My son had a knife pulled on him recently.

[pnwmom]

He and his three friends, all 14 and 15, had walked over to the mall after school. They got there too early to go to the movie, so they were waiting in the park adjoining the mall. (Not a scary looking area to my innocent eyes -- in fact, I was thinking it might be nice to buy a house there.)

Anyway, they were accosted by a gang of slightly older teenage boys, who were drinking, and who challenged my son and his friends to a fight. When my son and his friends started to walk away, one of the other crowd spat on my son, and when he turned around, someone else pulled a switchblade on him. My son just kept going.

That was his first time ever of walking from school with friends the two or three miles uphill to go to the mall. Somehow I doubt that he's going to want to try that again real soon. And when he does, I'm going to be a lot more nervous than I was this time around.

By the way, the crowd of other boys spoke in accented English. If there ever was a time for me to turn Freeper, this would have been it.

[villager]

1. where was this?

(I'm a father of a mid-teen age boy, too...)

[pnwmom]

17. near the Park Place mall in Kirkland

[BlooInBloo]

30. Wow - uber rich area.

EDIT: And my 2nd fav breakfast place in the Puget Sound area.

[pnwmom]

38. Where do you like to go for breakfast?

I had thought Kirkland would be a nice place to live, with the water being so close to downtown. We're living in a much more boring area for teenagers now.

Of course, now I'm starting to see the advantage of boring.

[BlooInBloo]

55. The PP place is some kind of pancake house next to the "mall" and qfc....

... My fav place however is The Dish - between Fremont and Ballard. Best breakfast I've ever had that's not all-i-can-eat.

In general, Kirkland is a perfectly fine place to live (the Juanita/Totem Lake areas go down a bit, but not all that much). The events you describe are either an aberration, or else your kids group did something to provoke the response (not accusing - but i wasn't there).

[pnwmom]

72. My kid used to get worried if I drove five miles above the speed limit.

Believe me, he and his three friends didn't do anything to provoke the response, other than to turn down the opportunity to have a fight.

In fact, his teachers have told me that they rely on him at school as a peacemaker.

By the way, this was on a Friday afternoon - early evening and the boys witnessed a few other dust-ups in their travels, including a group of skateboarders chasing after a single boy -- something about a missing bike.

I'm going to ask some friends who live in the area. Maybe downtown Kirkland's not the peaceful place it appears to be.

[RedCappedBandit]

2. Who doesn't speak in accented english?

:shrug:

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Americans.

We ain't got no accent.

:rofl:

[pnwmom]

20. Washington natives pretty much have the "TV accent."

That is, they sound like national TV commentators.

[Lost-in-FL]

23. "TV accent"? Which one... Tony Soprano accent? 50 Cent accent? Speedy Gonzalez accent?

:shrug:

[BlooInBloo]

As hard as the idea it is to wrap your head around, and as much as you want to claim bigotry...

... The fact remains that Seattle-ish folks commonly have essentially no accent.

[Lost-in-FL]

43. You mentioned bigotry, not me...

I have never met someone from Seattle to know about their "accent" or lack thereof.

Speaking of bigotry... what an accent has to do with a crime been committed since you brought the subject?

[pnwmom]

73. In post 42 below, I've tried to explain why I mentioned

that at all.

[Lost-in-FL]

106. I finally got it

It seems a lot was going through your mind when you wrote your first post. Some things sounded odd to me and to some here. Understand that many here and me included are very sensitive to certain "words". I apologize if I was rude. Hope your kid is doing well. He did really well in that situation and I am sure he will learn a lot from that. I am sure he will be more vigilant next time around. :)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

52. Blooinbloo, everybody has an accent.

Think about it for a second.

[BlooInBloo]

57. I said the same when I moved here.

[JuniperLea]

67. I'm from Los Angeles...

And my boyfriend is from Seattle... we talk exactly the same.

But while in England, people would stop me and say, "What part of California are you from?" While visiting in Iowa, I got the same deal...

Seriously. We all have accents... we just don't hear them.

