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Every environment has its threats. The urban one is no different. Only, the danger here usually comes in a form that's much more familiar to us than those in, say, a desert or the ocean. It's other people. However, when it comes to protecting ourselves in the city, most of us are still pretty bad at it.
But there's an online discussion that can help. A week ago, Reddit user u/LegalCriminal69 asked people with "street smarts" to share advice that can help to survive in our concrete jungle, and quite a few came through with useful tips. Continue scrolling and you will find some of the best ones.
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#1
Know that criminals rely on their victims to be polite and not cause a scene or draw attention to themselves. When something happens to you, scream and shout. Make it known you’re in danger.
RELATED:
#2
If someone grabs you and starts walking you forcefully, collapse like dead weight don't help them take you somewhere. Then scream bloody murder!
We managed to get in touch with the Redditor behind the post and they were kind enough to tell us what inspired them to create it. u/LegalCriminal69 told Bored Panda they came up with the idea to ask this question when they spotted a guy that tried to rob them and had the urge to jump him.
The Redditor said there are no shortcuts to developing these skills in the wild. "People acquire street smarts through experience and being a lot on the streets." They believe that you actually need to practice most of them for these behaviors to become instinctive, "but some are also possible to learn through reading."
#3
I saw a lady make a video on this and I feel it’s important information to share. If you are a parent and you are in public and somehow you lose track of your kid DO NOT BE QUIET! Searching Quietly to avoid judgment or embarrassment will only lead to the further endangerment of your child. Immediately in the loudest voice possible start describing your child. The color of their hair, the color of their skin, what they are wearing, etc… most likely people around you will start looking for the child that fits that description and all the commotion will most likely (if in the case someone took the child) that person will not want to be caught and will release the child.
Stoopham McFernybabes 2 years ago (edited)
The times I have lost one of my kids I instinctively shouted out for help, be it in the middle of Aldi or at a playground: “Can anyone see a 3yo boy in a yellow shirt?”. Not only has my child been found and returned to me quickly, but the reassuring pats, smiles and words of empathy from people around was amazingly reassuring. I realised I had never seen or heard anyone else do this (even as a child - and my sister was a runner) and I wondered if I was doing something foolish or incorrect in doing so. As far as I can see, though, it seems to be purely, I don’t know, timidity? Shame of losing a kid? (Cos I totally feel that regardless). I don’t know.
#5
I've lived in the Bronx all my life. A lot of what I would suggest has been said already, so I'm gonna give two pieces of advice that haven't been said.
First: have some cash on you. Not a lot, but enough to catch a cab home. Why? If you're ever in a situation in which you're running and hail a cab, a lot of independent cab companies (aka gypsie cabs) don't take credit/PayPal, etc, and some even legit use their machines to steal card info (happened to me once). Have enough cash to pay someone to get your a*s home FAST.
Second: MEMORIZE. SOME. PHONE NUMBERS!
payphones may not be a thing anymore, but if you a*s ends up in jail, in a hospital, in any s**t situation, and you don't have your phone, you better know at least 3 numbers by heart of people who are ride or die for you. The amount of people I have seen die at my job that we couldn't reach next of kin cause their phone was damaged beyond usefulness and we had to bury as John Does is way to high. HAVE THAT F*****G NUMBER IN YOUR HEAD AND TELL IT TO US BEFORE ITS TOO LATE!
Snacking on cats 2 years ago
It is so true about memorizing phone numbers. So many just rely on having them in their phone including me.
When you look at the numbers, the relevancy of these tips becomes certain. While a majority of Americans feel safe enough to stroll in the dark in their own neighborhoods, or anywhere within a mile of where their home, this inner calmness is far from universal.
In the U.S., 36% have expressed fear about walking alone at night. Also, this distress rises to nearly 50% among women, city dwellers, and the poor.
These figures are based on combined data from the six Gallup Crime polls conducted from 2009 to 2015, including interviews with 7,141 American adults. During this time, the percentage expressing fear of walking alone near their homes at night has been steady, ranging from 34% to 38%. In the longer 50-year history of the trend, the percentage fearful of walking alone has ranged from a low of 30% in 2001, a month after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., to a high of 48% in 1982.
#6
Always act like you know where you are going.
#7
If you’re feeling uncomfortable or uneasy, trust it. Whenever I’ve felt uneasy while walking through my neighborhood I’ve always seen something or heard of something happening.
Icy_Question_4977 2 years ago
Yes! Always trust your instincts. That is what you have them for!
#8
If you are buying something and someone says "wait here. I'll be right back with it" and they already have your money, they will not be back.
DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
Exchange money only when you see the item. Also if it seems fishy...leave.
