Everytime it snows these kids hang out around their appartment complexes on 7th, near the Warehouse, and attack people. I don't mean cutesy snowball "attack." I mean come at you to inflict physical violence. So, today I was going to work at about three in the afternoon, and sure enough, there they were. About twenty-thirty "youths" haning out outside the offices (!?!?) of their appartment complex. I'm biking through and a couple crossing the street stop so I can go by. Not really as a friendly gesture but more to shove me down as I pass. Now I'm strapped in using clips and straps (thank god I don't go clipless!!) so I can't really gain my balace using my feet. So, I careen towards the curb with kids shoving, hitting, and pelting me with snowballs. Notice, not a person stops to help, and no one comes out of the offices to break things up. As the kids are screaming in glee I get up, and in a furious monotone, hiss out,"fuck. off." To which a kid in camo comes back at me "what you want some more motherfucker?" At this point there is no course of action. So, I leave, but I do not give anyone the satisfaction of feeling like they have frightened me. As they are still all there debating more pumelling, and tossing a few odd snowballs, I slowly and calmly get on my bike and ride off. I recount the story to my co-workers, pissed off about hitting the curb with my bad knee. And eventually I shake it off............
Hours later, I close down the Warehouse, and procede to my bike. Hitting the pavement I notice an odd sensation. That's when I see that my front tire is flat. You can fuck with me all day long, but do not fucking TOUCH my fucking bike. Walking home made me angry enough, but thinking about my poor impaired bike makes me want to FUCKING KILL EVERY LAST JUVENILE MOTHER FUCKING ONE OF THOSE KIDS WITH A TIRE IRON!!!!!! The worst part is, there is nothing I can do about it. Calling the cops, even at the time of incident, would do nothing (except maybe make the kids angrier. I mean, they are at the suicidal age, they won't stop, even with a police threat.) I couldn't talk to the appartment owners; clearly they don't care. Hell I couldn't have even made it to the door this afternoon. You certainly can't talk to them, that's about as intelligent as trying to take them all on physically. Lenora said I should get some mace or pepper spray. I will admit that I mulled that one over for a while. I imagined my retort to that kids,"What you want some more motherfucker?" to be "EAT PEPPER SPRAY!!" But in reality I can only imagine what would happen if those kids saw me "reaching." I mean a beat-down sure, a gun down....no thanks.
So in conclusion: why are people alowed to propegate?
Man this Cannibal Corpse is helping though.
Say it to your face
Fuck you you fuckin fuck
I hate the human race
Fuck you you fuckin fuck
It's just a useless waste
Fuck you you fuckin fuck
I'm a human rascist
Cuz people fuckin suck!
amanda [email] said at 1:35 AM 02-13-2006: Have you ever considered riding with a katana or battle-axat your side? I hear that the kids back down when threatened with a sharpened broadsword.
Really, though, you just need to make them think that you are more insane than they are. That's the key to D.C. living.
neilbert said at 1:36 AM 02-13-2006: sounds like you need some skunk juice. Just buy a lot of it online or at a sporting goods store and either spray it on the kids or (preferrably) on their meeting place. Nobody likes to hang around someplace that smells worse than shit.
josh [email] said at 1:57 AM 02-13-2006: this is actually kind of an amazing idea... though i imagine it would suck for whoever worked in the offices they are hanging outside of
brandon [email] said at 1:37 AM 02-13-2006: 1) I carried pepper spray in Chicago and would have used it in that context.
2) They're not just "a bunch of kids" They're acting like a gang. They're behaving as if that's 'their' turf to protect from outsiders such as yourself.
3) Police harassment works. When we first lived in Roger's park, there was a horrible problem with asshole teenagers down Morse. Chicago PD set up a CAPS station there and the problem was solved, after they closed down the CAPS station, frequent patroling kept it more or less asshole free. But, cops need the public to tell them where there are problems. Maybe your complaint won't be the tipping point. But if they're bothering other people and the complaints add up, something will happen.
4) I would have immediately filed a police report. What occurred was assault and it's a serious offense. charges like that result in juve-life. And, I hate to use rape victims as an example, but as a rape victims have an obligation to report their attacker, since rapists tend to rape others.
