I Kinda Liked Blindly Trusting People in General

[Orrefe]

You know what? Despite being disappointed and let down over and over again, I still naively believed that people, in general, were good.

Now I'm not sure I can trust myself to go anywhere at night by myself. And I had gotten pretty used to going everywhere in this city at ridiculously late times for no particular reason. And now I'm afraid to.

Why? Cause I got fucking robbed. Being careless, of course.

I was walking to my friends work, which is about an hour walk away from my house, to get her from her job at the end of her shift. And I was taking my usual route of sidestreets and this had never been a problem before.

I saw these 2 guys on the corner, but I didn't pay them much mind. One aws on a bike, which seemed completely mind numbingly dumb because this is Canada and it's fucking winter, yeah, you can totally ride with that. I guess it wasn't the point.

So I get almost to the end of the street, and as soon as I pass where there are no houses and it's just a hydro field, this guy grabs me and just says, essentially, "What do you have on you? Give it up."

Now, if I were a tougher guy, maybe I would have thrown a punch, or maybe if I were a faster guy, I could have booked it, or maybe if I was a more clever-er guy, I could have somehow gotten away with his bike in the ultimate irony of steal from the stealers. But I am not. And I had no idea what to do. I actually just stood there and said to him, "I really don't want to. But I'm not going to fight you."

Yeah. I admit it. I'm a wimp. But considering my options, and the potential of him having a weapon, I opted against confrontation. Since I was wearing headphones, it was pretty clear I had some form of MP3 player. I took out my iPod, unattached it from the headphones, hoping maybe he'd be satisfied with just the iPod and leave me the fuck alone.

No such luck. As I was handing the guy my iPod myself [and I have to say, I must be the most polite rob-ee ever, I just handed them my shit], there was a bigger guy behind me who took the headphones off the top of my head. And he had the balls to say, "It's for your own protection." I guess he meant in the sense of, "If you don't give us your shit, we'll kill you." What a dickhead.

Sign of a pussy #1. 2 against 1? I'm not tough but come the fuck on. Not to mention I was smaller than them.

I openly handed them my wallet. It sucked, cause it was a Legend of Zelda wallet [Twilight Princess themed, specifically] and I got that at some side thing at ther university I went to briefly, and I don't think that could be replaced. But they certainly got the shit end of the stick there. They managed to get:

-$35 cash [Ooh, big spender]
-Expired Drivers licence
-Expired Health Card
-A debit card and, even with knowledge of my pin number, they can get maybe $2 out of it. Read; big spender
-Expired metro pass
-A picture of my friend with the ongoing joke that people would think she's my girlfriend but she's not, that's not important.

So the guy, satisfied that I have nothing else of value on me, just says, "Walk." So I start to walk past him on the sidewalk when he says, "Through the hydrofield." So I start walking through, and I get about halfway, turn back to see if they're still there, turn around and just scream, "FUCK." As I was walking down the street [main streets now], I just keep repeating things to myself like, "Assholes stole my fucking SHIT," and other obscenities over and over again. When I got to my friends work, the first thing I said was, "So I got robbed." Her response was, "Haha! ...wait, what?" She didn't properly hear me, hence the laugh at the beginning. It was actually kinda great, couldn't have scripted that response better. My whole emotional self had mixed up between 3 emotional settings:

a) Laughing it off; "Yeah, shit just went down, haha! I just got robbed! Whatever!"
b) Anger; "What the FUCK those assholes stole my SHIT."
c) Upset; "Holy fuck they could have beaten me and my shit is gone and I can't replace it."

