Abstract: mugged, Anna Maria Island, her
Mugged? Yes, mugged. It wasn't at gunpoint or anything, but the two african american kids were bigger than me, so I didn't fight back or anything. They didn't hurt me, so that's good...
Drove down to Anna Maria with friends... At 3:00am. Was fun.
She's still on my mind, and i'm getting definate non-good vibes from her. She's obviously not interested in me. But, I'll try one more time tommorow...
23:35 EST 11-10-00
Drove down to the NationsBank at Fowler Ave. and 17th Street - right next to University Mall, by the Denny's - to do a balance inquiry because I'm too lazy to balance my checkbook. I parked, rolled up my windows and closed my sunroof, locked the doors, then walked to the ATM. There were four middle-eastern guys standing around the other ATM, so I went to the one close by. I did my thang and walked back to my car. As I got to the car, I heard some commotion toward the ATMs. One of the four guys had been knocked down and assaulted by two african-american teenagers. "Oh shit," I thought. I was in shock for about 5 seconds, just like "WTF?!" I had my camcorder in the car, so I wanted to get in, lock the doors, then get some video. Too late. They got bored with the other guy after they realized he didn't have anything, so they walked over to the skinny white boy trying to get in his car. "Great," I thought, "I really don't need this today...". The more agressive one said, "Gimmie all yo shit, bitch." I was like, "Noooo problem man... I've got two bucks in my wallet, here ya go.". He was a bit dissapointed with that and reached into my other pocket, pulling out my cell phone and Palm Pilot. At that point, I knew I'd never see my cell phone or Palm again. But that wasn't that big of a deal.. I wasn't going to let them get any more. "I know you got more than that whiteboy, gimmie all yo shit," the mugger said while he grabbed my wallet from my other pocket. "Hey, hey.. I don't have anything useful in there. Here, give it back and I'll give you all the money in my account." Hmm. I thought maybe that'd throw 'em off - and it did, so I snatched my wallet back. "Uh, yeah, ok... Gimmie all yo shit." So, up to the ATM we went. Card in, beep-beep-beep-beep, cash out. "Come on man, hurry up!" they said. "Chill, ok? It's commin' out in a second." As the cash was being sorted by the machine, he leaned down closer to it - "YES," I thought "Got his ass on the ATM cam!" So, he grabbed the $50 that spit out. "SHIT! That's all you've got? Gimmie all yo shit!" "Listen. That's all I've got. Here, look at the reciept." As he looked the reciept over, I said, "Okay, now can I have my cell phone back?" Not like I expected it or anything... "Fuck that!" they said almost in unison as they turned and ran toward the ghetto. I hauled ass to my car, hoping to get them on camera before they disapeared. No such luck.
Aftermath
"Oh my goodness," said one of the four middle-eastern guys, "They took your money, right? They took something?" "No shit," I replied, "Got my cell phone, my Palm Pilot, and $52... But I'm ok. Are you guys all ok?" "Yes, yes. We are fine." One of them ran off to the Wallgreen's nearby to call the police. As we waited, I tried to keep everyone there - witnesses and such, you know? Well, they wanted to leave - didn't want to be there. So I talked and talked. 15 minutes later, the cops weren't there... "Hey, I'm running over to that Denny's to call 911 - stay here, please," I said. "Umm... Eh. Ah. Okay," they said. I ran off to the pay phone in front of the Denny's and made my 911 call. By the time I got through, however, the police had showed up - so I told the operator they were here and ran back to the parking lot where the police were. The other guys were in their car ready to leave, but as the cops showed up they hopped out to chat with 'em... As I walked up, one of the police officers took me to the side and questioned me... They also took the other guy (the one that had been jumped, but not injured) and talked to him. "Cell phone, $150. Palm Pilot, $180. $52 cash." "We'll do what we can, here's your report number," the po-po said. I used his cell phone to call my friend down and they left.
I've never been robbed before so it was interesting, to say the least. My cell phone is my connection to the outside world, and my Palm has all my addresses and personal info (thank god I've got it all backed up on my PC). Losing those two was a loss, but hey - I walked away with my wallet and my health, something that few people do these days. I feel I made the right decisions, and that's why I'm okay now. If I had done this, said that - things would've been different... But it was really a best case scenario. I'm lucky, I guess. My friend showed up and we got some coffee at the Holiday Cafe and discussed the finer points of mugging, the ghetto, and even Nucio where he'd been robbed before. We hopped into his car and drove around for a little while, and he showed me where he got mugged at gunpoint in Nucio... After that, he went home and I went to chill at Bennigan's with my friends that worked there. Anything to calm me down, as I was in a near rage at the people that stole my stuff.
Lesson
Be prepared for anything. If you intend on going out late at night, carry pepper spray, mace, or any weapon capable of incapacitating several people at once. Also, doing what an attacker wants - and more - is a safe way to avoid escalating the situation. It can happen to you
02:00 11-11-00
"Where do you wanna go?" "Anywhere but here..."
Mixed signals is something I've always had to deal with. But crossed signals? All I've been trying to discover is whether or not she's interested enough in me to have a meaningful relationship... But the signals are becomming less mixed, and I don't know whether I should read into it.
They told her to watch out for 'leading people on' by her personality - which is all too easy for her to do completely unconsciously. Was she doing that to me? I was rejecting anything I percieved as an advance toward me, specifically because I realized that about her when we first met. But now I wasn't so sure. If they made her conscious of it, and she was acting this cold toward me, was it her way of letting me know she's not interested? Or was she just having a bad day? This was on my mind all night, and still hasn't let go.
Moonlit beach. Clouds playing with the moon. Colorful cloudy ring with the moon. The Gulf of Mexico crashing against the soft, wet sand. Her hand. Soft breeze. Mare Tranquilis... They walked away.
On the way back, more silence. Not as much, but still silence. She wasn't silent around them. _Everything, Everything_ loud. I think she liked it.
Couch, her roomate, Talking. Close. Reluctant sleep. Deep. Never deep enough.
I think she's trying to send me a message. Maybe she simply never was interested in me and never will be. All I want is a meaningful relationship with her. I know she wants something meaningful too... Just probably not with me.
What is there to do? Where are my options? What are they? None. All I can do is wait for the opportunity to talk with her. And talk with her I will..
"I care."
19:00 EST 11-11-00
Just when life can't get any better, my left rear tire blows out. Life is good. Very good. I hope that spare lasts long enough to get this one fixed.
I just don't need this right now.