesome shot. A perfect fine-art abstract. Have that Giclee' printed on canvas and gallery wrapped over 1.5" stretcher bars. It'd be outstanding. Seriously. You should post that over on the photothread. You had some great shots of dancers at a festival, too, that should have shown up on the photothread.

I had to come back for an edit. I was looking at your photo and saying to myself "That's totally electric". Then a second later I thought about the power lines and thought "In more ways than one" and had a little laugh at myself.

As soon as the doors started to close the lady went into a verbal rage, aimed at me, becoming more and more agitated. She was clearly psychotic. I notice she is going to the same floor as I...waaaay up the building!!!

Wow! Sorry to hear that, Sue. That must have shaken you up. It would've me. Hopefully she'll move or get some help, get it together, and then apologize profusely.

[tutusue]

Re: I could have been mugged

[...]
Wow! Sorry to hear that, Sue. That must have shaken you up. It would've me. Hopefully she'll move or get some help, get it together, and then apologize profusely.

Thanks, Jim. Crazy lady was clearly over-the-top crazy and that Friday night incident happened very quickly. I didn't take it personally because I'd never seen her before. It was so obvious that she was incredibly sick. Whoever got on the elevator at that point in time would've been on the receiving end of her 'breakdown'...or whatever it was. The only thing that was a bit disturbing was finding out how close she lives to my unit. What are the chances that, in a complex with 2 41 story buildings housing 666 condos, she would live on the same floor and straight across from my unit with a peep hole that can see only my unit and the elevators?!!! As mentioned before I'd come off of a year+ long battle with a less than mentally stable employee at my another condo building and I'd had a lot of great input from professionals about that. I was part of a large group of unhappy owners in that case. That experience most certainly prepared me for this most recent incident altho' that was never my intent!!!