[pnwmom]

35. As I said in the post, the accent of commentators on national news.

Bland, midwestern, Walter Cronkite kind of English.

[SharonAnn]

89. That's the "Iowa" accent. Vanilla, bland, not distinctive. Like mine.

[cherokeeprogressive]

36. I always thought the same about California. You can pick us out in a crowd

because we don't have accents.

[JuniperLea]

70. Except by people in Iowa and London...

They pegged me the minute I opened my mouth... "what part of California are you from?"

[Tesha]

119. No, there are "neutral" accents.

If you don't speak "Valgirl", then a California accent is
pretty much the "neutral" American accent. And as someone
pointed out, that's pretty much the same as what you hear
in movies and on all national TV newscasts and most regional
TV newscasts.

Tesha

[Rydz777]

71. Re: accented English. I have a friend who teaches English to

foreign students in Brighton, England. A Korean girl said, "I want to learn to speak English like an American and without an accent. My friend, the teacher, said, "I have bad news for you. Everyone speaks English with an accent."

[TahitiNut]

77. accented English = "not like I speak it"

:shrug:

I've lived all over the U.S., have traveled, and have met a lot of people from a lot of places. and have an ear for accents. For some reason, I can often tell where people are from. Once, while stopping for dinner with friends in Cupertino, I was able to actually tell that our waitress was from OUTSIDE Calgary (Canada). There was something about her speech pattern that didn't seem like it was "citified." I've been able to identify people as being from Western Australia, Yorkshire (pretty easy), the northern part of London (England), northern Ontario, both northern and southern New Zealand, and so on. I really don't know how I do it. I form a mental image of a map, actually ... a little like mentally 'dowsing' for origin.

Once I was working at a bank in Detroit and there was a new clerical employee in the department. I met her as I was visiting a co-worker's cubicle. As soon as we were introduced, I said "You're from Columbus, Ohio - either Worthington or Bexley - and you went to Columbus School For Girls." For some reason, it was obvious to me. Even as I said it, I felt odd that it was obvious. She thought I was part of some practical joke on her ... since she grew up in BOTH Worthington and Bexley and went to CSG.

It's not obvious with everyone. Some people have lived in various places and have paid attention to their speech ... and it's not always clear where they grew up. I'm also not quite as clear with eastern Europeans ... although I've gotten good with Albanians.

BUt quite often I'm able to pull off what seems like a "parlor trick" ... and nail where people are from within a few miles. It seems like a parlor trick to me, too. I don't really know why it's so clear sometimes.

[pnwmom]

93. Would you have rather I said,

they all had Russian accents? Or Hispanic? Or Chinese?

What difference would that have made? The point I was trying to make, but failed, is covered at more length in post 42 below.

[TahitiNut]

107. Just what did I say that provoked that??

:eyes: (sheesh!)

[pnwmom]

109. I wasn't talking about the difference between a Seattle accent and

a New York accent, or any U.S. regional accent.

The group of kids had accents that identified them as most likely having been born in another country. I don't think the particular country is relevant, do you? And the point I was trying to make is in post 42, but I'll repeat it here.

When people feel their children are threatened, their lower instincts may kick in. Instinct can lead people to make mistakes, like judging other people as essentially different because they are superficially different.

It's easy when you lead a protected suburban or wealthy urban life to wonder how people ever can make negative judgments about people who are different from them. But if you happen to be living in a different kind of situation, where your child has frequent experience of being threatened by people who look or sound "different," I can see how the freeper mentality could resonate.

I think progressives would be stronger if we understood how it is that that mentality can appeal to people. We can only act against the Karl Roves and the Rush Limbaughs if we can understand how they can make the headway that they do.

[gollygee]

120. Generally, when someone says "accented", it means

an accent other than the most common one for that area. "Accent" is a word of relativity. What is an accent one place isn't one somewhere else.

[Big Pappa]

3. Good for your son.

Walking away obviously defused the situation. Sometimes you have to fight, but your son made an excellent decision.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

4. Turn you into?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

6. Buy him a gun.

It's a great equalizer.

