Minding my own business
This afternoon I went for a walk with @afturner and @little-ricky down to the beach like I often do. It was a nice sunny day for once, being that it has been raining so much this year. There was a nice cool breeze but not a cloud in the sky. We were all in a great mood.
Living in Los Angeles, there are a lot of crazies around, but typically you don't really have to deal with them much in the neighborhood that I live in here in the San Pedro. However, just a few blocks up from here is Gaffey street where there is a lot of ghetto shit happening all the time. We generally don't go down to that side of town if we can avoid it. It seems like there are always cops chasing some gang members or other nonsense happening. But I digress....
After taking a nice stroll down to the beach, getting a nice bit of exercise in, we headed back toward the house and entered our neighborhood. About a block from our house is an elementary school which of course is surrounded by stop signs and indications for people to slow down. Once we passed the school, Amanda walking on my side while I pushed a stroller, I hear some loud music (Zapp and Roger seems to be a favorite of the little thugs around here) blaring and an old 60s impala coming at me at what looked like 60mph.
I quickly pushed my stroller out of the street just in time as he blew right past me, right through the stop sign and kept on going. The dude turns around and looks at me, and I put my arm up like 'What the fuck?'. The guy looks as me with his shaved tattooed head and dark sunglasses, sticks up his middle finger and speeds away.
The most crazy part is, he had a girl in the car with him, and a baby in the back in a car seat. I was just blown away. What the hell is wrong with people.
I was about to start yelling at him but decided not to. I kept thinking to myself that this dude probably had a gun shoved down his pants that he'd love to hold up sideways at me like the little dumb asses like to do around here. I was pretty confident that he was packing considering I was twice his size, easily. Or that little dude just had a lot of balls.
Having a toddler definitely changes you
Normally I wouldn't even care. I'd just roll my eyes and move on. But something about having this little child under my care really makes me get a little extra peeved when someone carelessly puts his life in danger.
Anyway, just a little rant to get it off my chest. Other than that, it was a wonderful, sunny day!
Things are getting out of hand just about everywhere, but I do worry about my friends in the USA particularly. While I lived in Canada, within spitting distance to the Montana border, I always had a bad feeling crossing the border, watching the people there open carry, bikers with shot gun holsters mounted on their bikes. WTF!?!
For the past decade I live in Vienna, Austria, and most of the trouble we have here originate with immigrants/refugees that bring their violent ways and lifestyles. The other day, a Algerian attacked and killed a guy with a machete at a subway station. Guns are not that usual here, but among those people, knifes are. The cops were successful in catching the guy, since they were right on top of it when someone called it in.
I don't generally take issue with immigrants (we are all immigrants at some point) but I understand how you can get some bad apples screwing things up. The way I see it, if you have people coming from a war torn area a lot of times they have a lot of mental health baggage that they bring along with them. I don't really know what the solution is. It's really sad because sometimes people just don't know how to act. I was an awful teenager. I wouldn't even recognize my old self today.
I remember when we were living in England, we got a huge influx of Polish people. There was a particular group of young Polish guys who hang out in dark alleys and try to mug people. No one in the town knew how to deal with it, because they hadn't really had this kind of issue before. I remember I was going walking home from the store at night by myself one time and I saw them coming up on me from behind. After they followed me for a while and got really close I turned around and started charging toward them and said "What's up? Y'all want something? Why are you creeping up on me"
They completely backed off and went away. I think it was my American accent. Who knows. Maybe I was a wildcard for them. They think Americans are nuts. haha. I was totally outnumbered though.
haha - "American's are nuts" - well,that's a valid point, present company excluded.
Well, I am not exactly normal. Haha
It is good to know that you are an amazing dad, truly having a child (toddler)changes us because we do all we can to protect and care for them.
It's also good that you didn't confront him, he might have had a gun.. Hehe
The way you describe the dude cracked me up. Hehe
Yeah all the little thugs around here carry guns. They know they can't actually take on anyone physically so they hide behind their aggressive looking tattoos, oversized clothes and pistols packed down in their underwear. It is funny how they have not changed their look in 30 years. Oh well. Haha
Yeah it is so hard having a kid around here. I get so stressed out about his safety! I think we will eventually move somewhere else.
I guess that's their signature style.
