<p>sorry in advance if this is sort of long, but i just wanted to hear some peoples thoughts on what just happened to me. i got home early and i finished my homework and ate, and at 6 o'clock, it was dark outside. i had some free time, and im a pretty good cross country runner, so i decided to go out for a run. i ran a good five miles around my neighborhood, and decided i wanted to watch tv, so i started to run back home. i took my usual path that runs by the high school thats near my house. while on a certain street, i see a group of kids that look about my age and size. ok so im running down the street, and they cut me off. heres how the conversation went (exactly how they sounded):</p>
<p>one of them: say mayne, you got a dolla'?</p>
<p>(apparently, speaking ignorantly makes you sound tough, and i didn't wanna seem like a pushover, so i responded with my "tough accent" )</p>
<p>me: nah</p>
<p>one of them: well then why you walkin down my street?</p>
<p>me: it aint your street</p>
<p>different person: say whats that you gots right there?</p>
<p>me: nothing (it was an ipod, not a brand-spanking new ipod either, a used, old, 1gb ipod nano that i got for 30$ from my friend)</p>
<p>a different person: you wanna trade? ( from i could tell, he had an ipod shuffle)</p>
<p>me: nah thats cool</p>
<p>a different one: say mayne, why you dont wanna trade with my patna'?</p>
<p>yet another different one: i bet you he got some good **** on it though</p>
<p>so i just kept on walking while they're following me, and all of a sudden, someone punched me in the back of my head. i turned around and layed the guy out. (i know, not very smart, but i wasn't thinking too clearly. im a pretty tough guy, muscular build, about 5'9, and i have lived in rough neighborhoods pretty much all my life, so i know know how to defend myself.) except theres not just one, theres at least 7 of them. the guy fell when i punched him, and the rest of them started swinging at me. i obviously wasn't going to win, but they had me circled, so i couldn't really run, and the only thing i could do was fight back. they kicked my ***, knocked out a few teeth, bruises all over my face, head, and body, and of course, they took the ipod. they left, and i was just laying there for a few minutes struggling to pick myself up. someone must have seen me from their window, because a few minutes later the ambulance came (it surprises me how no one actually came out of their homes to help me.) i didn't go to the hospital because i refused to (no health insurance). anyways, im smart enough to know i was fine, just a little bruised up. i was brought home, and i told my parents. of course , they take me to the hospital. im in the fun room typing this right now. its the hospital i volunteer at, so i know where everything is. thats it. i mean, i did nothing, didn't even look at them, and what the hell are they gonna with the stupid ipod anyway, i mean, its not worth much at all. i hate my neighborhood, every day it seems like there's something new. sometimes gunshots, sometimes just the police checking something out. this is exactly why i ride the bus for an hour to get to my school. my day started off so good too....</p>
There’s a town below us, which is really ghetto. (full of trashy white guys/Mexicans/blacks with guns and gangs) That’s why we never run there. We have 4 usual routes- one going west, one east, and two north. I mean, no one WANTS to get shot. In my school, there are so many competitive students that the wannabe guys living in ghettos are the ones who are picked on. All of us smart people are like a “gang” in that all we do is study/do extracurriculars, and make fun of the dumber kids out there.</p>