What would you do..

[ohcrap]

..if you were me? Here's my situation.

I work in an office doing paperwork and managing advertising for my parents' business. The office that I work in happens to be the bedroom of an apartment-style condo which my parents are selling (and I am the "realtor" showing people around that may be interested in buying).

The problem is that this is in a not-so-great area crimewise and there is this group of 6 or 7 kids who always hang around the area and try to talk to/shout at me, never in a threatening way, but I know what these kids are like in most cases and they are a really shady bunch. I've spent enough time in this area to know what kinds of things the kids around here are usually up to and I don't want to be part of it, especially not the victim.

Keep in mind that I am 19, a fairly good fighter, but am only one person.. I can't beat up 7 kids at once, lol.

Anyways, I am not being threatened directly, but their overall attitude and the feelings I get from them are not good at all.

Not sure what to do. I am here almost everyday and they are starting to bother me. Walking up near the building, around my car, and just hanging out on our property. My father said to leave them alone because if I tried to say "hey, leave." I'd be in for an ass-whoopin' for sure.

So what should I do? Surely no one should have to feel like this.

 

[gwuMACaddict]

what are they yelling? how old are they?

they're probably hoping to get a reaction- by ignoring them, they'll have no reason to keep bothering you

 

[efoto]

what are they yelling? how old are they?

they're probably hoping to get a reaction- by ignoring them, they'll have no reason to keep bothering you

Surely they are looking for a reaction and not giving them one is in your best interest. That said, if they truly have nothing better to do they may continually stick around and pester you to no end.
If it becomes a major problem, call the police. You are on private property (I assume) and are attempting the sale of said property which these people are hindering. I think they could send a squad-car over and at least tell the kids to scatter. That may either disperse them for good or rile them up, but either it's a step in a direction. If things get worse, then the cops will have to take over and it will be out of your hands.

 

[ohcrap]

what are they yelling? how old are they?

they're probably hoping to get a reaction- by ignoring them, they'll have no reason to keep bothering you

They are about my age.

They usually just yell things like "Hey, kid!", trying to get my attention.

Today, I got "Hey, you! How much was that car, stock?". I assumed he meant 'new', because my car is stock. I replied "Not very much at all.", laughed, got in my car and drove off. The kid just shrugged his shoulders after my response.

On a side note, I thought I might've heard another kid say something like "Dude, knock it off..." or something to the kid who was shouting to me, but that could very easily just have been my mind playing tricks on me, or just hearing what I want to hear.

 

[ohcrap]

Surely they are looking for a reaction and not giving them one is in your best interest. That said, if they truly have nothing better to do they may continually stick around and pester you to no end.
If it becomes a major problem, call the police. You are on private property (I assume) and are attempting the sale of said property which these people are hindering. I think they could send a squad-car over and at least tell the kids to scatter. That may either disperse them for good or rile them up, but either it's a step in a direction. If things get worse, then the cops will have to take over and it will be out of your hands.

I can handle being pestered. Hell, I can pester pretty well myself given I have a motive to. What I worry is that these kids are looking for real trouble, and I want no part of that.

Thanks for the input so far. I really appreciate it.

I just don't want a squad car to pull through, see nothing wrong, then leave and have those kids know for sure that they have put a little fear in me.

 

[7254278]

Call the cops. What they said isnt very aggresive but I am sure you could screw em over for loitering.

 

[iSaint]

While I would probably share a similar feeling were I in the same situation, you'll probably find if you talk to them one day they'll probably just carry on a normal conversation right along with you. Let them see your car. Talk to them about normal 19 yr old stuff. They're just bored. They might end up being protection for you.

 

[dmw007]

Calling the police is probably the best thing to do to ensure your continued safety and well-being.

That or carrying a bazooka around with you.

 

[ohcrap]

While I would probably share a similar feeling were I in the same situation, you'll probably find if you talk to them one day they'll probably just carry on a normal conversation right along with you. Let them see your car. Talk to them about normal 19 yr old stuff. They're just bored. They might end up being protection for you.

I thought about that the other day, it's just that so many kids out here are just bad. They do bad things for no apparent reason, or so it seems. I can't say all of them do, but they are from one of those schools where kids are sent to when they pull a stunt that gets them kicked out of the average public school, so whether or not they do bad things, they've done something in the past that wasn't so smart..