[tblue]

7. "If there ever was a time for me to turn Freeper, this would have been it."??? Pls don't judge

an entire people by the actions of a few. I hate when I hear talk like that. Do what you need to do to protect your family, but please don't succumb to those base instincts. If you want peace and security, work for justice.

[pnwmom]

24. I said that it didn't.

But I can understand the kind of feelings that make people turn in that direction.

Especially when your children are threatened.

[etherealtruth]

8. How horrible

As the mother of a 13 1/2 year old daughter and an 11 year old son I really feel your pain. I must admit I am very leary about granting permission for my children to stray too far from home ... unfortunately, too far for me is often "anyplace off of our street" :(

[HereSince1628]

9. The Mayfair Mall, one of Wisconsin's finest, and not far from me, restricts teen access because of

violence. Your post makes me wonder if they've just taken their mischief to a less well monitored place.

[pnwmom]

48. That's probably true.

The irony is that when my son and his friends were sitting in the grass, eating pie, and watching a high school baseball game, a policeman came by to ask them what they were doing there! (We're eating this pie and watching this game!)

[El Supremo]

10. He should have been armed with a handgun!

Then he could have blown them all away.

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Seriously, you must have taught him good. Bueno!

[pnwmom]

41. I pointed out to him

how good it was that his group had been sharing a pie instead of sharing beer.

That could have made the situation much worse, too -- if both groups had been drinking.

[Lost-in-FL]

11. Was he an illegal immigrant? n/t

[Evergreen Emerald]

12. I am curious to know which mall

Did you call the police? It appears that the gang was looking for a fight. Your son was very lucky.

[sam sarrha]

18. probably just terrorists.. they will eventually cross the line and hurt someone, especially with

alcohol involved... and since alcohol is the worst "GateWay" drug they will end up using the knife or a gun to rob people .. there is 5 years worth of heroin out there really cheap due to the glut from Afghanistan.. where we go the hard drugs flow

[pnwmom]

31. Park Place.

I didn't call the police because my son only told me about the spitting part. He didn't tell anyone about the knife part for several days, and it seemed too late to do anything then. Also, he's very unfamiliar with the area, so I don't think he'd even be able to find his way back to the place.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

14. They're often synonymous.

[Bronyraurus]

34. I don't know

I've been to Freerepublic, and I saw some fairly open homophobia, but I didn't see any racism. I'm sure it's out there. I don't think I've seen any here. (I've seen a lot of things that people call "racism," but that's another story.)

But it seems like that's what the OP meant, because I doubt that that incident changed her mind about fiscal policy or Iraq.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

39. Sure you didn't.

:rofl:

[Bronyraurus]

46. Ha, I'm laughing with you.

See? We laugh together.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

47. "look, my gangstaz"

:rofl:

[Bronyraurus]

53. Now I really am laughing.

I'm glad we could share this joy.

You don't really think that's racist, do you?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

56. Mocking black people?

Nope, not racist at all.

:eyes:

[Bronyraurus]

65. You're an odd duck, Bornagin

And now I'm off to bed!

[sam sarrha]

21. strange how facts get twisted into baseless aquisations...

[NightWatcher]

15. flamebait

are you trying to start a race debate, immigration debate, handgun debate, or something else?

[Coexist]

69. that was my first thought.

[pnwmom]

99. I've tried to explain myself better in post 42, in case

you can spare a second thought.

[pnwmom]

103. No, I was just sharing my experience, with people I thought

might understand. I made another attempt on post 42, if it matters to you.

[MasonJar]

16. The solution is to NOT allow him to go without an adult. 14 and 15 year

olds are not mature enough to handle emergencies of this nature. They were lucky!

[pnwmom]

74. If you don't let 14 and 15 year olds walk together in what should be

a safe park next to a mall, how the heck are they ever going to be ready at age 16 to get a driver's license? Or at 18 to live on their own at college?

[AlCzervik]

19. if his accent was British or Canadian would you have felt the same way?

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

26. You could have told if they were Canadian.

Those guys always arm themselves with Tim Horton's bearclaws. Just vicious, they are. ;-)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

I wish they'd hurry up and build that wall around Canada.

