So I get of the train to go home tonight, ride down the ramp that leads to the street and I come across a group of drunk guys. They ask me to let them have a go at my unicycle and I let them all have a go, while chatting to them about unicycling in general and what I do. We’re all having a pretty good time about it and they’re all saying things like ‘wow, you’re a legend’ and whatnot. I say my good byes and start to ride away when all of a sudden BAM! I’m on the ground. One of them had literally kicked the wheel from underneath me, I’ve hit the ground hard and I’ve cut up my hands and torn my knees a bit, but they, like drunks anywhere, just laugh. I tell them off and walk away, and the last thing I hear from one of them is ‘that’ll teach you not to talk to strangers you ****!’
I considered that, I actually ran into the police near my house, but I decided against it. Wasn’t worth the hassle. Plus knowing the type of druks they were they’d probably want to get me worse next time.
Being that alcohol is cheap, legal, and widely available, this is hard to do if you ever want to leave your house.
There are stories in the news of bus drivers, policemen and other public servants who are working while under the influence.
Drunks are everywhere.
What’s the solution? It certainly isn’t prohibition (see: Al Capone). It certainly isn’t harsher enforcement or punishment (see: unconstitutional sobriety checkpoints).
I was in court one time to fight a traffic ticket (which was dismissed luckily) and I overheard the conversation between the lawyer and his client next to me waiting. It turns out that he had 2 previous DUIs and this was his 3rd charge. His punishment would probably be a suspended liscense and a fine.
One DUI should be cause enough to have your liscense and privelege of driving taken away. Everyone wants to defend motorists all the time and make their punishment for breaking the law less harsh. I don’t understand why. Aggressive drivers, drunk drivers, and people who speed excessively and dangerously should be held accountable for their actions.
There was a law passed in Virginia recently raising the fee for reckless driving and everyone went ballistic. Everyone screamed “unfair” and tried to point to the fact that it only applied VA drivers, not drivers from other states. It was a very unpopular law that unfortunately no one wanted to be associated with, so it got thrown away.
Once I was pulled over at 3am on Friday night for a busted headlight. The cop was not condescending at all to me (like a lot of cops seem to be sometimes towards younger adults) and simply told me that my headlight was out and that since I did not look drunk at all he would simply write me a warning. He explained later that he was really just trying to get the drunks off the road and normally wouldn’t pull someone over for a busted headlight.
It’s a difficult situation,and this is why I avoid riding in towns late at night.
But even doing that won’t keep you out of the way of drunks.
I remember riding around the path of my my local lake on a warm summer day.
I passed three youths, about 17 or 18 years old, shorts, no shirts, beer cans in hand.
I had my headphones on and my miniature music machine playing, but even over that I could hear them laughing and shouting and swearing at me as I rode past.
I let it go and carried on.
Unfortunately my loop soon brought me around to them again.
This time I clicked off my music to hear what they said.
Every other word was a profanity, and one of them lobbed a can at me.
I was thirty yards past them when one of them made the most awful remark about my mother.
Now I’m a pretty easy going guy, but there’s only so much I can take.
I stopped and dismounted.
I threw my uni onto the grass bank beside the path.
I turned around and started walking back to them.
As I walked I took my gloves off and threw them to one side.
My walk got faster and faster and their laughing stopped.
I knew which one had made the comment and I targeted him.
He was in the centre, with a friend either side.
He must have realised he was in trouble because he started moving backwards slowly.
My walk turned into a run, all the time me staring at him.
As my run turned to a sprint he turned and fled for his life.
I reached his friends and ran between them as if they weren’t there.
Unfortunately the little sh*t was faster than me and fled into the nearby woods.
Which is probably a good thing because I really have no idea what I would have done if I’d caught him.
When I realised he’d got away from me I turned and walked back to my uni, passing between his friends again.
“Your mate’s a big coward.” I said as I walked between them.
They didn’t say a word, they just looked down at the floor.
I picked up my gloves, remounted and rode off.
I hardly believe such a confrontation is as difficult to avoid as you portray it to be.
The Original Poster says he spent time chatting with them and letting them try his unicycle, even going as far as to say they where all having a good time with it.
Obviously just asking for trouble, even though he might not have realized it at the time.
Seems to me the whole situation could have been avoided right from the start if he would have simply ignored them and gone the other direction. Wouldn’t you agree?
I would say that the likelihood of confrontation was high from the moment they decided to approach him. People will often see a brushoff as an affront as well.
