Christina Maki

So… I’ve had a bit of a rough month. You’re probably aware of this already if you’re following me on any of my other social networks, or if you’re lucky enough to know me in real life. (It’s not arrogance; I’m just well aware of my own awesomeness.)

Just in case you’re not up-to-date on my fabulous life, allow me to fill you in:

About a month ago, as I was walking home from work, I was stopped on the street by a young black man and robbed.

And he had a gun.

And he pointed it at my head.

It was the single most terrifying moment of my life. I seriously doubt it’s something I’ll ever fully overcome, and I know it’s something I’ll never forget.

For me, the worst part about the whole situation was feeling like I wasn’t in control. Those of you who know my personality can attest to the fact that I like to be in command of myself. I don’t like feeling like I’m helpless to get myself out of a bad situation. I take pride in my ability to take care of myself.

But when you throw a gun into the mix, that kind of offsets the balance of power.

However, there’s always a bright side to every situation, and I can usually find it if I look hard enough. The kid who robbed me was caught the same night he held me up, largely thanks to my über-detailed description of his face, hair, clothing, body structure, and weapon. (And that, my friends, is why you don’t fuck with an artist who has an excellent visual memory. Suck on that, robber.)

And, as an added little bonus, I learned some stuff. I feel like I would be remiss not to share these little nuggets of wisdom, so here goes.

1) Sync your iPhone often. One of the things the guy took was my iPhone. (And those of you who know me know how much that stung.) Fortunately, my business was in a position to replace it, so I had another one the very next day, but a lot of my stuff was gone. There were contacts and photos I hadn’t synced up in several weeks, and I almost lost them all. So seriously, sync your stuff at least a couple of times a week.

2) Trust your gut. Ladies, this especially applies to us. I’m not saying that to be sexist. It’s a statistical fact that women, especially women walking alone, are prime targets for violent crimes. As I was walking up to the guy on the sidewalk, I got a funny feeling about him. He totally gave me the wiggins. Why I didn’t duck into the nearest building when I got that feeling, I do not know. When I think about the fact that I could have been raped and/or killed on top of being robbed blind, it really makes me feel kinda dumb. I think it had a lot to do with him being black, and me wondering if I wasn’t just being an overly-paranoid and slightly racist Johnson County white girl. Had I acted on my instincts, though, I never would have become a victim. So if you’re about to pass someone who gives you a creepy feeling, avoid them. So you come off as racist. So what? It’s not worth laying your life on the line.

3) Always be aware of your surroundings, no matter what time of day it is or where you are. When I got robbed, it was just before 6:00 PM on a crowded street. The neighborhood isn’t great, but it was still broad daylight and end-of-day traffic was streaming by. I never in a million years would have guessed that someone would have the cajones to pull a gun on me in such a visible area. But he did. So don’t let the fact that it’s daylight or a busy area or even a good neighborhood give you a false sense of security.

4) Life is short. There were a lot of things going on in my life around this same time that were making me unhappy. When you have a gun pointed at your head, you start to analyze just how many of them are worth the trouble. I ended up making a lot of changes in the wake of this incident, and all for the better so far. In my opinion, if something is making you unhappy, you should get to work on fixing it. Don’t wait until tomorrow or next month or a year from now, because you might not have that long.

5) Being a good person totally pays off. The best part of this story is that I actually got my phone back. Apparently Mr. Robber Person wasn’t aware of the value of the phone, because he ditched it in some dude’s yard. I got a call a couple of days later after the guy went to mow his lawn and he found the thing in his grass. I can’t tell you how funny it was to see the looks on everyone’s face at the AT&T store when we went to return the replacement phone and I got to tell them I’d gotten the stolen one back. I’m a decent person, and the universe seems to respect that. So yay for good karma.

Needless to say, this whole ordeal has led me to adjust the way I do things. I’m not walking home anymore, for one. I’m also going to be looking into purchasing a stun gun for times when I do feel like walking around my neighborhood without fearing for my life.

I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to pass the place where this all went down without totally getting the creeps, or if I’ll ever be truly comfortable to be out walking alone, even in a decent neighborhood. But I made it out with my life (and my iPhone!), and I don’t really think I can ask for much more than that.