This is no different. Kowtowing to their behavior perpetuates it. Don't be a victim. Use the system to protect yourself and protect others.
brandon [email] said at 1:41 AM 02-13-2006: Forgot to add. I'm not sure where you live, but most police departments have a gang-activities desk. This is typical gang activity and would go straight to that desk, probably with special attention. Police Departments take special pains to crack down on even proto-gang activity like this, When people get beaten up by wayward teenagers, it makes the news, and it makes police departments look ineffective, since people are so fucking scared already of the gang-boogey man.
denman [email] said at 2:34 AM 02-13-2006: Yes, while this does make sense....(I know, I know) I really neither like nor trust police. I also know that us/against them mentality will just perpetuate under this, and we will be no further towards a day when kids no longer feel the need to mob together and attack people out of idle, anger, and frustration. (I was jumped a block-and a half from my house once, and only called the cops after my roomates gave the same "not for your sake, but for the next person's" argument. As for me, I recal ranting alot about the lack of community centers and youth outreach in the area. It's a fact, when the police got here they said not to worry, that develoment would clear out all of those problems. I told them that was the wrong attitude and would really only make things worse. Also, police via the government are targeting people like me as a terrorist threat. While I understand that they have the power to clean this all up, I'd like to find another way.) However, thanks very much for you advice; it is honestly appreciated.
brandon [email] said at 3:01 AM 02-13-2006: Not to overmagnify the implications of a pretty commonplace occurrence, unfortunately. But all political arguments aside, and I agree with most of what you say, I just operate at a different, more-sold out level of having sold out or participating in the American fascism. At the end of the day, all that matters to you is your immediate personal safety. I don't know what your beliefs are, but, I'm 100% convinced that this is it, it's just a travesty when people like you who obviously have a bent to do something with your life are threatened by others who, maybe, have a shit life on account of circumstances, but are still not given the right to fuck up other people's lives indiscriminately.
Police power is an absolute that can be used for good or bad but it involves human agents, so of course it's never politically neutral, but, your money in taxes whatever the source, goes the same place anybody else's does, you've got a stake in it, and you've got input, however slight.
neilbert said at 3:08 AM 02-13-2006: There is a difference between someone snoballing you and pushing you down when you are on a bike.
I would not suggest using pepper spray as you could easily rack up twenty felony charges -even if the fuckers were armed with baseball bats-. The only way to "get off" using pepper spray or a stun gun is if the "gang" or at least one of them is armed with a lethal weapon, such as a knife or gun.
EVEN THEN, you could find yourself in a situation where said weapon vanishes and you have twenty kids saying you came up to THEM and sprayed them with pepper spray and then their absentee parents seeing dollar signs would rise to defend their horrid offspring.
Nah, just stink em' out. If you got snow on the ground the smell won't go away for a LONG time.
brandon [email] said at 4:02 AM 02-13-2006: You're right. The skunk juice idea is a great idea and novel route. And assaulting someone with a weapon, even in self-defense leaves you vulnerable to legal remedies. But I like to have depth-of-options.
Carrying pepper-spray depends on the municipality. It was highly illegal in Chicago, but it was a psychological comfort and once diffused a really rapidly deteriorating situation I was involved in at a bar. There a case up there where a homeowner shot a burglar (I don't remember if he killed him) with a handgun, which are illegal to own in the city for anyone. The jury let him off, despite the law, which undoubtably has probably saved a few lives. But, so does shooting someone who comes into your home.
And what are they going to sue Denman for, comp tickets to straight-edge shows?
I'd rather be alive with some pepper-sprayed kids and a bundle of pending lawsuits, lots of charges that would most-likely be dropped in court, than brained and Schiavo'd.
Juries tend to side against teenagers, against witnesses who can't keep their stories consistent with one another, against gangs, and against people with records and complaints and for people acting in self-defense - something this entire post would probably hamper.
Civil-court is another thing, but again, brained, or with your wages garnished. I'd rather the latter.
If you're not comfortable with the pepper-spray. Invest in a collapsing wand, or, if you think that too obviously establishes premeditation, carry a heavy chain "for locking up your bike"
But only if the skunk juice doesn't clear the matter up.
anthony [email] said at 9:04 AM 02-13-2006: i mean, had you had pepper spray and a good means of escape.
In reality, nothing short of a few cops or their mothers would be the best idea. The worst is the feeling of helplessness, especially since the situation would have been completely different had it been just two people instead of thirty.
