The Tale of the Occurrence at Woodpoint and Skillman

I've thought to myself on more than once occasion, "Man, Sam, wouldn't it be crazy if you got mugged in New York?" - to which I replied, "Dude, that would be so ridiculous." I realize now that statements such as these are silly ones and should never be made - a conclusion I reached last night after the following occurred:

So the plan was for me to meet up with Kevin in Times Square after the Broadway play (Jersey Boys) that he was seeing ended, which was supposed to be sometime around 10PM. I was sitting in my apartment feeling restless at about 9:30, so I decided to go ahead and make my way to Manhattan - on with the jeans, the jacket, and the shirt. The night before, Kevin and I had gone to see Cocorosie (one of Rachel's favorite bands) at the Bowery Ballroom, so shortly after I left my apartment, I gave her a call to tell her about the show and see how she was doing.

So we were talking - this and that, etcetera, etcetera - laughing and the like. As our conversation was going on I was approaching the corner of Woodpoint and Skillman, slightly past the halfway point from my apartment to the Graham Metro stop. Now Hunter had told me to always be aware of my surroundings in this neighborhood, and I had previously done so, but on this particular night, Rachel and I were talking and I was paying less than the usual amount of attention to the Brooklyn night.

And suddenly, in the midst of laughing, I looked up to find two young men had stepped rather quickly and aggressively in my path - a very intimidating presence. Before I could grab hold of what was happening, one of the men quickly reached for my hand and phone, saying in a strong and commanding tone, "Hold the conversation!". As he said this, both he and his accomplice reached into their pants to grab what I am assuming was one of three things, 1: a knife, 2: a gun, or 3: nothing. I'm not quite sure what it was exactly inside of me that assessed the situation, because I had less than enough time to think, but I immediately realized that I was about get mugged.

Let me take this time to reiterate that it is never a good idea to wish to get mugged for the sake of a crazy story, much like the hope of breaking one's arm in second grade so people will sign your cast is a bad idea.

So something inside of me realized the danger of the situation and almost simultaneously sent the words "Hold on" out of my mouth via the cell phone to Rachel's curious ear. Another something within me threw my legs into a full sprint around my would-be muggers, across the street, and down the block - all the while holding the phone to my ear as if to remind myself that just in case, I've got somewhat of a witness on the other line.

I've realized through past experiences that when my life or well-being becomes endangered, I react quickly and calmly and once the danger is gone, I proceed to laugh and watch my hands shake - in this case, the purchasing of cigarettes also occurred shortly after the incident.

The next day Hunter informed me that when he walked by the intersection later that night, the police were already there after someone else had apparently reported either an attempted or completed mugging, I'm not sure of the details.

Needless to say, however, I have marked "Getting Mugged" off my Wish List, which I replaced with "Winning a Lifetime Supply of Yoohoo". I suggest you do the same.