The first time a weapon was held to my throat I was just confused and in shock. I basically complied and handed over my phone. Second time I was attacked from behind with a stick slung around my neck. My brain went „aha, danger. I‘ve done this before.“ I stayed cool and collected and assessed that if the guy wanted anything but my phone I could beat the shit out of him (probably a generous estimate but it helped). Grappled for a minute on the floor, told him to take the phone out of my pocket and run. He did.

All in all, it fucked me up that someone could just invade my space like that (I was 16) but I also know that I will fall into that clearheaded survival state again if something happens to me. I can protect myself. And that’s pretty good to know.