Mugging fail

Today I got mugged at the bus stop. "Highway robbery or "mugging" takes place outside and in a public place such as a sidewalk, street, or parking lot" - per Wikipedia.

Yup. First, I'll tell you what happened.

This morning I did my Bible Study. I had a nasty headache and decided to take my fake Excedrin. I took it. I had a "feeling" I shouldn't take my backpack today, so I didn't. I took a black canvas tote bag instead.

I put my Bible, a bottle of Diet Dr Pepper, 10 bags of "driver candy", and my fake Excedrin into the tote bag. I wore my cheap MP3 player around my neck. I had cash, but it wasn't in the tote bag.

I guess I should explain the whole concept of Driver Candy. In 1992, I was working at Target. I was a cashier, and my scanner was broken. That meant I had to type in every single UPC code by myself. All those digits! AAAAGH. People were getting in my line because it was "short", until they realized I had to hand-code each item. People were VERY annoyed.

I was tired. I was starving. A nice young man - about mid 20's, moved forward and placed a few large bags of Peanut M&M's on the counter. I commented on their tastiness as I rang them up.

"Hold out your smock" he instructed. I was wearing an ugly smock with 2 large pockets. I held it out, baffled. He tore open a bag of M&M's and filled up BOTH pockets. I almost cried for joy, nibbling happily on my treasure as I worked my way through the rest of that horrible day.

I have NEVER forgotten that man's kindness. I realized the best compliment I could give the man was in duplicating his actions.

A few years back, I started buying assorted wrapped candies, bagging them out, and handing them out to cashiers and drivers I encountered. People love them; especially during the holidays.

I really enjoy doing it for bus drivers, so I like to leave the house with about a dozen bags or so. My Days Out involve several bus transfers. I like to give a bag to EACH driver.

Hence, 10 bags of Driver Candy in the tote bag. I walked off down the street and headed off to the bus stop.

I've gotten complacent. I grew up outside a big bad city; and I've always lived in the suburbs of some large city. I remember the safety classes and all "Be observant". "Notice your surroundings".

However, years of "What a nice, quiet neighborhood" had numbed my instincts. I have lived in some BAD areas. My favorite was the apartment complex. I saw a drug deal and told management "You have a drug dealer living here".

"Which one did you see?" they laughed. Oh, boy. In that environment, I NEVER let my guard down. The worst I saw there, other than the drug deal, was a very poorly endowed flasher (I laughed at him and he drove away).

However, everyone talks about my beautiful, quiet, subdivision. I just assumed bad things don't happen here.

So, when the 2 young men approached me rapidly, from behind, I just assumed they were residents, in a hurry. They seemed agitated, but I turned my back. I made a POINT of not noticing them, as I got out my paperback.

Then "Red" struck, snatching my tote bag off my arm. I fought him for the bag, and he asked his companion for help. His companion refused. The bag was on my left shoulder, I fought him with the left arm as I began giving him a Right Hook to the left eye. POW, POW, POW.

We battled, and I have to say I was winning. "You idiot!" I chided him "All I've got in here is some candy!" Then the handles tore off the bag and he bolted. Everything fell out of the bag except for a few bags of driver candy. He must have been furious when he searched the handle-less tote bag.

I'm glad I got my Bible. I'm glad he didn't bleed on me. I'm glad he'll have a nice black eye tomorrow. I'm glad he didn't have a weapon. I'm glad his cohort didn't jump in to subdue me. Things could have been very bad.

I know God protected me. It's been a challenging year. First I get shot in the leg with a BB gun, carrying Bibles. Now mugged.

After thug boy ran away, I called the police. I gave them a report and waited on the nice officer to come out. I gave my report and he offered to drive me home. "I'm going out, like I planned." I told him. "You're very brave" he replied. "After something like that even I would want to go home!"

"I need to get back up on this horse and ride it!" I replied. The nice officer gave me a ride to my destination and I went off on my Day Out. I knew, if I went home, I would probably never ride the bus again.

I don't want that to happen. I do have some pepper spray now. I have decided I need to be a lot more alert at the bus stops. I need to pay attention.

That may mean, putting my book away if someone approaches. Not listening to my MP3 player.

I continue to Thank God that it wasn't any worse, and thug boy and his cohort have now gone onto the prayer list.