You too can be a badass if you use your street smarts.

Think you have the right to dress how you want and walk anywhere you want without people being complete assholes to you? Newsflash, not everybody in the world is going to accept you for who you are. Seriously, some people are just complete jerks and don’t give a crap about the feelings of others. The world is a fucked up place and you should act accordingly.

Story time! When I was a younger goth/punk weirdo in the late 80’s it was literally dangerous to be seen in some places in public because there was a good chance you would get jumped. If a friend or acquaintance told me that a certain place or person was not to be trusted I avoided those spaces and people. I stored the information in my head rather than ignoring it and going on my happy way thinking that everybody had to accept me. Guess what? In my 51 years I have never been jumped, for looking ‘different’ or otherwise.

What are street smarts? It is information that you use to keep yourself safe. Here are the tips I have used over the years.

  • If you are walking by yourself in public do not wear headphones or have your phone out. I guarantee that somebody will knock you down for your phone eventually if you are using it in public all of the time. Plus, how the hell are you supposed to hear somebody coming up behind you if you are listening to music?
  • Always be aware of your surroundings. Look around and keep looking.
  • Have to walk through an area by yourself in which chavs, or general idiots are hanging out? Take a different way. Those 5 or 10 minutes you lose can save your life.
  • Is your spider sense tingling? Trust it and act accordingly.
  • Make sure your friends have your back, because if they don’t they really aren’t your friends. If shit gets physical you are going to want a friend that isn’t afraid of a fight rather than somebody who is scared of their own shadow.
  • If somebody tries attacking you in pubic and you are by yourself you have two options: fight or flight. If you are too afraid to fight you need to run and make it difficult for the asshole to get to you. If you stay and don’t flee you need to fight to protect yourself. If you curl up into a ball and start crying you are making yourself into an easy target. Scratch, claw, tear and fight dirty. They have hair? Grab and pull out. Try to claw their eyes, do anything and everything until you can’t fight any more. Make it difficult for them to beat you and they may just take off because you aren’t the easy target that they thought you were.

These are all of the basic rules that I have used over the years to keep me safe. I really, really hope I have helped you and made you more aware of what to do and not do if you find yourself in a bad situation.