While some kind of revenge/whatever would make anyone feel better, the idea of having to look over your shoulder every single time you go to work afterwards would really suck.
pokey [email] said at 10:34 AM 02-14-2006: If their mothers had any control over them, they wouldn't be ganging up on strangers minding their own business.
meredith [email] said at 11:46 AM 02-13-2006: I agree with the reporting to the police and the skunking. They can't stay out there day and night can they? Sneak over there when they're gone and spray the area down really really really good. Fuck the people in the offices. They obviously don't care enough to do something about it themselves.
carla [email] said at 12:03 PM 02-13-2006: Wow, that's shitty.
I'm sorry this happened man.
I hate reading about incidents like this.
Mostly because I instantly revert back to:
Say it to your face
Fuck you you fuckin fuck
I hate the human race
Fuck you you fuckin fuck
It's just a useless waste
Fuck you you fuckin fuck
I'm a human rascist
Cuz people fuckin suck!
marcia [email] said at 6:17 PM 02-13-2006: i remember hearing this from josh and then from videostore friends later--this is truly a horrific story. random violence in DC me out, and the longer i live here, the more of it happens to people i know.
marcia [email] said at 1:41 PM 02-13-2006: yikes. i know that area and being a cyclist myself, those incidents really scare me. a friend of mine in NYC was riding her bike and kids started throwing things at her, causing her to crash her bike and break her collarbone.
chrisx [email] said at 3:21 PM 02-13-2006: The problem with pepper-spaying is that they will remember your face and retaliate. You must strike at them indirectly so they do not come after you for revenge. The skunk thing is novel, but they'll find another nearby spot. The police are your best bet. Seriously.
Or a ski mask and a shotgun.
Will 2 [ url ] said at 5:40 PM 02-13-2006: Most parents are too fat/lazy to attend to their own kids so it only makes sense that one would be allowed to punish them.
1) Get messenger bag.
2) Get nice-sized rocks
3) Wrap snow around rocks
4) Put in freezer
5) Put snow/rocks in bag
6) Throw at kids
7) Laugh in a creepy way
8) Laugh harder when they cry
josh [email] said at 6:10 PM 02-13-2006: Well, I know the area he's talking about and these kids are in their teens... not likely to just start to cry.
denman [email] said at 1:29 AM 02-14-2006: Well, the dc bike pirates are "serious drinkers with a biking problem." and "although those under twenty-one or straight edge are more than welcome, they probably won't have much fun." Still and all I guess it would behoove me to befriend them and the ghost cats......
joe [email] said at 8:37 PM 02-13-2006: At least it was snowballs!
My friend Lisa was riding near the Jerk Store in Bmore, and her friend started racing away like crazy, when they got to their destination, Lisa was like "wow, that was fun! we should race more often!" and her friend, out of breath, was like, "WHAT!? You mean didn't see those kids throwing bricks at us!?!?"
denman [email] said at 1:01 AM 02-14-2006: So, at a friends insistance "for the sake of others" I we went by the appartment offices today. I talked to the guard who predictabley did not care, and really just wanted us to go away. He kept saying,"So this was at three in the morning?" and I kept saying,"No three in the afternoon." And he just said,"....Well, we don't security in the day.........We don't controll what happens outside those doors.......(and what I've already said) We would just call the police, which we do all the time, who would come down and run everyone out...In an hour they would all be right back." So clearly the police are no deterent, and between them and the appartment owners neither of them care at all.
The only good part to this (and painfull gain for me, since I am against this kind of beaurocracy) is that I mentioned it to my bosses. They're family is in real estate (hence us owning the Warehouse), and they know all the other agents in town. They said they certainly did know who owned that building, and they would have a talk with her. My bosses are very brash, so we'll see what happens.
ed [email] said at 7:40 AM 02-14-2006: This is the problem with little kids. See, I love the little ones. From three to about eight, they're just adorable. Then they get older. They get attitudes, they get hormones, and they turn into either raging assholes or psycho-drama basket cases.
I have often wanted to at least point out the error of behavior of neighborhood kids, whether it be throwing other people's stuff into the lake, chasing ducks (which is actually against the law and is a $300 fine), leaving garbage scattered about, etc, etc, etc. But aside from not wanting to appear the crotchety old fart that I am, I refrain because I know these kids know where I live. And I'm gone more than I'm home. And when I'm home, I'm mostly asleep. My truck is sitting right outside. Tires are easy targets. As are windows. If they toss a brick through the glass patio doors, my cats could get out and get lost. So I sit meekly and quietly, wishing for ninja retribution. Too bad Courtney's all the way out in California.
So anyway, nothing nearly as dramatic as mugging and assault, but there's my take. Sorry this crap happened to you.
