I feel lucky to be breathing today because I nearly got shanked in the field yesterday by a SPOOKy guy in the ghetto.
I was surveying a commercial property adjacent to a residential neighborhood, for the sake of anonymity lets call it cracktown USA, at the intersection of little Mexico and little Africa.
I was searching for corners in this craphole of a piece of property and this older mexican gentleman was on a porch steadily watching my every move, I did not mind one bit as he was just curious.
Several times a thug or two walked by, I have worked in the worst of ghettos and when there i live by the motto of give respect to get respect, it has not failed me for many years.
Well I did notice a black guy mid thirties walking in the street (no sidewalks) towards me but he was several blocks up the street so I did not pay much attention to him other than to note he was there.
I got very involved digging up a corner that was placed there in 1931 and my mind was thoroughly intranced in surveying.
I look over at the mexican gentleman and noticed the look of shock on his face and in an instant my mind put two plus two together and remembered the guys behind me down the street.
Suddenly I spun around with my shovel in my hand and this dude was up in the grass 12' behind the curbline and only FIVE feet behind me and he was gripping the knife in the photo in his right hand in a manner like he was ready to shank or gut something....three second delay in my situational awareness and I would have surely been stuck.
When I locked eyes with this jackass while holding my shovel and at the same time he noticed the mexican watching the whole thing on the porch......he changed his mind and took off running back the way he came and I saw him ditch something in a trashcan down the street.
I went to the trashcan to investigate and found the knife in the bottom, that is the photo I have uploaded.
I called the police and also went to speak to the mexican gentleman who verified the story.
I am sure that if I had not read the suprised look on this mexican guys face and turned around instantly, that I would be a human kabob missing my wallet.
Yeah, events like this will let you know how delicate lfe really is and will help you appreciate it also....I have often felt an angel looking out for me and yesterday for sure...
Be safe out there folks.
(sorry if the photo is sorta disgusting, I have been staring at it thinking how nasty it would be to have that knife stuck in me)
Thank God for you great situational awareness!
I'm glad you turned around in time.
I've been to that intersection a few times myself.
Glad You Are Okay
But just to keep things in perspective, a peek three or four posts down tells you that death doesn't have to come at the intersection you described.
It can be lurking around White Bread Avenue and Vanilla Street, too.
Glad You Are Okay
Glad you are OK
And thanks for the example of when it is good not to be solo.
:-O
So glad you were on your toes. I have worked in some pretty ghetto areas myself, with sets of eyes staring me down the whole time. I've never been in a situation like yours, but I can just imagine that feeling. It was bad enough being watched and wondering what they were thinking.
Anyway, glad you made it out without harm. 🙂
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very scary dude! Thank goodness you looked up when you did. I've worked in some craphole 'hoods as well, but never had worse than panhandlin' / street salesmanship to deflect. Guy must've been a tweaker. Always wise to keep eyes in the back of your head in those type of areas - or wear your machete on your belt, thats a good deterrent!
Glad You Are Okay
> It can be lurking around White Bread Avenue and Vanilla Street, too.
I've worried about a couple of folks I met in the backwoods over the years.
Sometimes I have been glad to have that Kaiser Blade (some folks calls it a sling blade, I calls it a Kaiser Blade), although I don't think it will cut through bullets.
very Lucky...
> cracktown USA, at the intersection of little Mexico and little Africa.
>
I've spent some time at that intersection too... and I'm solo...
Meth and crack are a very serious problem here...
That's why I carry now...
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you...
Today I feel very Lucky to be able to type this message..D
Definitely a case where a slight bit less situational awareness would have probably gotten you very seriously hurt or dead.
I have surveyed in a couple of bad neighborhoods where I stepped out of the truck carrying a machete and it wasn't to cut brush.
Mr. Samuel Colt is my sidekick these days.
Today I feel very Lucky to be able to type this message..D
I have heard situational awarness described as green, yellow, orange, and red. Green being in your easy chair at home watching T.V. and red being when you saw that shocked look on the guys face on the porch. I bet if you think about it you were condition yellow or orange the entire time that day, and that is what kept you on your toes. People like to rob helpless people, and when you turned around with a shovel in your hand, you were no longer helpless.
