I could have been mugged

[Kaonohi]

Re: I could have been mugged

Joe, a couple of comments - take 'em or leave 'em - but I've been there.

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.

You were lucky, and you were in danger, no doubt. You have to have a strategy beforehand, ready to deal with the unknown. Call it paranoia, but it will keep you alive.

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.

No. You know better. He had an agenda. Luckily he didn't find you threatening. Yes, you could have been more proactive, like: "Wow, brah, no huhu, I just doing this for school (or for the pretty colors, etc), no sweat, yeah?" If he's afraid of being photographed, take a break from shooting and say something to ensure the person you have no interest in them.

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).

Or civilian life has a hard time integrating with us. Hypervigilance, i.e., being super aware of your environment, has saved my butt a few times.
When something looks 'out of place,' it usually is. And that's the easiest thing to spot. You tuned in, acted passive and non-threatening, and it probably saved you from an encounter.

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.

Yes and no. Aggression begets either aggression or defense (on the other's part). Be aware and alert. (War is good for learning this.) But it also teaches you threat assessment. I hope you can learn this without having to be in combat, but it's not hard. Be aware of anything 'out of place.' You picked up on it, and had a successful encounter by being non-threatening. A good call. Sometimes you have to mollify, or be comforting, or use 'code-switching' (taking on the language patterns/ attitude of the possible threat) to ensure them you're 'on their side' - a 'brother.'

The best defense is awareness and avoidance. If that fails, you better have back-up.

[GeckoGeek]

Re: I could have been mugged

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!

No. It's from when I was doing film. Maybe someday I'll scan it.

[Frankie's Market]

Re: I could have been mugged

Aggression begets either aggression or defense (on the other's part). Be aware and alert. (War is good for learning this.) But it also teaches you threat assessment. I hope you can learn this without having to be in combat, but it's not hard. Be aware of anything 'out of place.' You picked up on it, and had a successful encounter by being non-threatening. A good call. Sometimes you have to mollify, or be comforting, or use 'code-switching' (taking on the language patterns/ attitude of the possible threat) to ensure them you're 'on their side' - a 'brother.'

Experience in a war zone may or may not help, but there's no substitute for having an intimate knowledge of the "lay of the land," if you know what I mean. If a newcomer has any questons or concerns about areas of a neighborhood that he/she needs to be careful of, talking to street-smart locals will likely offer you the kind of help and advice you are looking for.

I mean, I'm sure that there are folks reading this who have visited L.A. as a tourist. But I'll bet that unless you actually receive advice from knowledgeable locals there, you are not going to be aware of the exact neighborhoods where simply wearing an Oakland Raiders jacket can get you shot, with no warning given. A AAA road map will not tell you which block of Compton is dangerous for you, based on your skin color.

Personal awareness and vigilance is important, but it only goes so far when you are in a questionable neighborhood that you are unfamiliar with. I say that the best defense is being with someone who knows the area well and can protect you from encountering a dangerous situation in the first place.

[MyopicJoe]

Re: I could have been mugged

My intuition told me to wait for another elevator. My brain told me not to be paranoid and just get on the damn thing!!!

It's so easy to ignore our intuition, isn't it? I remember this one psychology experiment. A mass job application is being held in the dining room of a hotel. All the "applicants" are actors, except for the test subject. Smoke starts entering the room from a door. The actors are instructed to ignore it. The test subject notices the smoke, then notices everyone else ignoring it. Most test subjects remain where they're sitting, not wanting to embarrass themselves by "over-reacting". Very few left the room.

Anyways, your second story wasn't as chicken-skin as your first, but it's still disturbing. What bad luck that she's on the same floor as you. And there are 666 condos in your complex? Aiya!

Have that Giclee' printed on canvas and gallery wrapped over 1.5" stretcher bars.

Haha, I had to Google "giclee". Thanks for your kind words, especially coming from someone as talented as you. I still haven't tried printing any of my photos. It feels like a senior level skill, while I'm still a freshman. My monitor isn't calibrated. I haven't tried using lens filters yet!

When I finally start to dabble with printing, I might start with this pic. Thanks for your suggestion.

Luckily he didn't find you threatening.

...

If he's afraid of being photographed, take a break from shooting and say something to ensure the person you have no interest in them.

...

You tuned in, acted passive and non-threatening, and it probably saved you from an encounter.

I was thinking the same thing, after the fact. I thought, in this case, appearing like an awkward idiot kept me safe. Too bad I wasn't pretending! ;_)

Yeah, another mistake I made was being stubborn and continuing to photograph. I could have easily taken a break and walk into a nearby store.

No. It's from when I was doing film. Maybe someday I'll scan it.

That'd be cool :_)

Personal awareness and vigilance is important, but it only goes so far when you are in a questionable neighborhood that you are unfamiliar with. I say that the best defense is being with someone who knows the area well and can protect you from encountering a dangerous situation in the first place.

Good point. I guess a local is like having a wilderness guide, keeping you out of danger.

[tutusue]

Re: I could have been mugged

[...]
Anyways, your second story wasn't as chicken-skin as your first, but it's still disturbing. What bad luck that she's on the same floor as you. And there are 666 condos in your complex? Aiya![...]

My first encounter, 20 years ago, was definitely the most potentially dangerous. That one really shook me up.

Crazy Lady, currently residing in my building, was having some sort of a breakdown, I think. Her behavior since the elevator experience has been bizarre, to say the least, but I'm beginning to think that, at this point, she's embarrassed when she sees me and doesn't know how to act. I'm hoping embarrassment, should that be the case, will be enough to push them into moving after their lease is up in 3 months. There was no way, when I got on the elevator, that she would've known the close proximity of our individual units...unless she'd spent the past 3 months with her eye to the door's peep hole!!! CL must've been shocked to realize I was an immediate neighbor...not a stalker! As I mentioned in a previous post...what are the chances of that close proximity in such a large complex! That should be a good lesson to CL but I doubt her mental instability allows her to see that.