Kid Popped My Bike Tire

Kid Popped My Bike Tire.

2 AM, Saturday, 20th of July 2013.

Oatmeal English

As I was riding my bicycle home today at 2 AM, kids started begging me for money. I stopped to firmly reject their request. The 7 year old boy popped my back tire. After that they began yelling. They started threaten me with rocks. Motor-bikes saw this but went on by.

Does this mean that I cannot even trust the children in district Binh Thanh at 2 AM?

Unlike ·  · Share · 22 · 7 hours ago near Ho Chi Minh City · 

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• Oatmeal English and Scott Sidartha Schwartz like this.
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  Scott Sidartha Schwartz you cannot trust Anyone ANYwhere at 2 am, bro

  59 minutes ago · Like
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  Oatmeal English I want to give people a benefit of a doubt. I tried keeping my eyes open. I am not sure if my tire was popped or not. A man put more air in that tire for 2,000 VND. I was not sure if there was a hole in the inner-tube or not, but the man just pumped up my wheel. We will see if it holds.
  
  Whenever bad things happen to people, it kind of scars us and it makes us more defensive, more distant, and more careful. While it is vital to be attentive, it is also depressing.
  
  At night, I usually avoid people, but like Michael Jackson and Pee Wee Herman, I kind of have a weakness and petty wire sweet tooth for children.
  
  The children refused to accept my no. They kept on asking me. I kept on saying no to them. Grown-ups will walk away but these kids thought they could make me change my mind. 
  
  I wanted them to see that I am not that kind of person, especially if I were their parents. 
  
  Reminds me of the episode of the Simpsons where Bart & Lisa kept on asking the following question to their father, Homer, for hours strait: they would ask, "Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad? Can we have a pool, dad?"
  
  Children know that parents can be manipulated in this fashion. Sadly, it is not going to happen with me. I raised my voice to them and told them it is bad to mess with the things of other people.
  
  They briefly apologized. They said bad words to me. They asked me to leave. I told them they broke my bike. They tried stealing from my backpack. They pushed at me a few times. 
  
  A woman came from a house and asked me in English what was going on. I told her these kids were asking for money and the boy took air from my tire. She told me to go down the road to get it fixed.
  
  I decided just to slowly walk off after that. I could have told the woman, "It is 2 AM and nobody can fix my bike right now, you liar, and these kids should fix my bike because they broke it and they want money from me but they should be the ones giving me money," because the woman said specifically that I could get my bike fixed right then which was not true, but maybe she was just trying to get rid of me, or maybe she thought that the bike shops were still open, or who knows what.
  
  This whole thing is not really a big deal with me, except that I wish and hope the best for these children, and I do not want to see them take the wrong path in their lives in what they do and in how they deal with people, in how they treat people fairly or rudely as they did with me or not.

  a few seconds ago · Like