Today I feel very Lucky to be able to type this message..D
It happens in rural America also
I've been to 3 of those intersections. Always very scary! I was getting setup once across the street from the local neighborhood malt-liquor provider (I mean convenience store). About 8 or 10 fellers over there drinking out of those paper bags talking about me. PC calls me on the radio to give the heads up. I was plenty aware of them but didn't realize they were talking about me specifically. Likewise I was all intranced in getting leveled and not really paying attention about WHO they were talking about. Chris advised I let them be completely aware of my big blade so without looking back I pulled it out of the sheath and stuck it in the ground next to me and continued on with my business. No problems.
Same job on the first day of recon we were walking around the abandoned house we were dealing with. I notice the side of the house and a window with what were obviously several bullet holes. A couple days later we discovered half a box of unspent 9mm rounds. Come to find out someone was murded in that house very recently and that the body was drug out back and left in the yard right about where we found the rounds.
On another job not far from that one I discovered some writing in the street near a utility pole with a bunch of crosses and stuffed animals around it. Come to out the writing said "RIP" with someone's name. That someone was a child shot dead in the street in a drive-by. Very unsettling. Maybe I should taken shots on the writing so when Taso did the line-work he would have seen I wasn't BS'ing. A few months later the 2 of us returned to the site and he asked what that writing on street and all that stuff on the pole was all about. When I told him that was the stuff I had been telling him about he just looked at me saying "no s..t?!".
On another job, we were reconning near some CSX tracks when a CSX cop noticed us and came to investigate as to our business. He saw right away what we were doing and stopped to chat a while. Me and Chris both had our blades strapped on. He said we should always keep them handy in this neighborhood and that it was very dangerous area. "Yeah, ya think?" we replied. He just smiled and left. He had nothing to worry about. He had one of those high-capacity Glocks strapped on with about 4 extra clips and several pairs of handcuffs handy.
Man I hated those jobs!!
That would have been a real "pain in the backside". Glad you are ok!
N
:{: :}: Hugs!!
Glad you are OK and were aware of your surroundings!! The shovel would have worked well if ya needed to clobber him.
True story... several years ago, I submitted a proposal for a boundary survey for an upscale RV park located on a U.S. highway. Another local firm got the project.
Fast forward a few weeks later, a story ran on the local news about a surveying crew finding a body (muder victim).
Yep, same project...
Another time, I was on a boundary survey of an auto repair shop on a state route in the city, working solo, when this guy approaches me, and strikes up a conversation. He was acting very strange, and kept looking around.
I made it a point to brush my vest so that he could see I was carrying. Once he saw it, he started asking me if I had ever used it or would I use it.
I said..."try me"...
I can explain it to you, but I can't understand it for you...
They call me The Colonel.
I've worked a rough area a few times. Never felt uncomfortable, but then again I stay situationally aware.
I have shared my story of being propositioned for a box of chicken before. I was looking for that lady again a couple of weeks ago because I was getting kind of hungry and hoping to see her again. 😉
My client on this project ran into a scrap metal mouse who tried to take him out with a pipe. My client needs target practice as he unloaded his handgun at short range and missed.
I was working in the Central High School area of Little Rock back in the 90's (when the HBO special 'Bangin' in Little Rock' was showing.
A SET 2, SDR33...and lonesome me...with my partner doodlin' the frontsite backsite dance with the truck.
A long haird' hillbilly talkin' to himself...writin' in a lil' yeller book...walkin' in circles...a peekin' into that camera thing...
Up on the porch...they was havin' a discussion about me...I overheard one of the older fellers say, "Don't mess with that crazy MoFo...no tellin' what he gonna do next"...
Leap Frog up to the next instrument station...
I guess they figured I had to be crazy to be there.
DDSM
They call me The Colonel.
NEXT TIME I GONNA GUT YOU HONKEY !!!
BOY , I LOVE DIVERSITY--THAT MEXXY DIDN'T SAY A WORD TO WARN YOU, OR COME TO YOUR AID, HE'S JUST AS GUILTY AS THE HOMEY--
YOU WEREN'T HURT WHY CALL A COP ?? SHOULD HAVE LEFT RETURNED AT NIGHT AND SHOT BOOF A DEM---NOW THATS WHAT A NYC BOY WOULD DO---TDD
They call me The Colonel.
Managed a mobile home park once, that was the price for a 100' X 150' shop with attached housing. The park was 95% Mexicans. I worked as hard as they did around the park, helped them when I could and even sat out several nights with my shotgun when there was some problems with breaking in on women when their husbands were at work, caught him and after chatting with him, he left to never again be seen in that park. They called me the crazy gringo and would do anything for me. There never were the problems in that park, after earning the name, that flourished in other parks.
jud