“Give me your money! Give me your money!”
I felt his grip encapsulate my arm. Numbing the whole right side of my body. His loud voice echoing in my ear still. His voice warmed by the gray mask comforting his face.
My best friend and I were mugged last weekend. It was a first experience of being robbed for both of us but one that was to come eventually in a world full of hate and crime.
We were two feet away from her apartment building entrance when we both felt his presence run after us after we walked past him. A lonely man wallowing by a tree. Possibly waiting for targets like us or impulsively deciding to do it at the moment we strolled past and saw our expensive bags in hand.
After he tried grabbing my arm to frighten me, my best friend exerted the loudest screech followed by us bolting down the street for our lives. Each of us ended up on opposite sides of the street. The man hopped on his moped. His engine roared as loud as my best friend’s scream. I felt his presence zooming after us.
We both reached the end of the block where we ran into a local deli to be laughed at by the owners who witness these types of events all the time. Then, we bolted out again toward a college security car nearby and confided for safety in the hands of a security officer and police report for the rest of the night.
The only possession the robber was able to get was my necklace. Smoothly snatched off my neck. He also grabbed the fear of life right out of me.
I find myself scared of my surroundings now. Everywhere I turn looking for someone waiting to pounce at me. Unable to sleep. Not wanting to go out when the sky is licorice dark, which tragically starts at 5 p.m. now from daylight savings.
My reflection right now isn’t meant to be an awakening of gratitude. Although I am grateful for my life, especially after that experience, I don’t wake up every day kissing the floor I walk on. This isn’t that type of story.
Rather, I think about the man behind the mask. The why behind it all. What was he robbed of?
I started to dig.
There were almost 320,000 robberies in the United States in 2017 alone, according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting Program. More than 37 percent happened on a street or highway. We were on a dimly lit street that was usually brightened by a mass of college kids from the university nearby. Except for this particular night.
Nighttime, anytime after 6 p.m., is the prime robbing time for a mugger. Their holy time. We were robbed at exactly five minutes to 9 p.m. Even areas, such as an empty subway car, are golden, according to a survey from NBC New York of hundreds of convicted robbers in New York and New Jersey state prisons.
It’s all about the mugger’s strategy. Who’s walking alone at night? Who has their hands in their pocket delaying their defense mechanism? Who can I pretend to ask the time or get directions from?
But there’s more to the mentality of a robber than just the hows and what-ifs. And I’m not the only one who is curious.
As I continued my digging online as to the psychology behind it all, a Reddit user named Insanedeath created a forum to ask, “Muggers of reddit, why did you mug someone? How did it go down? How did it feel?”
I didn’t expect to see any responses since it seems impractical for a criminal of any sort to openly talk about it online, especially in a silly little Reddit chat. However, there was one response.
Reddit user Pilluwed shared an experience of being mugged. He was a 5’4 man jumped by his mugger from behind a couple of bushes and taken to the ground with a knife as the weapon of choice against him. However, Pilluwed was undermined and came out on top with his muscular grip. To his surprise, his mugger started to cry.
Pilluwed said, “After that though he started crying. Not just a ‘boohoo! Woe is me. Have pity on me.’ He knew his life was going to be over as he had known it.”
The mugger went on to confess his life story consisting of homelessness, drug dealing, and surprisingly, helping bands play at venues. When the money from the drugs and bands faded out, his first thought was mugging. Luckily, with the help of his first mugging victim Pilluwed, he was able to serve time and get out with a job on a straight path.
I feel this is the sort of villain origin story I would expect. My best friend contemplated some other conspiracies that night we were mugged. What if the man was trying to provide for his family? Maybe he had a sick mother or was trying to buy gifts.
Yes, there are many possible reasons why criminals do what they do. Those reasons aren’t meant to make the crimes right or justify them. However, I think as a society we fall ignorant to the psychology behind the crime.
Rather, we need to focus on the trauma behind the mask to take it off.
