I didn’t share about The five times I got mugged growing up most of my life because I thought everyone had similar experiences.
I knew we spent a few years in a particularly economically depressed neighborhood. I sensed it was one of the highest-crime areas of Philadelphia. Still, most of the times happened after we moved from that neighborhood.
The time I got sucker-punched by random kids waiting for a bus was coming home from Philadelphia’s premier public high school — Philadelphia’s Stuyvesant, to compare it to a better-known school. It was broad daylight.
What fraction of people get mugged? I thought it was a part of growing up. I thought everyone got mugged at least once, maybe not at knife point, but at all. I thought at least a lot of people got sucker-punched or threatened with a stone or wrench waved in their faces by the leader of a gang of kids.
I’ve asked people lately and have been surprised to hear answers like 5%. I thought nearly 100%. That’s a big mis-calibration.
Have you been mugged? I’m trying to get a feel for what’s common. And how to make sense of these experiences.
Dude, are you joking? Not only have I never been mugged, I don’t recall anyone I KNEW ever being mugged. This is in the Midwest (obviously).
Midwest/Appalachia.
Not joking. My parents’ divorce led to challenging times. Obviously I didn’t ask for any of it. I don’t think I did anything to attract it happening, which is why I thought it was normal. As I said, maybe not with a knife, but something similar.