I bought tear gas in a can today

I also have a flash light to my key chain. When I drove into my apartment I flung on the high beams at the alley way. Then I walked out with my flash night on and my mace at the ready. So, when the man comes back, should I spray him?

Am I any more safer than I was before?

If not, delete this thread immediately

So says the bottle.

and my mother gave me a mace attachment for my key chain. And this community college was also the college the local police took their cources and I passed many in the halls and on campus.

Well this teacher who spent more time preaching about what he knew instead of teaching what WE needed to know saw my keychain on my desk and proceeded to tell me mace was illegal in CA...and I said I had no idea, and he proceeded to tell me I could not prove my ignorance and it was beside the point. I pointed out that this was the community college to which all the police went so to carry my mace around in plain site would prove that I was not aware of it's illegality...he went ballistic...

Like this obviously is, i feel glad that i do not and never will live there.

Christ, of course you should! And if he falls on the ground you ought to give him a good kicking too. And, hell, mug him back if you want to. It's only fair, right?

unless these people or this person is stalking you, I would not worry.

I would use normal care and concern living my life, but there is so much crime and robberies and stuff in Miami, they probably would not know you if they saw you again in broad daylight.

You may need to call victims' services. You should talk about your fear level.

Also-make sure the spray is legal.

They had it on sale at Walgreens.

I really doubt the same group or person will hunt you down to rob or mug you again.

If they took your wallet, I will almost guarantee they took out the cash and threw the rest in a garbage can.

Is it next to the deoderant spray, cause that would be mighty dangerous.

:)

nt

I don't thnk that teargas is legal.

I hope you are feeling better, but I think a self-defense course would aid you as well.

Did you know the guy or had you had words with him? If not, it seems extremely random and not likely to recur. So I would try to take heart in that...

nt

"The Rules Are Different Here."

(Famous Pro-Miami-Tourism Ad circa the 1980 Riots)

nt

but if you have no experience with a gun i wouldnt get one without some training. Again i will say, A gun in an experienced hand is the best possible defense against a gun in the wrong hands. I wouldnt wanna pepper spray someone who has a gun.

k

Use it on him, unless he has a gun.

Paper, scissors, rocks, OK? :hug:

Anything worth fighting for, is worth fighting dirty for.

I had to double post so i was sure that you seen this.

k

It's ok to be scared, but I'd suggest paying attention to how it's changing your perceptions. You might be letting it change your thinking too much.

nt

criminal.

(and I am speaking as a former Miami crime victim, more than once, myself)...

But, if everyone was a criminal, and not just a potential one, there would be chaos and anarchy. I know half the stories on "America's Most Wanted" and "Unsolved Mysteries" do seem to take place in Florida, but the level of stress you sound like you are living under sounds horrible.

So, please call the police and tell them that you need to have victims' services and have yourself referred.

Miami is a pretty mean town. But there are plenty of law-following citizens, of all ages and races and backgrounds, there too!

Take care of yourself.

I think

I do remember hearing that the Department of Justice's stats showed that Miami-Hialeah was the most crime-rich area in the US.

Don't know if they are still number one. But I think you still need to get some help to make yourself feel better.

nt

Tell him or her what happened.

http://www.mentalhealthchannel.net/ptsd/diagnosis.shtml

Duration of the disturbance (symptoms in Criteria B, C, and D) is more than 1 month.



From what I can tell (from your posts lately) your reaction so far to your mugging isn't inconsistent with an eventual clinical diagnosis. We'll see. Have you tried calling that help line yet that was posted in one of your threads last night?

bicentennial_babyÊ (1000+ posts)

Tue Nov-04-03 10:12 PM
Response to Reply #6

8.ÊHere I found you a number

http://www.switchboardmiami.org/

"For more than thirty-five years, Switchboard of Miami, a private, nonprofit, multi-service agency, has provided the Miami-Dade community with comprehensive telephone crisis counseling, suicide prevention, information and referral services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. In addition, our agency offers free individual and family counseling services, as well as school based prevention programs for high-risk youth and their families."

Please give them a call. I think it'll make you feel a lot better, and that will help you to get the rest of your life together, which I think is your main goal right now.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=105&topic_id=365741#365782

Depends on what you think you would have done with the tear gas and the flashlight at the time you were robbed. I think you handled the situation as well as you could have, getting out unhurt. A lot of people don't. Your common sense served you better than any other weapon could have.

Do you realize that you're now the proverbial "liberal who's been mugged?" :P Glad you came through it okay tho.

I carry pepper spray and a concealed firearm. Self defense is a civil right.