I feel threatened by that syrupy menace. I'm going to go and hug my kid.

[Lost-in-FL]

29. MMMmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:9 YUUUUUUMMMMMMMO!!!

[spoony]

110. According to the commercials

they're married and buried there also, which doesn't particularly make me want to go there but whatever :P

[proud patriot]

22. as a mother this scares me

:hug: I'm going to go hug my son :hug:

[pnwmom]

95. And then make sure he has a cell phone (mine didn't)

and tell him if anyone ever demands money, hand it over!

(Although my son didn't have any with him.)

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

25. Jesus That Must Be Terrifying As A Parent. I Wish I Knew What To Tell Ya.

I'm glad he's safe and that it didn't turn out differently. I wish I knew the right advice to give you to keep it from happening again, but I'm at a loss. Hopefully the punks are few and the odds of it happening again are slim.

[pnwmom]

76. I think it was a good way for him and his friends

to learn about being cautious.

It gave me a chance to mention something I never thought to tell him before -- if someone wants your money, hand it over. (But he didn't have any, so that could have been bad.)

My son agreed with me that it could have been a disaster if he and his friends had been drinking, too. (My son isn't a drinker, but as you know, many kids of his age are messing around.)

[EFerrari]

27. I'm so sorry this happened but don't understand what an accent

has to do with it.

Einstein had an accent. So did Nelson Mandela. So does the Dalai Lama. :shrug:

[AlCzervik]

37. scary as hell no doubt but the accent thing is lost on me.

[pnwmom]

105. I tried to explain myself better in post 42.

[Bronyraurus]

42. See posts 13 and 34.

[pnwmom]

66. This is the point I was trying to make.

When people feel their children are threatened, their lower instincts may kick in. Instinct can lead people to make mistakes, like judging other people as essentially different because they are superficially different.

It's easy when you lead a protected suburban or wealthy urban life to wonder how people ever can make negative judgments about people who are different from them. But if you happen to be living in a different kind of situation, where your child has frequent experience of being threatened by people who look or sound "different," I can see how the freeper mentality could resonate.

I think progressives would be stronger if we understood how it is that that mentality can appeal to people. We can only act against the Karl Roves and the Rush Limbaughs if we can understand how they can make the headway that they do.

[EFerrari]

80. Now I get it. Sure. We all have "buttons" that make us feel vulnerable.

That's just human.

A long time ago, I decided to reach out to people in my hood that scared me (because it was about my fear, not about them). Where I live it's not accents, it's homeless people that can seem alarming (just about all of us have accents, lol).

But most of us are a check or so away from homelessness ourselves.

So, I know everyone around here, everyone. My friend in the wheel chair who sleeps on the beach; my friend who goes back and forth from downtown, a sex worker who is homeless and ill and the sweetest person in the world. My friend who is battling alcohol and sleeps in the shrubbery and avoids me when he's lost his battle for the day. :(

:hug:

edit: grammar I think

[pnwmom]

84. Thanks for taking the time to read the post.

I guess I should have not expected people to understand what I was saying without more explanation.

:hug:

[EFerrari]

87. I'm like everyone else here today, sort of stressed out and you know.

Take care of you.

[pnwmom]

102. You, too.

I really appreciate your posts by the way -- as you can see I feel pretty beaten up myself now. Oh well.

[EFerrari]

104. I don't know why we have to go through this stuff.

I hope "character building" really works. :)

:hug:

[Solon]

117. You know, I grew up in a "sheltered" suburban neighborhood...

Its like 98% white, and let me tell you something, it would explain why I hate white people(outside of family and one friend). I've had knives pulled on me, crap beaten out of me, etc. all done by people that look like be, but aren't like me at all. The only two people I could count on, outside of family, of course, was a black kid and a Filipino immigrant.

Hatred, and the so called "lower instinct" are learned behaviors, not something that is instinctive at all. If you thought "damned Spics" that's your problem, deal with it.