I'm not afraid of much, and I'm not really afraid of these kids, I'm just afraid of the fact that if they did have bad intentions, I'd be basically defenseless and I want to make the right moves to protect myself before anything happened if it ever were to.

Come to think of it, I probably know a few people they might have met being from the area and all. Worse comes to worse, I could always say "Hey, do you know such and such..".

I'm basically just curious if it would be stupid to call the police and just say "Hey, you know, a few kids out here are making me rather uncomfortable. Think you could maybe stop in once or twice a week, randomly, so they can see that this place isn't available for them to roam free?"

Just thinking out loud. Thanks for the input so far.

 

[mactastic]

You got a video camera? The one thing punks like that hate is to be caught on tape doing their shady stuff.

 

[MacDawg]

Doesn't sound like they have done anything wrong or threatening at this point, so calling the police might be premature, and could provoke them. Ignoring or being pleasant is the best course, but just keep moving. Smile a lot, and don't let them see that they are getting to you. They could be like dogs when they smell fear.

If all else fails, give them all an iPod. They'll love you.

Woof, Woof – Dawg

 

[zelmo]

If you give them reason to dislike you, you may force them into an action they might otherwise not be planning to take. Just play it cool. Don't walk by them with your head down, just walk by them. If they engage you, respond politely and briefly, but keep on moving towards your car.

Of course, that's easy to say when I'm sitting on the other side of this monitor.

 

[neocell]

I think that this is going to be a decision that you yourself will have to decide on what to do. Getting advice from people is obviously helpful, but most will have prior experiences that they are using to come to their conclusions and these experience may not be close to what you are actually experiencing. That said, if you are feeling intimidated and you fear for your safety get authorities involved, that's their job. On the other hand, once you do that, almost for sure things will get more tense and stressing. If you can ignore them great, short conversations would probably be better (like your response to the car question) as they are probably just bored or interested in you (what you think, how you'd react in a situation, if you could be an ally). As you said, you don't want to interact with them, but soft social defensive paring could keep the peace and make things go-over smoothly, until either you, or they leave or lose interest in you. My 2¢

Hope it works out

**EDIT**
agree with MacDawg and powermac666

 

[ohcrap]

Going along with what most of you have said, I think I'm doing all that I should be doing now. I have no problem talking to them or dealing with them trying to talk to me, so long as they don't approach me in any threatening way. I could easily be an ally to them if they don't feel the need to immediately treat me as an enemy or anything because I am not afraid to stand up for myself, something they will find out if they decide to act threateningly. Also, I am not hesitant to stick up for others that I feel are being treated poorly or unfairly.

Glad to see that so many of you guys think that I am acting properly toward this, I just wanted to see if anyone would be acting differently than I am, or going as far as to involve the police or something.

 

[2nyRiggz]

just chill and relax. don't even bother with them unless they try something on you. calling the cops will just add to the fire and it really dont sound like they got it in for you so just chill.

badman na fear noone.


Bless

 

[efoto]

I realize calling the cops could provoke them however it is a way to document the issues you are having and that way action will come more swiftly if something dangerous does come up. Also, if you are truly there to sell a piece of private property and these guys are always around, that is bad for business and they could be told to scat for loitering. I realize that too may piss them off, but they certainly are not helping your cause to sell....

 

[3rdpath]

Anyways, I am not being threatened directly, but their overall attitude and the feelings I get from them are not good at all.

you've gotta trust your gut on this. if you feel they're up to no good, than they probably are. i wouldn't socialize with them to get them to "friendly up"... you're better off keeping your interaction with them to a minimum-in an all-business sort of way.

i'd move your office now, why put yourself in that kind of a situation on a regular basis. i'd sell that place asap( which it sounds like you're tryring to do). if you ever reach the point that you feel its unsafe-don't go there.

and if others don't understand-don't worry. the only way you could prove the place is truly unsafe is by getting robbed, beat-up or car-jacked...and that's obviously not worth it just to prove a point.

good luck.

 

[ohcrap]

Also, if you are truly there to sell a piece of private property and these guys are always around, that is bad for business and they could be told to scat for loitering. I realize that too may piss them off, but they certainly are not helping your cause to sell....

