And thank God you came out relatively unscathed. It could easily have gone very badly.

For a long time, that was the only cash I ever carried…

My wife is planning to get a carry permit. I think we’ll move from planning to action.

I’m late in noting it, but I’m glad you’re okay, Neil.

The song though? Don’t remember at all. Basically the second that car started screeching to a stop, I pulled out the earbuds, leting the headphones rest on on my neck and shoulders, and the music was the furthest thing from my mind obviously.

As for the rest, yeah. I do wish I were in a state not so anti-gun ownership rights…

Whatever song you were listening to on your iPod when this happened, I don’t care how much you like it or how important it was in your life up until this point:

DELETE THAT SONG.

In the fullness of time, I think you should consider the advice of some of the people in this thread and do something for yourself: acquire a license to carry and think about arming yourself with more than headphones. The people who did this to you today obviously didn’t know or care how precious and important your life is to you and to us — and they didn’t care about anyone else’s, either.

I’m really relieved that you’re OK and I hope you’ll take a few days and think about it once the adrenaline wears off.

against the desires of every bone in my body, I have to go buy a wireless phone

I share your sentiments 100% on cell phones. I despise the idea of being interruptible by the phone 24/7. I leave mine turned off most of the time, except when I need to be on call for work or otherwise expecting a call. Even turned off though, I have gotten into the habit of carrying it as a portable phone booth.

At any rate, I agree that the more armed peaceful citizens we have, the better. And the more of us that know some self-defense techniques, the better. Think what you will, but in this mind of mine the thought of Neil’s three attackers incurring some broken boneage is a pleasant one indeed. That’s in addition to felony convictions and prison time. (Or deportation if applicable)

Good quick-thinking Neil. Glad there is no physical harm done, and hopefully the other victims fared almost as well.

It doesn’t work to tell criminals what they can’t do — if it did, they wouldn’t be criminals. We -have- proven that telling law-abiding citizens what they can do does work. Astonishing, right?

I have been involved in self-defense & personal security for a while, teaching unarmed & improvised weapon security. The “Dirty Harry” .44 magnum is a definite deterrent, though more difficult to carry concealed. I’d recommend that everyone get some education on self-defense for such situations. Of course, I have to say, the best situation is the one avoided. Sometimes one cannot avoid these situations, & one needs to be prepared. One does not need to be a black belt, however one can learn techniques to halt such an attack.