[pnwmom]

68. Please see my post 42, a few posts below.

[Catherine Vincent]

28. That was a smart thing that your son and his friends did.

And it's a good thing the other guys didn't push it. I rather run from danger than confront it. Did you guys contact the police in that area and tell them about the incident? I'm thinking this was a gang and didn't like your son and his friends invading their territory. Maybe the police can keep an eye out on the park to make it safe for others.

[pnwmom]

78. I didn't contact the police because my son waited several days

to tell me the gruesome details and by then he had even a vaguer idea of where he had been than on the day it had happened. (He had never been walking around there before.)

[Madspirit]

32. I am Sorry

I am sorry about your boy. I am glad he made it home safely.
Lee

[pnwmom]

83. Thank you.

FWIW, I'm getting him more protection -- a cell phone.

[lonestarnot]

33. Momma bears are freeper?

[Hekate]

64. Momma Bear -- good image for a mother who's just had her son threatened!

That ain't freeper, that's universal.

Hekate

[pnwmom]

86. I tried to explain myself better in post 42.

[LeftyMom]

40. This story's got more bounce than Dolly Parton's bra.

A switchblade?

Teenagers in an urban area drinking in a park, where god and everybody can see them and the cops probably cruise by frequently? (Back when I was a teenager, people did their drinking in somebody's house or out in the boonies to avoid getting busted.)

Where were the rest of the park users during all of this? Surely there were moms and kids and dogwalkers around- parks get used in daylight hours and right after school it'd be crowded with people.

Did anybody call the cops? Surely one of the boys had a cell phone, most teens do anymore. Surely any police response is worth mentioning. A report might even be a way to verify the incident really occurred.

What kind of accent? Did you neglect it (and any description of the assailants- all we know is that they're male, a "gang" and slightly older) to avoid being too obvious?

Are you going to tell us that they pulled out a zip gun and did some neatly choreographed dance steps next? Because this sounds like a story made up by somebody whose only exposure to fights between teenagers was watching West Side Story.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

44. LOL

Maybe they were the same group of furriner gang members that called up guy posing as american telemarketers

:thumbsup:

[NightWatcher]

45. you cant find a switchblade anymore

I call BULLSHIT

[Bronyraurus]

49. I bought one in France once.

It was awesome.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

58. Was this back when you defeated the nazis?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

50. Oh, c'mon.

They were only using switchblades because their numchucks were back in their lockers.

[LeftyMom]

51. I know!

It would be more believable if they had a gun! They're much easier to find.

[AlCzervik]

54. i carry throwing stars, they fit in to my purse much better.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

60. You can never be too safe.

Think of the children.

[AlCzervik]

61. mine are accent activated.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

62. That's neat.

I keep a melanin-seeking missle in the trunk of my car.

[AlCzervik]

63. bwwaaaaaaa.

omg.

[Nicole]

59. You can find them.

They sell them at gun shows.

:popcorn:

[murloc]

75. Completely inaccuate.

Just a few hundred miles south of OP's location, in Oregan, switchblades are 100% legal, sold and manufactured by a company called "Benchmade". Heres an example of an "switchblade" knife that you can buy today in Oregan without breaking any law whatsoever. http://www.benchmade.com/products/product_detail.aspx?model=9100

Federal law does limit the interstate commerce of them to law enforcement and one armed people. However they are complety legal in the state they were manufactured.

Nonetheless, there are dozens of internet sites that will sell and ship you a switchblade, regardless of the state you live in. As it seems this federal ban against switchblades is essentially unenforced.

[TahitiNut]

81. http://nicnac.net/

http://nicnac.net/

[pnwmom]

88. Frankly, I don't know what a switchblade is.

I just used the same word my son did, who is no knife expert either. Forgive us for our ignorance in knife terminology.

[spoony]

111. Bullshit on that

There are more kinds of automatic knives now than ever.

[RebelOne]

118. Switchblades are easily found.

A few years ago, I worked for a man who had a knife booth at our local flea market. We had lots of switchblades.