It's kind of funny to me, people come in and look at the place and decide if they would want to live here, and no one seems to take into consideration the safety of this particular area (which isn't very good, if you've ever been to/heard of Flint).

 

[Josh]

The second they give you trouble, go out their and kick their asses!!

Seriously.

If they are bothering you, don't let them.

Go down there and if they start bothering you, with all the confidence you can muster, just take one of them out, and then turn directly to another one and do the same.

If you do this with 100% confidence, they will get scared and run.

Any dude who walks in to a group of people out numbering him, and still has the guts to start handing out ass-whoopings with confidence, is going to appear as a pretty bad dude - regardless if he could actually finish the job or not.

Trust me...it works. I'm not a big guy and I'd like to avoid fighting all together, but I learned sometimes the only way to avoid 6-7 fights at once were to take 2 on initally...the other 5 will split.

Nothing is more terrifying than confidence.

 

[efoto]

It's kind of funny to me, people come in and look at the place and decide if they would want to live here, and no one seems to take into consideration the safety of this particular area (which isn't very good, if you've ever been to/heard of Flint).

OMG ROFFLMFAO
I know all about the ghetto that is F-town, that is where my school is. Well no wonder you have loitering youths, they would never dream of finding jobs and they feel that bullying someone verbally makes them a better person, it's their version of accomplishment

I should amend this with a nice like politically correct comment about stereotypes, but f*** it, Flint doesn't deserve my keystrokes.

 

[zap2]

have a baseball bat with you, if THEY ATTACK YOU , dont threaten them with it but if you have it in your place and they attack you run away and get it and more then likly just showing them it AFTER the attack you would get them away. BUT DO NOT THREATEN THEM!! first

 

[Cfg5]

Pack some heat.

 

[ohcrap]

I should amend this with a nice like politically correct comment about stereotypes, but f*** it, Flint doesn't deserve my keystrokes.

I don't blame you.

 

[XNine]

I thought about that the other day, it's just that so many kids out here are just bad. They do bad things for no apparent reason, or so it seems. I can't say all of them do, but they are from one of those schools where kids are sent to when they pull a stunt that gets them kicked out of the average public school, so whether or not they do bad things, they've done something in the past that wasn't so smart..

I'm not afraid of much, and I'm not really afraid of these kids, I'm just afraid of the fact that if they did have bad intentions, I'd be basically defenseless and I want to make the right moves to protect myself before anything happened if it ever were to.

Come to think of it, I probably know a few people they might have met being from the area and all. Worse comes to worse, I could always say "Hey, do you know such and such..".

I'm basically just curious if it would be stupid to call the police and just say "Hey, you know, a few kids out here are making me rather uncomfortable. Think you could maybe stop in once or twice a week, randomly, so they can see that this place isn't available for them to roam free?"

Just thinking out loud. Thanks for the input so far.

Well, in my personal experience growing up with kids from the ghetto, the best way to fight, IF IT COMES DOWN TO IT, is to hit the biggest kid and hit him hard, so hard that he falls to his knees and cries. This will send a signal to the rest of them that you aren't afraid. I've rarely been in a fight I couldn't handle, whether its one on one or 4 on one. You jsut have to be quicker then the others.

I'm no Bruce Lee, but it's not hard to punch someone in the throat, kick the next one in the side of the knee than hit him in the nose, and jump on another one. Just go CRAZY!!!!!!!! Like a rabid squirrel, man.

I think its best you ignore them, callt he cops, see if they can't scatter them. If they come back and start something. Finish it. Most times you won't have time to call the cops if they're start something, so finish it. You wouldn't be in the wrong. Your one against several. A baseball bat is a good friend too.

 

[jcarm24]

Try to engage in very small, quick conversation. A quick "Sup fellas" would be a lot more productive than trying to establish dominance. You have a better chance of maintaining your well-being if you're on their good side than their bad. If you engage in a fight with them off the bat, they may come back with 10 or 12 kids that will be even more frightening. Or they may do some stuff to your car or other personal property when you're not looking. Only when they commit a crime should you get the police involved. Calling the cops preemptively would make you seem more scared and untrusting. Outreaching to them would gain you much more respect.