I'm not really sure how to properly feel about it, but as soon as I got home, I made a report to the police, and about 50 minutes later they showed up and I told them everything. The semi-fortunate thing was, at first I thought, "Man, these guys got away, and there's no way to identify those things as mine." At first, I thought, my headphones are pretty distinct. Came from Pacific Mall [essentially, a highly asian mall full of imported goodies and also illegal DVDs and the like], and although all my friends liked them, they were distinct that... nobody has them. They were lime green with silver stars in the middle. But I thought... even if I had never seen anyone with them BEFORE, that's not enough to, if I randomly saw them, to know they were mine. And then I thought, "You know, they didn't steal my iPod cable. They may be stuck with my shitty musical taste forever. And I know what's on my iPod." That's also not enough to really say, "Yeah, that's my iPod." It could be anyones iPod. Then I realised... my iPod is engraved. And they can certainly cover it or hide it, but they can't get rid of the engraving. I'm not expecting to get my stuff back, but that is my key... well, thing. To find. I expect to get my wallet back, sans money. If they're caught with my wallet and the ID inside, they're fucked.

I'm thinking they're just some punk assholes from the high school thats just in that area. It's my old high school, so I visit the place on a regular basis, and I'm just gonna have a good look around. Again, I'm not really hopeful I'll get my stuff back. It's just frustrating and that just left me feeling vulnerable. And goddamnit, iI want my stuff back.

[Tyreek]

I hope you have alread granted that info about your headphones and ipod to the police. That sounds like pinpoint info right there. Sorry to hear about that. :/ There's nothing pussy about keeping yourself alive. Especially with the odds you dealt with. You've no idea how I always have to look over my shoulder because of fear of things like this happening. I'd say take this lesson and know next time to not go into alleys anymore. You're lucky your alive right now.

[Orrefe]

I told the police the details right down to the colour of bandana they were wearing on their face. So naturally, I told them about the engraving on my iPod and the distinct look of my headphones. They even got some serial numbers off the box and such. I was pretty nervous about talking to them but I do feel better about it, even if realistically they won't be able to find them.

[MetaZedlen]

Point of advice: if you're walking by yourself during the night like this, then you probably should carry a knife or small weapon on you (keychain kuboton is a good example) in case something like this happens to you again.

Now, I'm not saying if something goes down, go all out draw whatever you may have at hand, but if you have easy access to something like that, then keep it at bay (in a pocket or well hidden) if you find yourself not wanting to go with what is happening (in this case, telling the robbers to fuck off, and then if they even think about starting shit, you want to keep your hands on whatever you're carrying and be ready to use it, but DO NOT try to inflict more than a little "ouch" or two, unless they are persistant, then you may have to do a bit more).

I haven't been in this kind of situation before, but I usually always carry a knife on me (most of the time as a tool) just as that "in case" type of thing, because I have seen my fair share of garbage.

EDIT: got so caught up in my little self-defense rant that I forgot one important thing: I hope that things turn out for you in the end.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

An idea to consider to get some of it back, if you haven't done so already.

Retrace the area with someone else or some friends with you at a different hour, they may have thrown your wallet out (street, front yard, etc.) after getting what they wanted from its contents.

Also hope things work out, however it can be fixed, getting anything back is better than nothing.

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

A cop told me that one of those extendable batons(hate to use this description but I have no other choice, think of the weapon Reno uses in FF7) are incredibly usefull in detering robbers. They don't look like much but they hurt like hell. Even if your not strong, those suckers will still hurt.

[Meyfei]

A cop told me that one of those extendable batons(hate to use this description but I have no other choice, think of the weapon Reno uses in FF7) are incredibly usefull in detering robbers. They don't look like much but they hurt like hell. Even if your not strong, those suckers will still hurt.

[spoiler-box] http://www.bladeplay.com/images/knives/selfdefense/batonspringextended.jpg [/spoiler-box]
I gotta get one of these things :o

Sucks about what happened D:
One of them owned a motorcycle right? Anychance you got some details or license plate number of it, if so then you could nail them down to their address.

[MetaZedlen]

A cop told me that one of those extendable batons(hate to use this description but I have no other choice, think of the weapon Reno uses in FF7) are incredibly usefull in detering robbers.

I own one of these and yet I forgot to mention it, and I believe it's called an impact baton.