😄😄
Ow wow Rick, I missed your post earlier but read it now... Reminds me of my dad who can easily get offended by how rude / a-social others can be, outside, in traffic etc, an how dangerous that could get if he meets the wrong asshole.
In The Netherlands no civilian is allowed to bear arms in public, and so I'm very happy there is no Second Amendment like in the US Constitution. If nobody bears arms, there is also no regular need to protect yourself against them.
I know this is a sensitive topic but I still think this way.
I'm glad you're okay!
Well, the actual meaning of the 2nd ammendment has been debated for many years here. People who are pro gun believe that their right to bear arms is the most sacred right there is. Personally I don't care about guns and have never owned one.
Since I didn't grow up with that love and fond feeling for weapons it makes it really hard for me to understand it. It feels like a battle that will never end no matter how many die.
That's scary stuff dude. I definitely don't miss the attitude drivers back in the states or the wannabe gangsters (or real ones.) It has been ages since I saw any sort of blatant disregard for road safety and nobody has boomin car stereos here. I think they must be banned because literally no one has a car stereo that is audible from outside the car.
It's a frustrating feeling getting really pissed off at some little shit and wanting to cuss them out, but then having to stop short because you don't know if they are going to pull out a gun and shoot your family.
I wouldn't be surprised if loud stereos are banned their. I actually haven't noticed much of the loud stereo culture in other countries in general. I can't remember if they were doing it in England. If they were, it certainly isn't as much. We seem to have a strong culture in the US of not giving a damn about other people.
yet we also (well, I suppose you have, I haven't lived there in nearly 20 years) have a group of people online that pretend to care dramatically about everyone's feelings and well being but the reality is that this is just another excuse to treat people badly because they don't agree with you.
Wouldn't the world be a better place if people were just nice? and not because they have to be but for no reason at all?
The irony is that it has been proven over and over again that having compassion for others (or simply being kind) actually brings tremendous peace and contentment to the person that gives it. I think for the modern person that concept seems counter-intuitive, but the true practicing buddhists/non-dualists (Vedanta)/eastern philosophers have known this very well for a very long time.
You can see it all the time, and people are always surprised at how helping others makes them feel good. I was just watching an interview with Danny Trejo a couple of days ago. He was talking about how when he was young he was a bad dude, always getting into gang violence and landing in jail. Always angry and aggressive. One day someone asked for his help with something (can't remember what) and he noticed how good it made him felt when he did it. Then some 'good luck' came his way and he got a small movie role. After that, he started going out of his way to be nice and help people. His luck and happiness just kept rolling in. Now he loves doing charity and giving people hugs. lol!
I didn't know that about Danny. I knew he had been in jail and became a boxer in there but didn't realize his turnaround was so swift. He seems like he is a funny and genuinely kind person now, which is odd for someone that looks like he does, right?
Sad story, but fortunately no one was hurt.
Yeah, for sure. Now I am even more careful crossing the road around here.
That kind of people are crazy , good that you ignored him. But believe me it is not that easy to ignore such kinda people.
By the way , good view of the Beach.
Have a nice day.
Yes, he certainly has issues. There are a lot of people like that around here. Just last night, someone was killed by someone who flew through a red light down the street from me. The person was not yet caught.
Thanks for stopping by!
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 20/40) Liquid rewards.
Maybe something is wrong with him, as he is also putting his child in danger in doing so. I understand why you get mad, I would also be mad if that kind of thing happen to my kid.
I am happy that you and your kid are ok,
!LUV
(2/4) sent you LUV. | tools | discord | community |
HiveWiki | 
NFT | <>< daily
I just think he got embarrassed by the fact that he did something really wrong, and by me pointing it out to him, he felt on the spot. He put up his middle finger to show how 'bad ass' he was. So sad.
Some people are just assholes man, there is no other way to put it. Sounds like this guy was one of those people and he most likely wasn't a good father or companion for his lady. When I encounter people like this, I always try to keep my cool and just use it as a lesson of what NOT to be like in life.
Since you're out in LA, I have to ask... do you go to many stand-up shows? I feel like I would live at the comedy clubs if I resided out west where all of the action is. Do you ever have problems running into YouTubers vlogging or pranking? I'm just curious because the internet makes it seem like that's everywhere in LA.
Yeah, I think it's always best to just keep your cool. Seems to be the best response in most situations!
