It’s actually very likely the guy didn’t even have a knife. I had a mentally ill guy once approach me and my friend while we were hanging around in the street waiting for the store to open. He was rambling a bit but he mentioned he was gonna get his shotgun and kill someone (he didn’t specify us, in fact I don’t think he ever made a direct threat against us, but it was clear he was trying to scare us). My friend was sweating bullets but I just asked if he was hungry and gave him my bag of trail mix. He left, confused. I’m quite sure he didn’t have a shotgun.
People are so unused to violent confrontation in the United States that just suggesting violence indirectly can be enough to scare them into giving you something. Anon’s “mugger” was probably doing this. And they don’t expect it to work every single time.
People are so unused to violent confrontation in the United States that just suggesting violence indirectly can be enough to scare them into giving you something.
Yeah, I’ve often wondered whether this guy “successfully” “robbed” me. Seems like a lot of semantics though, genuinely I just thought having some food would probably chill him out and make him leave, but you might ask, is this actually different from being robbed?
I guess the difference is when he was gone I felt good about myself.
It’s actually very likely the guy didn’t even have a knife. I had a mentally ill guy once approach me and my friend while we were hanging around in the street waiting for the store to open. He was rambling a bit but he mentioned he was gonna get his shotgun and kill someone (he didn’t specify us, in fact I don’t think he ever made a direct threat against us, but it was clear he was trying to scare us). My friend was sweating bullets but I just asked if he was hungry and gave him my bag of trail mix. He left, confused. I’m quite sure he didn’t have a shotgun.
People are so unused to violent confrontation in the United States that just suggesting violence indirectly can be enough to scare them into giving you something. Anon’s “mugger” was probably doing this. And they don’t expect it to work every single time.
Like a bag of trail mix?
Yeah, I’ve often wondered whether this guy “successfully” “robbed” me. Seems like a lot of semantics though, genuinely I just thought having some food would probably chill him out and make him leave, but you might ask, is this actually different from being robbed?
I guess the difference is when he was gone I felt good about myself.