I’ve often been reprimanded by my grandfather for listening to music while I’m commuting to and from work. And like every other millennial, I’ve ignored all his warnings about how dangerous this can be. Because isn’t that what everyone does? Stick on their headphones, the size of Princess Leia’s hair buns, and walk around blasting music in their ears? But this guy’s account about how he almost lost his life is a shocking jolt we all need!
Twitter user @TheHipsterRebbe shared his story of going through the most scary experience of his life, that brought him within inches of his very possible death. All because he was listening to loud music on his headphones.
It’s a real thriller, you guys, and involves a bottle of condition, a pair of headphones and a cop.
Here’s a story about how I nearly just got killed by this cop. pic.twitter.com/3IYZFM9Ggh
— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Ziggy, as his Twitter name is, realised he’d had enough of his #WildHairDon’tCare and decided to get some conditioner to the tame that mane.
I was walking home from the gym. and realized I needed conditioner for my wild hair. pic.twitter.com/BOiMCOxAtt
— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Like every other hipster, he had his headphones on as he set out on his little shopping trip. But music wasn’t the only reason he had them on….
I was wearing my new headphones; noise canceling. Sometimes I like to shut the world out and listen to music.
They’re dark and sometimes manage to hide in my curls. This is important later. pic.twitter.com/QiBQiovwtI— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Somehow, resisting the temptation to go on a berserk shopping spree, Ziggy opted to just buy what he came for, only to find something weird in the conditioner aisle.
I looked at a couple items, like face wipes. But decided just to get her conditioner. I go to the aisle and was looking for 5 minutes before deciding on one.
I turn to go up the aisle to pay there’s a Nassau County Police officer standing there. With his weapon drawn.
— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Our boy Ziggy here couldn’t figure out what the cop was trying to do, going from one aisle to another. Until, he came back with a friend….
First he goes down another aisle. Then comes back…with another officer also with his weapon drawn.
The second officer screams at me to get on the ground. Now. I can barely hear them cuz of my headphones.— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
With his headphones still on and fear for his life clutching his heart, Ziggy raised both his hands up in the air. But the cop wanted something else….
“What is happening?!”
I raised both hands with my right still holding the conditioner.
“JUST FOLLOW MY INSTRUCTIONS!”
He shouted back.
“Put your hands on the ground and move them forward”— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Ziggy was still clueless, and the headphones added to his ignorance even more. But he remembered something similar happening to someone else.
My headphones were still blaring, I could barely hear.
“I CAN’T HEAR BECAUSE OF MY HEADPHONES. PLEASE TAKE THEM OFF. SO I CAN FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.”
All I wanted to do was follow instructions. Last thing I wanted was some mild mistake to end my life. Like with Daniel Shaver.
— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Apparently, Daniel Shaver paid dearly for his mistake while following instructions from a police officer… with his life.
When he was shot.
Daniel, was crawling when he was confronted by Mesa, Az police. He was murdered by an officer when he made a mistake while following instructions. pic.twitter.com/FmrycuOwCp— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
A small reflexive action is all it took to end his life.
I’ve watched that video a dozen times wondering if I’d make the same mistake if I were in that situation.
All Shaver did was reach back to pull his shorts up when they fell a little. A subconscious, small hand motion. He probably didn’t even think about it. And it ended his life— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Ziggy did not want to meet such an end. He weighed his options.
What if I missed an instruction because of the K-Pop blaring in my ears?
What if I reached for my ears and this rookie flinched?— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Thankfully, one of the heads of his headphones shifted a little and Ziggy could finally hear what the cop was shouting at him. Time to follow the instructions properly!
One of the ear cups must have shifted because I could hear the cop yelling. As he instructed. I got on the ground and crawled my hands forward. Kind of like Shaver.
— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
The cops handcuffed Ziggy and his headphones were finally taken off. But what happened next was something he did not expect. They let him go!
They put the bracelets on and oddly enough I felt a little safer after that. I was still screaming for them to take of my headphones which they did.
They searched my pockets and gym bag. I hadn’t taken anything so I was fine. They let me go.— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
If you’re wondering whether the story ends here, it doesn’t. Up till now, Ziggy was scared. But when he found out why the cops were after him in the first place, he got downright furious.
That’s the scary part. Here’s. The infuriating part. The clerk at the store called the police because she thought I was shop lifting.
When Nassau County PD got the call. It was for an armed robbery.— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
According to Ziggy, once the police received the call, they entered the store looking for someone with a gun. But all they found was Ziggy with a bottle of conditioner. No worries, right? But Ziggy had a different scenario in mind and it’s scary AF.
When they came in, they were looking for somebody with a gun. That’s why theirs were drawn.
The bottle of conditioner I picked out was white. What if I had picked the black bottle?
What if they had seen it wrong?— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Ziggy was asking the right questions, and even his skin colour came up which, considering the statistics on crimes against African Americans by law enforcement in the US, are quite legit.
What if my skin was darker?
What if the cops had been a little bit jumpy?— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
What would happen if this had all gone downhill? Would the real story ever emerge or would the world be privy only to a biased narrative?
If this has gone bad. I never would have told my side of the story.
Yeah, the news story would have said I was unarmed. But those four officers would have command of the narrative.— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Thank Gd nobody pulled a trigger. But I really want to know what happened. How was there such a colossal failure in communication?
— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
Ziggy’s final tweet though, highlights something far more worse. Something so plain-in-sight, so usual, that we would never think twice about it. But when you put the way Ziggy does, you realise—shit could hit the fan when you least expect it.
Listening to music on headphones so loud might not have been the smartest move, but it was almost deadly. And it shouldn’t have been.
— Beans 2: The Search for Curly’s gold✡️🔥🤦🏽♂️ (@EvelKneidel) January 3, 2018
You can laugh off the whole incident or sympathise with the guy but the fact remains that Ziggy’s story is an absolute eye ear opener!
Moral of the story: Listen to your grandparents and parents. Use your headphones wisely!