There is a great comedy club in Hermosa Beach which isn't far from here. I am a big fan of stand-up as well, but I haven't been since the little one was born. Thanks for reminding me, though. I think I'd like to go again soon. It is a lot of fun!
I haven't seen any prankers, but yes - there are YouTubers all over the place. I was laughing when I read your comment because I was at Del Amo mall, and there was a blogger recording right in front of me as I read it. What are the odds?
You gotta hit those comedy clubs occasional. I’d go just for the laughs and chance to meet and chat with some of the comedians.
I’d say the odds of seeing somebody recording a video out there is a lot higher than my odds of seeing someone here where I live. I have actually never seen somebody vlogging in WV.
I lived down in Florida for a couple of years a while back and I remember seeing someone vlogging once in a great while. But nothing like here where they do it all the time. My mom lives in Kentucky, and I never saw it there!
My little brother used to be really into the comedy scene. Back in the early 2000s he was trying to be a manager for comedians and made some cool friends. We hung out in a hotel with this comedian named Robert Kelly. He bought us pizza and was cracking us up all night. My bro also hung out several times with Dane Cook at the height of his career.
KY/WV might as well be the same place. We are both far off from big cities in California that attract all of the content creators.
That time with the comedian sounds like so much fun. I love hanging out with funny people. Not much is better than uncontrollable laughter. Well, maybe free pizza 😜🍕
Yeah, Kentucky actually used to be a county in Virginia back in the 1700s. It eventually broke off and became a state. I learned about that when I was researching my family history. So go back a few generations and we are all the same people. ;p
KY and WV have more in common than I knew. I did not know it also broke away from VA.
That's horrible. It's too bad that your day was ruined like that. At the very least your walk was ruined. People are nuts these days. I just got back from a road trip down to Louisville and I swear the drivers are getting worse and worse. I kind of wish I was rich enough to hire a driver to take me everywhere so I don't have to deal with the stress!
It is getting crazy.. So many people are speeding around and don't pay attention to anyone. We actually just got home from our walk today, and we almost got hit by a cyclist. We were crossing at a green crossing light, and this dude came speeding down the street and blew through a red light missing us by about a foot. He never slowed down or even looked at us. He had all the pro biking gear on.
It's crazy that even those guys behave like that. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own minds, they don't consider the people around them. I agree, wish I were rich with a driver. haha! Imagine that
When I was in elementary school we had to watch videos on bicycle safety. I don't think they do that anymore. It's crazy how many liberties cyclists take.
😠😧 yup.. WTH! maybe that guy's like is just shit and that's the one thing he gets to do to feel cool.. :P
life..
I think he thought he was really cool. If his kid were a bit older, I wonder what he would think. "Wow, dad is so cool almost killing those people!" or... my dad is an asshole. haha
yup! the 2nd one..
I face this sort of craziness while driving in Lagos. Developed a fowl mouth in the process. The crazy things people do without batting an eye unsettles me in more way than I can imagine.
You did the right thing by not engaging. Sorry but I have a stereotypical view about Americans and guns, and the scenario you just described looked at one that would involves guns if heated. Stay SAFU
I would probably be cussing people out all day if I yelled at every bad driver. Unfortunately you just don't know who is going to pull out a gun and shoot you over some dumb encounter. I keep thinking I might just move to England or somewhere else where every other person is carrying a weapon. It's all so stupid with the guns. I wish I could snap a finger and make them bleep out of existence.
Yeah, holding your tongue was likely the wisest option... well done. You have no idea where that person is in terms of mental stability, especially after experiencing what you already did... you don't want to make it worse, or even fatal!
Yeah, if I were in a safer town I might have said something, but everyone is a little gangster wannabe around here. They feel like they have something to prove. It's better to just stay calm and 'carry on' as they say.
Oh I'm sorry to hear that, glad you easily push the stroller out of the street. That man might lost his good thinking.
Luckily I got out of the way in time. So irresponsible!
There were times that we always thought about our safety but sad to say others don't.
Being overprotective and easily mad when someone is putting your child in danger is what a parent does ! Glad you at least had a good day and didn’t let that incident ruin it
You are right, of course. I had a good day for the most part, but it did color things in a bad light for the rest of the day. My wife was all moody. haha
Congratulations @nuthman! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next payout target is 35000 HP.
The unit is Hive Power equivalent because post and comment rewards can be split into HP and HBD
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts: