I had a very interesting conversation over lunch with a couple of colleagues today. It was I who initiated a very sensitive topic, and it ended up in fits of laughter, dread and anxiety. Three different women, from three different places in three different walks of life, had at one point been put into a life threatening situation. We have either been mugged, kidnapped and held at gun point.
The conversation started when I was vocally expressing my distress for my cousin who is currently in the middle of a crucial situation. She is seeking refuge in our house. As soon as I heard the whole story, I knew I couldn’t bear summing up the same courage she exhibited on a crisis situation. If it was me, I would’ve gone immediately to therapy. She is still very vulnerable. She was all alone in her house while she managed to witness an unfortunate activity that might earn others tickets to the asylum. She has every reason now to fear for her life as evil minded bastards are trying to look for her. I won’t go into details since this is yet most recent. But I tried to reassure her that she doesn’t have any reason to worry anymore since she is in a safe place. We would do all our best to protect her. But how sure am I with these things when once, even on a safe and unassuming place, I had an eye to eye contact with a gun?
I always thought that my personality and my outlook made me immune to these syndicated bastards. Whenever I publicly expose myself, I always seem to project a scary bitch persona who wouldn’t go down without a fight. My hands are heavy and I walk with a very aggressive stride, which some people assume a product of arrogance. I only carry big bags full of my treasured books. It would take ages for those culprits to get what they are looking for. My phones are not updated to the latest model and I don’t carry a reputable wallet with me, just a coin purse and a card holder. I’m pretty much a challenge.
I thought I would traverse the world unscathed. Although there was one incident my new Ericsson phone was effortlessly pulled from my bag when I was at the 50% off sale in BAYO Glorietta. I was the willing victim then because I was busy reading at the cornerr while waiting for my sister to finish her shopping. IT was over crowded and I wasn’t vigilant with my surroundings. Until today, I don’t count that as life threatening. But it would count as my stupidest experience ever. Stupid for being at that sale, stupid for actually drowning my sorrows on the police headquarters all afternoon and stupid for not taking care of my bag.
However, my life threatening moment happened last year or late 2006. Mitch, AJ, Anton and I are eating in this authentic Japanese place in Kamagong Makati. As we were waiting for our food, people started to come in the restaurant. As soon as this semi-affluent family entered, there were two mean bastards (born by a wandering devil bitch dog), who entered, took their posts and flashed their guns at us. We, being seated and unarmed, couldn’t do anything. Since we were seated at the far corner, I slid my bag and my car keys under the air conditioning machine before locking my eyes on the gun flashed towards us. Mitch and Anton’s wallets were taken and the rest of the crowd was mugged. I was hyperventilating as tears uncontrollably fell. Mitch was comforting me, but I didn’t think nor feel anything else. I just wanted to ram the sizzling plate to the guy’s ass and put wasabi in their eyes. They finally left after a few minutes of amateur seize, rode their getaway motorcycle, and I bawled like a baby.
The two girls, whom I was having lunch with today, also told their stories. Jessica told us how she was mugged face to face and slapped in the head by the culprit while she was trying to hide her brand new cell phone. Clarice in the meantime took the cake as she witnessed consecutive kidnappings of some members of her family in their own provincial home, twice. Being the only Chinese in their community, her family was the sole target. All of us at some point saw the gun and felt that day was to be our last.
There are so many injustices in this world that sometimes, as humans, we cannot help but find ourselves in situations that we THINK we would only see or hear in movies. Some people who have not experienced being mugged or saying hello to a gun might find such human reactions to be too dramatic and unnecessary for their taste. I was one of those, but already having experienced the product of these society scumbags, it’s one of the rarest times that I’ve proven myself wrong. Here are some of them:
- Before, I thought when you’re faced in this situation, you should try your best to scream, retaliate, outmaneuver or at least DO something.
- Good luck on this one. Based on my experience, my friends’ and the experiences of my mom who was mugged a thousand times in front of me, this hardly happens at the ideal moment. Usually, it's even unadvised to retaliate. Screaming and pleading may come after a few seconds or even a few minutes when you're too shocked to do anything brilliant for your safety, especially if there’s a life threatening device pointed at you. In Outmaneuvering, this needs a sharp and strong presence of mind. This requires a person to undergo quick planning and flawless execution. If not, this could ultimately trigger the scumbag to actually to go for the kill. Retaliating, the method I thought I am most likely do, also needs a strong presence of mind. To be able to retaliate successfully one should be able to assess if the “fight” would be fair. If you’re being mugged on the street by a man just a little bigger than your size, without any gun but just a sharp object, and you have the advantage of angle and an umbrella for a weapon, then this is more than a fair fight. Once you’ve truly assessed your advantage, use it to the maximum level and nail the scumbag. Otherwise, if you’re not a defense guru, nor Batman, just leave retaliation to retain your life.
- Before I used to think it’s fairly stupid for a person to just freeze there and be catatonic.
- Wrong. My cousin, who witnessed something drastic, couldn’t move a single step from where she was even though she could’ve hidden or did something useful. Her mind wants her to move, but transmitting the message to her body is blocked due to intense shock and mental arrest. I for one couldn’t stand up, do something, nor think of something else when I saw the gun being waved at us. I just literally FROZE. It’s natural and it happens to the best of us.
- Before I thought nobody needs added drama
- Goodness, I thought wrongly did I? I’m not the type who would usually result to crying, most especially in a crisis situation. I get angry, but I never imagine myself being wimpy. But no…I did cry…to be accurate I bawled my eyes out. Eventhough I did not scandalize and hyperventilate in public, I didn’t realize that tears were already falling down my cheeks rapidly. I didn’t notice that I was having difficulty in breathing. It’s like my body and mind were on haywire. Shock, disbelief and intense fear for your life make your system malfunction. I understand it now. It’s not drama. It’s how some of our bodies emulate shock.
- Before I used to TRY to understand the scumbags’ point of view. I honestly thought that I wouldn’t be interested in getting them executed to the highest level. They should be punished, true, but I never imagined something brutally done. It usually depends on the damage done to a person.
- Try selling that. Seriously, especially after you have just found yourself in an incident, the urge to kill and get back are so strong. I, for a moment’s worth, turned my mind into a murderer. I imagined things I would like to do with the scumbags if I get their asses. Whipping them alive, flaying them alive? NO, CORRECTION. I’ll…
- put a hot metal rod in their asses, stick it out of their mouths, put them horizontally on an open fire, roll them like lechon, while I season them by putting wasabi liquid drops in their eyes, dress them with acid to burn their bodies, whip them continuously while drizzling them with salt and vinegar. Putting hot wax in their head and pulling their hair off. Have hyenas lick his feet while they savor their upcoming meal. Well, something to that extent
- Exceptions are of course those who have saintly spirit. They’re unbelievable few.
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