[pnwmom]

82. Thanks so much for the sympathy, leftymom.

It wasn't right after school because my son had a practice first. And then they walked the 2 or 3 miles and they had just missed a movie and had to wait for another one, so they had time to kill. Yeah, there were other people milling around (but no one close by, and the trees and bushes also restrict people's view). So? Who would pay particular attention to one group of four boys talking to another (I don't know how many in the other group). Even my son's own friends didn't see the knife come out, because they had already turned around. And the boy who was holding it was holding it down, so that you would have had to be close to see it.

My son didn't have a cell phone but you can bet I'm getting one now. He didn't actually tell his friends what happened right away, either -- he was too busy absorbing the shock.

And I didn't say what the accent was because it wasn't relevant. The point I was trying to make with that is in post 42.

[LeftyMom]

85. Yawn. Ever heard that old saw about what to do when you're in a deep hole?

Stop digging hon. We don't believe you.

[pnwmom]

90. You don't because you'd rather live in your safe little world I guess.

Where nothing bad could ever happen in a place like Kirkland.

[LeftyMom]

94. Pfft.

No, I don't believe you because I grew up in a rough neighborhood (My high school was on America's Most Wanted. Twice.) and the details ring false. Also, I think the pattern of details shared and omitted is not consistent with what a real worried mother would share in this situation. Finally, I think that the object of your post, feeling rather ugly discriminatory tendencies as a result of a threat to your child, is not consistent with concealing the nature of the trait toward which you feel those tendencies.

In short, you need a creative writing class and a better understanding of human behavior if you're to have any hope of lying well enough to fool reasonably smart people consistently.

[pnwmom]

98. Would you please read post 42?

[LeftyMom]

101. I read, FSM help me, the whole thread.

I'm standing by my opinion.

[LSK]

100. see Bowling for Columbine recently? n/t

[pnwmom]

108. I didn't see it, so I don't get the reference.

What does this have to do with what happened in that school?

[AngryOldDem]

121. NO need to defend yourself

It's amazing how some here know more than **you** do about what goes on in **your** life. Actually, speaking as another suburban mom, it's amazing how naive some people are in thinking that bad things can't happen in nice, public places in daylight.

Your kid's reaction was understandable, as was yours. I don't necessarily like kids having cell phones, but anymore I'm coming to the conclusion that they are necessary evils.

I'm glad that both you and he are okay.

[donco6]

91. When I saw who the OP was . . .

. . . well, do I really need to say more?

[LeftyMom]

96. Nope.

Read you loud and clear.

[B Calm]

116. nope

[Lint Head]

79. I have a son that age.

If that happened to him I would wait in my car with my son, as long as it took, at the very place of the incident for the stupids pricks to show up again. They do tend to return.
If my son could ID them I would call the police and demand they be charged with threatening bodily harm. I have had something like this happen to me personally and the son of bitch went to jail. Just because you are a Democrat does not mean you will not use violence or the law to defend or protect yourself. :dem:

[pnwmom]

92. The problem was my son didn't tell me what happened for several days

and it's not a place he had ever been in before. I seriously doubt he could have led me back to the place. He was having fun with his friends, not paying a whole lot of attention to his surroundings.

[spoony]

112. It's hard to tell your parents, especially your mom,

that you've had a bad run in. I'm guessing that as shaken as he was, he knew you'd be moreso :)

I find this a scary world, can't even imagine how I'd handle it with kids out there in it.

[pnwmom]

113. I think you are right.

When he first told me the story, he mentioned the spitting, and the challenge to a fight.

It was a few days before he finally told his father about the knife. He knew his dad wouldn't freak out -- probably wasn't as sure about me.

But what could I do? Keep in in his room until he turns 18? All I can think of to do differently is make sure he carries a cell phone. He hasn't been interested in having one until now.

[spoony]

114. Good idea

I didn't carry one until after an auto accident where I couldn't get in touch with family. It'll give you both peace of mind. Hang tough :)

[pnwmom]

115. Thanks, spoony.

:hi:

[ecstatic]

97. Knives don't kill, people do

Ooops... Wrong board?

:hide: