Strong on Defense

May 5 of this year, the night before my flight back to the Philippines, I was held up at gunpoint.

From my 3 month stay in the US, I was able to pull together enough pasalubongs for workers and relatives but could not fit them in the 2 medium size balkibayan boxes I had previously bought. So I went for a last minute search for larger boxes at the oriental store in Richmond, CA. To no success, I walked back to the SUV as I began to mentally sort out which of my things I shall leave behind.

As soon as I was getting ready to put the keys in the ignition of the SUV, a kid of about late teens to early 20's opened the door at the driver side and said "Give me your purse!". I turned to look at him and saw that he had a gun in his hand. Many things ran through my head -- "If I am to die, perhaps the Lord has already prepared me for death"... "Oh man, is this real? This never happens to me"..."Gosh, this kid is so young. He is ruining his life"... "I wonder if this kid is a Filipino"...

With everything running through my head the words that came out of my mouth were the ridiculing toned, "I'm not gonna give you my purse."

He replied with a stronger "Give me your purse!"

Still with alot of thoughts running through my head, "Hmm, what do I have in my purse"'... "I wonder if I can grab the gun from this kid"... "Is anyone coming over, maybe I can cry out for help"... I was able to muster a reply of "Are you kidding me?"

He said, "You're not gonna give me your purse?" and started cocking the gun.

I replied with, "Okay, okay. But I'm not gonna give you my purse, nor my wallet, cause I'm gonna need my license to drive away from here. I'll just give you my money." I took my wallet from my purse and grabbed all the cash and handed them over to him.

Perhaps our back and forth exchanges took too long because he did not bother to complain that he only got $30.00 out of all that and began to walk away towards his get-away car.

As soon as he walked away, I got off to get a good look at the driver and the get-away car's license plate. They sped off and I ran to the nearest group of people whom I borrowed a cellphone from to call 911.

The cops arrived within 5 minutes from my call and I was able to leave a statement. I am actually laughing at the fact that those kids were only able to get $30.00 from me. I did not feel traumatized nor stressed out. I just felt bullied. But everyone says I was really lucky because they could have gotten the car, my purse, my wallet or my life. But no, they got just $30.00.

So allow me to share this to everyone. Make it a habit to:

1.) Lock your car doors the very second you get in your car.
2.) Keep your cellphone charged at all times.
3.) Keep on defense at all times -- Keep your purse in front of you. Park closest to the entrance as possible. Avoid dark places especially when you are alone.
4.) Keep in touch with your Gut feel -- If you feel that you are being followed, walk back and inconvenience yourself to find someone else to walk with. Be conscious of what is happening around you.

One more thing, this experience reminded me of a book an ex-boyfriend insisted I read, "Strong on Defense" by Sanford Strong. This book is about rules for survival from a crime scene. As soon as I had the chance, I opened the book again and I am finally reading it now.