Fighting on le road

[Heron]

wondering if anyone who's traveled much could share their experiences. obviously the road is full of a lot of different people, especially if you're around other travelers much- drunken bastards who get out of hand, muggers, w/e. have you had to fight? how many times? how did they go? anything related, ja ja.

 

[Myechtatel]

i was walking down the street with my girlfriend one day in Athens, Ga and these two black guy, maybe 2-3 years older than me, ride by and one of em smacks me in the back of the head. no reason, just stupid. i'm not really a violent person but it pissed me off. i yelled after them to come back and try it again. they kept riding so i dropped my shit, left my girl and dog there and ran after them. i chased them a few blocks. they went down this sideroad which was really empty and finally stopped. at athat point i was out of breath. as they started walking towards me i started yelling "what the fuck was that for?", "what's wrong with you?", etc. i was trying to figure out what the hell the deal was, what their problem was, i dont know, im just too used to dealing with reasonable people i guess. these weren't reasonable people. as the one guy walks up he suckerpunches me in the face and then they proceed to attempt to "jump" me. so i pull out my 3" blade, knife fighting style and flash it a little bit. once again, not really a violent person. if i was they'd both gotten stabbed. as soon as they saw the knife they ran like the pussies they were. a car pulled up as their running away, the guy asks if im ok and they call the cops. i go get some ice for my lip, the cops show up dont do shit and then i go on about my day. some stupid fucking people out there thats for sure.

the only other problem i had was at a rainbow gathering(yeah, theyre not that peaceful). we pulled up in a van of hippies and crustys at like 10 at night. just past front gate cause thats where they were camped. it was roudy when we pulled up. lots of people around the fire. apparently some front gaters had moved in on this camp. after being there 15 minutes unloading some shit some skinhead fuck starts beating the shit out of this kid. idk what the deal was. dont care. i didn't like what was going on though and no one was really doing anything about it. i went to pull out my machete to break up the fight but some people there advised me not to as it would make it worse. probably right. theres no reasoning with drunk people. anyway soon enough like 20 people are involved and a couple people get stabbed. never hang out with drunk aggro fuckers.

 

[Heron]

lol man i was just walking down this alley with two mates and three random black guys that were like 0-2 years older than us basically started robbing us. checking our pockets and shit though i didn't have shit so i didn't resist much but my brother didn't let them check him for shit. he's a fucking badass. anyway they took a $20 and a buspass out of my friend's pocket and started walking off. it was my $20 tho. (who the fuck jacks someone for $20 and a buspass that expires in half a month?) so i went after them and i was trying to treat them reasonable as well. one of them who was probably a year younger than me came from behind me and sucker punched me really hard. after my vision came back like 4 seconds later i watched them run away like pussies as blood started pouring from my face. (literally punched a hole in my lip.) i had a knife on me too.

later they were bragging about it and got picked up. one who hit me got put away for a while. the fuck is wrong with people lol. dumbasses

 

[venusinpisces]

Every fight I've ever been in could have been avoided by not drinking too much. When sober, the only thing close to a "fight" I've been in is smacking a driver who was taking liberties, which was unavoidable, and spitting on the side of someone's car who was disrespectful after we got into a disagreement about his reckless driving (I was on my bike and he almost hit me). That almost turned into a problem but some nice men intervened on my behalf. So no more spitting. The only reason to ever get in a fight is to protect yourself or someone else. Pride is not important. I once got punched in the eye by this crazy old crackhead after I dragged her boyfriend out of the fire when he passed out there from drinking too much. no reason whatsoever besides her being territorial. I just let that one go because I'm not going to hit some old lady or continue a fight when someone is walking away. This will help you to avoid a lot of problems if you adopt this strategy in combination with not showing any fear.

As for muggers, try to look like you are prepared for anything and act crazy if that doesn't work. I had a couple people try to mug me in West Oakland. There were always people lunging at me while I was on my bike. I always managed to dodge them except this one time when the guy jumped so close I had to get off or else I would have tipped over. He then punched me in the face and demanded my bike while laughing. This guy was huge and it would have been extremely challenging to fight him. But I really like that bike so I just started screaming at him and calling him a bitch! lol I then dragged my bike into the middle of the street and kept screaming while the cars were coming. This was a heavily trafficked area so I guess he figured I was making too much of a scene and took off. It's probably best just to give someone your stuff if they have a gun, though. I try to avoid violent people as much as possible and this cuts out a lot of problems. Most fights are avoidable if you make an effort.

 

[Beegod Santana]

I've seen more than a few jungle brawls in my day. Most violent situations I've found myself in on the road where avoidable, but a few weren't. If you've never been in fight, are easily intimidated or are just a little pussy in general you really shouldn't be hitching or hopping. The majority of transients use drugs and have served jail time at some point, there's bound to be a little roughness.

 

[Gudj]

Whoa, 3 of the 4 responses sofar have called people pussy.
Might it be that people who are misogynistic get in fights more?
Time will tell.....

 

[venusinpisces]

Whoa, 3 of the 4 responses sofar have called people pussy.
Might it be that people who are misogynistic get in fights more?