These are VERY useful defensive weapons, and the good thing about them is that they are relatively easy to conceal, have pretty good weight for impact, and even if you cant use the full length of it, you can still use it with a stabbing motion and get good results.

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

Also if you hear someone trying to break in and you "flick" it open it sounds like your cocking a shotgun. Another thing that cop told me. Yea, I lived in a very VERY bad neighborhood back in Millville, NJ.

[Outrider]

Yeah, extendable batons are illegal in a variety of states, and according to the Wiki of Pedias, any sort of concealed weapon is illegal to carry in Canada.

And regardless of having a weapon such as a pocket knife or a baton, if you're outnumbered, odds are it will only make it worse. It sucks that you got robbed, but it's better than getting seriously hurt.

[Leviathan]

I would not recommend ever fighting a robber. Like Tyreek said, there is nothing about being staying alive making you a pussy. The good thing is you did not have a ton of items or expensive things on you, for the most part all of those things can be bought again, [Except maybe the headphones.] and that you are alive.

Where I work if we are ever robbed we just hand over what we have and then call the cops. Most things in Subway have a surface in which is very easy to pick fingerprints from.

[Waki Miko Syamemaru!]

I don't think it's illegal here in New Jersey. I dunno about New York though.

[Delete]

Hope you get your stuff back man. I've never had something like this happen, but I do have to walk to work at night and God only knows when something might happen to me.

[Orrefe]

So, kinda unexpected update

The police called me in, cause they caught one dude. They had the contents of my wallet, but not my other stuff. I think they might be at the local Cash Converters, so I'll see what I can do about that. The guy they caught, the one who initially grabbed me DID have a knife though, which is kinda like a, "Holy fuck, that coulda been shitty," moment. They didn't catch the other guy but he pointed him out, and they think they'll get him, and they're charging him. They've robbed something like 4 people before me? Either way, I am feeling a LOT better about the whole thing.

I didn't get my wallet back, but I got a lot of the cards... which I found TOTALLY weird. The guy had all the ID on him. And of other people :/

EDIT: Also, this is ONE day after. I have new found confidence in the police. I mean, even the guy mentioned this was unusual and that the odds were really against him being found. Maybe he was just an idiot.

[Tyreek]

Justice prevails again. Hopefully, if you're lucky, your other stuff will get recovered.

[Kirukia]

Point of advice: if you're walking by yourself during the night like this, then you probably should carry a knife or small weapon on you (keychain kuboton is a good example) in case something like this happens to you again.

Now, I'm not saying if something goes down, go all out draw whatever you may have at hand, but if you have easy access to something like that, then keep it at bay (in a pocket or well hidden) if you find yourself not wanting to go with what is happening (in this case, telling the robbers to fuck off, and then if they even think about starting shit, you want to keep your hands on whatever you're carrying and be ready to use it, but DO NOT try to inflict more than a little "ouch" or two, unless they are persistant, then you may have to do a bit more).

I haven't been in this kind of situation before, but I usually always carry a knife on me (most of the time as a tool) just as that "in case" type of thing, because I have seen my fair share of garbage.

EDIT: got so caught up in my little self-defense rant that I forgot one important thing: I hope that things turn out for you in the end.

It might not be smart to carry around a weapon without knowing how to use it properly. It could easily get turned on you.
@OP: Congrats on finding your stuff. Thats lucky.

[Outrider]

Holy crap - congrats on that! You got real lucky. Hopefully they can recover more of your stuff and hopefully you won't have to deal with anything like this in the future.

[Hatrix]

Glad to hear you did'nt get hurt man, the loss of your stuff is a bummer but may have kept you from being hurt. NEVER ever fight guys like this, as you have found out they probably had a knife and crazy assholes like this are too un-predictable to bet they won't use a weapon. I have been robbed at gun point and pistol whipped... but I put myself in that position through activities I won't mention here. I might go as far to say if your normal routes are dangerous always keep $50 on you in case you do get robbed to give to them, sounds lame but you never know