#9
Stay THE F**K off your phone and pay attention to your surroundings. Best way to get knocked over the head and your pockets ran is with your nose in your phone and your earbuds in.
The fact that a person can walk anywhere near his or her home alone at night without fear is one of the basic measures of how safe and secure people feel, which greatly improves (or, in bad cases, diminishes) their overall well-being.
But interestingly, external factors that one might expect to significantly affect this measure (such as a declining national crime rate and a plethora of highly publicized mass shootings) have failed to push fear up or down.
Even fluctuations in Americans' sense that crime is increasing or decreasing have not considerably changed their beliefs about whether or not their neighborhoods are dangerous.
#10
If you find yourself driving in a bad area and getting stopped at a stop sign or stop light, always leave room to get around the car in front of you. Even if that has to be the sidewalk, leave enough room to get out. Pay attention to who else is around you and if suddenly doors open and people start moving toward you just start driving and don’t stop.
They probably won’t chase you, at least not far. Easier to find another victim.
#11
Grown men don’t ask women or children for help. They have an ulterior motive.
Grown men, if you happen to be the 1% that does approach women on the street for help, stop doing it and please stop acting surprised when we’re afraid of you. This is how we go missing.
Something 2 years ago
Nah, whether or not it's appropriate to ask an adult depends on the type of help. Asking someone to come with you to help you gives them reason to be scared of you. Asking someone for directions or something not so much, as long as you're asking in an appropriate manner. Asking children is different.
#12
You didn't see anything. Keep moving.
Emma Dakin 2 years ago
But as soon as you can/feel safe to do so alert authority.. I collapsed and was robbed while having a seizure my hero didn't try to save my purse but may have saved my life.
#13
Use windows and mirrors to check behind you when you walk places. Takes less time than pulling out your phone and using the camera.
#14
Walk with confidence, walk straight and SLIGHTLY faster than your normal pace
General Anaesthesia 2 years ago
How does the wannabe perp know you're walking _slightly_ faster than your normal pace? What's the sense?
#15
Don’t ever let anybody take you to a secondary location.
PixxelDust 2 years ago
99% of the time it's a less public place. Once you're there your chances of survival are practically zero.
#16
Nothing good comes from a stranger approaching you and saying "can I ask you a question?" - you'll be locked into a long conversation that ends with a plea for money
DuchessDegu 2 years ago
If someone genuinely wants information or help they'll ask straight away or maybe after a short greeting, no need for small talk!
#18
There's more than one way to get home. If you see something shady going on on your normal route you're better off taking the long way than getting involved with whatever is happening.
Felice Coles 2 years ago
And don't be nosey! Don't sneak up to the action to video the action with your phone. Curiosity kills. Get away!
#19
If you have to walk around a sketchy area don’t dress like you have anything worth taking.
Snacking on cats 2 years ago
Sound advice. I will not wear my Prada dress, Gucci heels and $10,000 dollar diamond necklace in a sketchy area.
#20
Be loud and show no fear.I was sitting behind a bar in the bed of my friend's truck at night with a couple of my gal friends, we were waiting for our boyfriends to close out and meet us (honesty - we had smoked a joint and my friends have low tolerance). A man and his lady companion got out of their car and were arguing about something, she was trying to pull him back to their car.He started approaching the truck and pulled out what looked like zip-tie loops. My friends were laying down and I was sitting up. Gut immediately screamed alarm bells. I stood up and shouted "Get the F-ck back! Get back to your f-cking car!" I always carry a knife, mainly for work and discretely pulled it out of my pocket, and also pulled out my phone in the other hand aggressively shouted "Get the f-ck back, I'm calling the police." (I had no cell service).The woman ran back to the car and started honking the horn. He ran back just as our boyfriends were walking up and they peeled out of the parking lot. Too dark to get a plate, but I still called in with their descriptions.
This was 25 years ago and I still remember every second.
Of course every situation is different, but be very loud and show confidence, *even if you don't feel it.
#21
Be aware, but not afraid, of your surroundings. S**t people look for the unwary and afraid, because they're easier to bully/rob.
Kathryn Baylis 2 years ago
Like a pack of predators on the hunt for prey, looking to separate the weakest and most vulnerable member from their herd and isolate them before killing and eating them. That’s how you have to think of it. You have to NOT look like potential prey to predators on the streets.
#22
If you're in a big town or a city and a group of kids surround you, keep your hands in your pockets and don't let them get behind you. Some will try to distract you while others pickpocket you.
#23
At any place where you're stationary for a period of time (e.g. bus stop) assess the area and identify all possible escape routes. Also check if there's anything nearby that you could use as a weapon to even the score. I often do the escape route thing if I'm in a waiting room like a doctors surgery, probably just because I get bored easily. I'm a people watcher too so I'm always aware of how many people are around and the energy each of them bring into the room.