Good point. In my experience this has definitely been the case. Misogyny is based on very "traditional" gender roles where the only emotion men are allowed to express is anger/rage, so of course people who adopt it whole-heartedly are going to attract some drama.

 

[venusinpisces]

Maybe I should watch my own language too.

 

[Heron]

Whoa, 3 of the 4 responses sofar have called people pussy.
Might it be that people who are misogynistic get in fights more?
Time will tell.....

well, it's probably the harshest (common) word to describe someone who's a coward or whatever in a fight. maybe it's because we live in a misogynistic society. (;

p.s. girls are great. i love them.

 

[venusinpisces]

well, it's probably the harshest (common) word to describe someone who's a coward or whatever in a fight. maybe it's because we live in a misogynistic society. (;

p.s. girls are great. i love them.

Yeah, it can be hard to get away from language that you're exposed to all the time. I normally don't go around calling people bitches so it was kind of surprising to say that in a conflict type situation! I'm not into policing language but it definitely says something about our culture. Guys are raised to be very emotionally inhibited and this creates so many problems in the long run. If it wasn't for this kind of cultural programming there's no way government leaders could convince so many young men to throw their lives away in the military. I used to think that it's part of human nature to compete and attempt to dominate others but the more I look into hunter gatherer societies the less I think so.

 

[Beegod Santana]

Whoa, 3 of the 4 responses sofar have called people pussy.
Might it be that people who are misogynistic get in fights more?
Time will tell.....

Or maybe those of us whole travel more have less time for the pc language police. Anyways, in this thread the term "pussy" is being used to refer to the relative weakness of a house hold feline when compared to a human agressor.

So get your mind outta the gutter.

 

[dawgrunner]

in the grand scope of machismo which I see of lot of men using as a excuse to beat on women and children. There seems to be a need for drunks and wise ass's that think hurting someone is funny or fun. If you fall for and place yourself in situations you should mark it up as experience to keep you out of the situation in the future. As for retelling the story as you remember it will not help others avoid the same situation. What will help others hitchin/bumimg/hopping etc.. is to watchout for each other at all times and be proud where you walk and not look like a mark for the predators.. you know who I'm talking about... the dogs on the edge of civilization

 

[venusinpisces]

the only other problem i had was at a rainbow gathering(yeah, theyre not that peaceful). we pulled up in a van of hippies and crustys at like 10 at night. just past front gate cause thats where they were camped. it was roudy when we pulled up. lots of people around the fire. apparently some front gaters had moved in on this camp. after being there 15 minutes unloading some shit some skinhead fuck starts beating the shit out of this kid. idk what the deal was. dont care. i didn't like what was going on though and no one was really doing anything about it. i went to pull out my machete to break up the fight but some people there advised me not to as it would make it worse. probably right. theres no reasoning with drunk people. anyway soon enough like 20 people are involved and a couple people get stabbed. never hang out with drunk aggro fuckers.

The only place at a rainbow gathering where fights happen with any frequency is by front gate since this is the only part of the site where alcohol is allowed. During Calfornia Nationals in 2004 there was a guy at front gate who got his lung punctured by a guy with a shovel. Regionals can be slightly unpredictable but main meadow and the surrounding areas at Nationals are probably the most peaceful place I've ever been. People really don't tolerate violence there and will take every step to prevent it from happening, including talking down raving wingnuts for hours at a time. I think it only works because everyone's basic needs are provided for. I've been to 5 nationals now and have never once witnessed a fight happening outside of front gate/A camp.

 

[L.C.]

I got mugged, and hit so hard I had to have plastic surgery to put my ear back on(baseball bat).Broken ribs, nose, arm, stitches, dislocated shoulder. I am not a badass, I'm not even sure how I got into most of my fights.Alchohol, and stupid drunks. Also being to scared to back down. Protecting weaker individuals. piping up for road dogs. What Ive seen done to others, well that list is plain disturbing and brutal. Shit if I never have to raise a fist ever again I will die a happy man. This is just the breaks when it comes to traveling.

 

[venusinpisces]

I got mugged, and hit so hard I had to have plastic surgery to put my ear back on(baseball bat).Broken ribs, nose, arm, stitches, dislocated shoulder. I am not a badass, I'm not even sure how I got into most of my fights.Alchohol, and stupid drunks. Also being to scared to back down. Protecting weaker individuals. piping up for road dogs. What Ive seen done to others, well that list is plain disturbing and brutal. Shit if I never have to raise a fist ever again I will die a happy man. This is just the breaks when it comes to traveling.

That's terrible! After all that I can see why you're not into bragging rights anymore. At a certain point it stops being appealing. As for sticking up for people, in my experience, this is a good thing to do--within limits. Some people have a way of getting into drama over and over again. I've had friends who got me involved in fight after fight and eventually I just washed my hands of those people. Defending someone who is truly innocent is a good thing.
But defending a drunk shit talker is something that is usually best to avoid, imho. I've split up a number of fights and this is always pretty sketchy because you never know when someone is going to turn on you. Anyways, I'm sorry to hear about your luck. I've been through some things too so I completely understand where you're at.