www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Seems there a very small minority here seem to think that being in the Army somehow makes you bulletproof or somehow more capable of handling yourself (and whattaya know, one of them happens to be my old friend Jmac...). I couldn't disagree more.

Being a military academy grad and having served 9 years in the Army should probably qualify me as being knowledgable on the subject matter...

Bullets, be it stray or intentional, kill Army people just as effectively as a civilian. Being an Army guy means jack shit in this matter. And soldiers are well known to over-do the boozing, the macho tough-guy routine, and have little-to-no advantage in the"better judgement department" over a civilian, particularly when alcohol is involved. Ask anyone who is/was a soldier, or anyone who lives close to a base... soldiers, particularly the younger ones, tend to be roudy, loud, testy, and sometimes even obnoxious when out in the nightlife scene. I know me and my friends were, and practically every soldier ever under my command was.

That being said, an Army guy, in my opinion, may just have a higher probability of finding trouble than the average joe. God knows how many times I had to get soldiers from the MP station for random acts of drunken stupidity. The number is far and away larger than than the number of altercations involving all my civilian friends combined.

I know none of that is neither here nore there, but hearing the Army thing used as some kind of factor for being able to handle oneself or avoid trouble, and especially hearing it coming from none other than idiot-boy himself, really irked me.... sorry.

And crack is still whack.

Avoid trouble as best as you can, as stated already by many on this thread, regardless of whether you are Rambo or Erkel.

Ruffnutz

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EVERYONE'S A ROCK STAR IN C.R.!!
"Just when I thought I was out... They pull me back in." -- Ruffnutz on trying to quit CRT

Not that I need to repeat this, but I will whenever one of these safety threads pops up:

Most (but not all) of the stories we hear about guys getting mugged/robbed/beaten up in San Jose USUALLY have the phrase "HE WAS REALLY DRUNK" in them. Once guys start drinking heavily, they wind up making a bunch of other mistakes that they wouldn't never do sober and their evening winds up being an anecdote in "Sexual Health, Enhancement, Security & Scams!" sub-forum.

If you don't follow any other rule and just stay sober, you have a much better chance of having a nice evening.

Of course being in the millitary doesn't make you invulnerable to bullets or anything like that. However, millitary personnel are much less likely to lose their heads in a dangerous situation, even when drunk.

The situation to me just didn't sound that dangerous. He wasn't directly confronting the guy with the gun, the chicas appeared to be genuine in their wish to have a good time. Anywhere along the way he could easily get out of a bad situation that could develop. That's just life. And it's probably a LOT safer than walking down the streets of some city in Iraq.

Huh ???? I'd love to see the statistical data to back up this "fact"!

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You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!!

Or even good logic. I think I mentioned before, I do a bit of volunteer work with returing Iraq vets. Several of these guys would be the first to admit that their military training, and certainly war experiences and associated trauma, maks them more likely to react with violence then previously.

Again, party hard, but party smart and with bros...

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I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed

I will go just about anywhere alone where many would not but number one, I don't get drunk when out cruising San Jose, Lima, SE asia places or wherever and I don't carry any more money than I expect to need. Being drunk and having too much money were the two biggest mistakes. Something bad can happen anywhere but you will be much more effective dealing with the situation if you are sober.rbc100

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In Search of Fine Kittens,
Please... Bring back the Muff

San Jose and Costa Rica are less dangerous in many ways than Atlanta where I was a robbery detective for many years. True there are people out there who will take advantage of a Gringo in a minute if the oportunity presents itself but using reasonable caution that you would use in any major American city at night will greatly minimize the risk. If you went to a bar in Atlanta at night got drunk and picked up two hookers, you would get robbed if you left alone with them. The term young and dumb comes to mind. We all did things that could have gotten us killed when we were young. Sometimes the odds caught up with us and if we were lucky we learned.

Young, Dumb, and full of Testosterone. Trained to believe they are bullet proof.