#24
Don't talk to any strangers and don't let them stop you on the street. Just keep walking.
#25
1) If you have the opportunity sprint away to a public place with lots of witnesses in any sketchy situation
2) gunshots nearby (like a block or two away at most) find cover, get behind it and keep a low profile. Don't look like a threat, don't be a hero, try to find where the shots are coming from and quickly/discreetly get the f**k away
3) if you have to fight, assume you are fighting for your life. There is no honor, mfers aren't here to have an honor duel they are here to hurt you. Punch, kick, eye gouge and especially bite in a street situation with a stranger. Everyones a gangster til you bite a chunk out of them.
4) be familiar with the area. Don't go into the hoods if you aren't known there/know how to carry yourself in a rough area. After living in the projects, carrying yourself with confidence and moving with a purpose are much more valuable than tryna rep your s**t if you're not about that life. Know the best ways to get through/out of a bad neighborhood
5) don't trust street vendors (really just hustlers). The best response is "sprekenzy deutsch" or "Hablo espanol" depending on the particular hustler.
6) most importantly, mind your own f****n business
#26
Don’t cross a busy road 20ft from a crossing with a light.
Live another day.
Michael Ferretto 2 years ago
if you are here in Italy, for God's sake, look 10 times left and right before you cross the crosswalk... cars stop ONLY if they feel like it and if you have had eye contact... too many tourists are used in their countries to crossing without even looking, with the results you can imagine...
#27
ALWAYS. Be attentive to your surroundings.
The simplest, yet most important rule of them all.
Don't have headphones in, making you unable to hear anything around you.
Don't have your face up in your expensive phone, making you blind to your surroundings and showing off your easy-to-grabs.
Do, look around. Make it a habit to always look around, or look at that noise and figure out what's going on around you.
That way, you'll see those two dudes coming up to rob you, and you'll hear the third one sneaking up behind you to jump you.
Another pro-tip. Have RBF. Resting b***h face puts people off.
Most people looking to rob you are just trying to intimidate you and get you to hand over your valuables, not a fight that could land them in prison with an AWADW charge or 2nd degree murder charge.
*and if you're South American, the prisons are notoriously s**t so if you do get arrested it will be really s**t, and if you don't get arrested they kill without discretion in certain SA countries.
RBF can be the difference between looking easy and looking like a problem.
And lastly, if you DO get robbed, and you have not been killed, cooperate.
The coward pieces of s**t that kill to steal will shoot first and ask questions second. Its these F***s that make it particularly important to go back to the first rule.
ALWAYS BE ATTENTIVE TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS. You'll spot a mugging a block away, and react accordingly.
As for my credibility, I grew up in a particular South American Country. That's all you need to trust my words.
#28
Don't ever have your eyes looking down at the ground. Keep your eyes looking what's in front of you and attentive to your surroundings.
General Anaesthesia 2 years ago
Don't ever? Sorry, people have dogs and dogs poop everywhere so I have to look down too. You can do that and be aware too.
#29
Never show fear or nervousness when you’re female and alone. If a man tries to draw you in, it sounds counter-intuitive, but you’re better off being friendly and in control than hostile.
“Hey hon! I am in a damn hurry - hope you’re good!” And laugh and walk faster as you wave and smile.
- woman who travels alone and has walked some scary places at 3am
Liv 2 years ago
It has always helped me to be humane with the aggressor. Treat him nice, and without fear (think sisterly). As if you have good friends or family that are similar to his hood/gang, as if you're super used to his behaviour. If he tries to rob, F**k, me bro?! Ok, here if you need it I have 5-10€ in my purse (I rarely carry big money, if I do it's in a more secretive place, as well as my cards - and different places, separate). Of course, I have been lucky so far with the criminals that approached me. And I have followed most rules in the points above.
#30
Don’t be the person to start a fight, it’s really not worth it
What do you think ?
The Scout 2 years ago
Once again (as always with these lists) I find lots of it quite paranoid. But maybe that's just me living in the German suburbs again (nearly crime-free), so I can't really relate...
Powerful Katrinka 2 years ago
No, no, no! Not again! This seems to appear on something like a three week cycle. And it was ridiculous in the first place. Let us have no more "street smarts" lists!
The Scout 2 years ago
Once again (as always with these lists) I find lots of it quite paranoid. But maybe that's just me living in the German suburbs again (nearly crime-free), so I can't really relate...
Powerful Katrinka 2 years ago
No, no, no! Not again! This seems to appear on something like a three week cycle. And it was ridiculous in the first place. Let us have no more "street smarts" lists!
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