Pulled a knife on a guy who tried to light me on fire tonight...

a reply to: ignorant_ape

Poor fella...Just looking for some love...

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
Sometimes choices are hard. They really are. But you have a choice.

You can choose to be homeless, live in a van, draw manga and blog on the interwebs,....or you can choose to rise up.

You've shown your talent here. And, that's why I'm being rough with you. You're better than that!

Perhaps you have to set some of the "fun stuff" aside for a while and pay the bills, get a stable place to live, pay the rent...you know the drill.

Living homeless in a van might be okay now, at 25 (or however old you are), but I can guarantee you that's not going to be a good life at 50!

And then what, all that talent wasted. All those ideas adled. No one cares anymore. What then?

You're not getting out of the hood with manga, not getting out of the hood with blogs, instagram or anything else. What's going to get you out of the hood is...a JOB! just a plain ol' job! Starving artists anymore....are just...starving. There's no romance in being a "starving artist". Van Halen is old now. Aerosmith too.

It's kinda ironic that you bring all this up. There are a lot of reasons I'm stuck in this situation, but admittedly, one of them involves my books & mangas. My parents were both talented in the same way, but life completely crippled them. They got swept away in the chaos of financial demands, 9-5 jobs, taking each other to court, lots of crap. As a result, their talents went to waste and they never created anything.

But I can't imagine living without my stories. If not for these worlds I escape into, I would've gone mad by now. It seems presumptuous of me to think I'm 'above it all' when it comes to jobs and such, but I can't stand the thought of becoming swept away in monotony and life drama the way they were. My stories would die and I wouldn't have published six books in the past year.

I'll move on when the time comes. But for now, this is simpler, and I will at least have my stories told before I die. I need that much, if nothing else.

a reply to: XxKonspiracyxX

So there you sit, in some bar, some hallway, someplace with WiFi. There you move from one place to another, nowhere to go. All that talent...wasted. Just sitting there, on the street.

I have a song for you...

(turn you headphones loud for this one)

Now, you're young so you might not have ever heard of the band, Blackfoot, which I just posted for you, but...the voice may seem familiar. There's a reason why. Ricky Medlocke was a member of Lynyrd Skynyrd back in the day. One of the original members. And, Ronnie Van Zant died that night...before anyone even knew who he was!

Not gonna defend the guy but I have pretty much never gone to a bar in my life for the sole reason that I don't like to be around people who are drinking/drunk. If I wanted to be left alone, I guess I'd go to a coffee shop or something (assuming you're looking for free wifi).

Obviously the dude was wrong to do what he did. An actual knife was probably over the top (LOL) but admittedly, I don't have a better suggestion. Other than maybe just walking away and telling the staff this guy was bothering you. If they were any kind of decent people they'd ask him to leave.

a reply to: RandomPerson

On this? I'd say it's all on you. A drunk had a lighter w nothing to accelerate it...and you pull out a knife.

Mind you...I have a CPL license and carry everywhere everyday...but a lighter?!! You couldve leveled the drunk with a drink, chair etc.

Even in self defense...you have choices...make the wrong one here...and you could go to jail...whereas force, need and ability denotes reaction...force should only be equal to force needed to stop the threat.

Your threat was a cigarette lighter....I'd a left my firearm holstered...punched, kicked, or slammed him on the head with a book, laptop etc...

Remember...a knife against a lighter...in a bar...with a drunk.

*I wrote a 600 pg bio in restauraunt..but a BAR?? !!!! :0 ;/

P.P.S. For gosh sakes...stay safe!

a reply to: XxKonspiracyxX

Wow, great story.. what are you 11? Who goes to a bar to concentrate? I think you're practicing your projections.

Long thread going on here, but I noticed that no one has stated the obvious.

When you brandish a weapon, even if you have a CCW permit and all you do is show that you are armed, esp. when there is no provable threat of imminent danger to your life, you have committed a felony assault. That means fines and jail time if found guilty. That is a hell of a personal risk when you are homeless and have no means for legal defense, like a well paid lawyer, or health insurance if you need medical attention had things gone terribly wrong. It may however insure you get three hots and a cot though.

Self defense is hard to justify in the courts and varies by state. The move you made to defend yourself, as effective as it was in that particular situation, was reactionary and certainly not the safest from the perspective of the likelihood of having it escalate into causing physical harm (to yourself and drunk touchy guy) as well as the legal and financial problems that could result from it. It wasn't a well thought out move that many people here see as at the best ignorant and worst down right stupid.

I do appreciate the fact that you weren't willing to take any crap from drunk perverts and were ready to defend yourself and put this clown in his place, good for you. But it could have gone down really badly for a number of people besides you and that drunk idiot. I hope you give some deep consideration to your actions in the future before you pull a knife for any reason, the consequences could be severe and even get you killed.

PS, I truly hope your situation gets better for you and you don't have to live like that anymore.

Should have stabbed him!!

originally posted by: Duvi0010
Should have stabbed him!!

...in the face with a soldering iron!

Sounds like a fake story

has headache. trying to get work done. has anxiety. doesn't like people. hates being interrupted.

Goes to a busy noisy bar on a Friday night to do work on a lap top.

Seems legit....

a reply to: XxKonspiracyxX

I love everything about this story. All of it. BEST ATS THREAD OF THE MONTH.

Who goes to a bar to try to get some writing done?

I can't even imagine that.

a reply to: Duvi0010

I wonder how many previous girls have done that, but we never get to hear about it as they usually get arrested and thus can't post such a ridiculous story online.....

originally posted by: Lysergic
2. If you're going to light someone on fire, get a better lighter, and possibly some propellant. Plan Ahead

Flamethrower: two pandas, one stone

a reply to: poncho1982

Been there. It works when I've wanted a "Bukowski" effect. Downside: my life was bad.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

I’m not the person in this story, I just replied to it :p

I agree, though. The knife was overkill. I sincerely doubt the dude would have flicked his lighter at her if she just forcefully said “back off!”

Most of the recent replies here are speaking of the OP solely and not the update I posted on page 7. More details were revealed and I am not about to type out another novella on the issue.

Please read the update on page seven before you accuse me of lying or assault.

originally posted by: XxKonspiracyxX
Most of the recent replies here are speaking of the OP solely and not the update I posted on page 7. More details were revealed and I am not about to type out another novella on the issue.

Please read the update on page seven before you accuse me of lying or assault.

Here is the law in Nevada on Assault, it is similar to the law in Michigan where I live.

Assault in Nevada is an attempt to cause physical injury to another person – for instance, attempting to strike someone with a hand or object, and missing. Assault is also any intentional act or threat of action that reasonably causes a person to feel afraid of impending violence. Words alone do not constitute an assault. If, however, an offender also takes some sort of menacing action, such as stepping toward the victim or raising a fist, the offender has committed an assault.

An assault committed with a deadly weapon is a Category B felony in Nevada, punishable by one to six years in prison, a fine up to $5,000, or both.

Looks like you could have a minimum of one year in prison and as much as a $5,000 fine for what you did to touchy drunk guy. I'm not trying to be a dick about this, but I was on a jury in a similar case and the accused was found guilty of felony assault. I'm really trying to give you some sound advice about brandishing a weapon and want you to be aware of this before you get in legal trouble or worse.

ETA: Also, I'd say you made a big mistake posting the incident on ATS. You basically just confessed to felonious assault and what you wrote could be used against you if touchy drunk guy takes you to court. If you had stabbed him, it would have been attempted murder, thank goodness you didn't do that. Please reconsider carrying that knife if you think it's OK to brandish it.