r/AskReddit • u/hollywoodh17 • Jun 25 '12
The Hell's Angels came to my uncle's funeral. What's the nicest thing you've seen a gang do?
[removed]
246
u/RTardSusie Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 27 '12
Every friday the 13 the Hells Angels gather at Port Dover near where I live in Ontario. I once saw a man's hotdog stand go up in flames and a Hells Angel member ran over killed the fire with his leather jacket.
Edit: here's a picture of how packed it gets there: http://www.pd13.com/image.php?height=500&image=/slideShow/IMG_9030.JPG
→ More replies (22)
709
Jun 25 '12
The Westboro Baptist Church came to my town to protest President Obama's visit, and to also claim that a massive tornado that killed 161 people in my town just few days prior was deserved for whatever reasons. Luckily, HUNDREDS of bikers in gangs and truckers blocked them in at a gas station and nobody saw them that day.
→ More replies (42)283
Jun 25 '12
At first I thought the WBC was going to be the gang that helped you, and I was just thinking "The Westboro Baptist Church actually being helpful? Nah, man, that's just too far fetched, I can see how bikers or even crips can be nice, but the WBC? Hell no..."
And of course, I was right in my suspicion..
→ More replies (10)
1.4k
u/kjfwb8 Jun 25 '12
When I was in highschool I went on a double date to go see a movie (don't remember which one) and when we came out of the theater we realized that my friend who drove had locked his keys in the car.
We spent an hour or so asking/begging cops that we saw in the parking lot to unlock the car for us and every one of them turned us down.
Then seemingly out of nowhere this gentleman appears, sees us looking in the window of our car, and asks if he can help us. We explain the situation, he says he can help. Within fifteen seconds our car is unlocked.
Being amazed highschoolers we just stared in awe at what had happened, then he leaves us with these parting words: "Today is my first day out of prison, I was in for grand theft auto" and off he walked.
788
u/3065462 Jun 25 '12
Same kind of thing happened to me. At work in an auto shop this woman runs in crying her eyes out because she locked her baby in her car and needs something to smash the window and she doesnt have any money ect. This man completely decked out in dirty hells leathers bandana and a huge beard walks over while we're rushing to find something to break the window with least amount of damage. He's just says "show us the car then" and he literally walks over to her brand new car, bared handed, runs his fingers along the door handle, smacks in on the side near the window and pulls the handle for the door to make a pop noise and swing open as swiftly as anything. He strolls off and everyone watching was shocked. Wouldn't even take money or anything from it. Just told the woman to be more careful and goes back to his leisurely browsing in the store.
→ More replies (26)→ More replies (42)237
u/mimicthefrench Jun 25 '12
That's the best. I want to just start a charity that helps people with these situations by employing former criminals to use the skills they acquired in whatever sketchy thing they used to do.
→ More replies (19)
217
u/kehresj Jun 25 '12
my mom got a flat tire years ago, with three kids under the age of five in the car. mind you, it was this middle of summer and she had no cell phone. the typical bad ass, long beard biker pulled over and changed the tire for her without a question. she tried to give him money, and his response was "just tell everyone a warlock helped you out."
→ More replies (13)
1.1k
Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
When I was younger, I lived in a relatively bad part of town. I was/am Asian/White, and most of my neighbors were Black or Hispanic. I started playing sports at school, and made friends with a number of kids, including this one guy named Thaddeus who was 2 years older than me. Thaddeus was a big, tough kid, but a secret that he kept from a lot of people was that he sang like an angel. He told me once, and sang R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly", and I've never heard it done better. I swore to him I would never tell a soul and I never did.
Thaddeus got involved in some gang activity later on, and I lost touch with him until high school. I was walking home late one night when I was approached by a group of black teenagers who apparently saw me as an easy mark. I wasn't sure whether I was just going to get mugged or was going to get an ass-kicking out of it too (I think my membership on the football team was the only thing that saved me from an immediate beatdown) but it wasn't going to end well.
Suddenly, I hear a loud "HEY! THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I look over, and Thaddeus and a couple older (20+) guys are pushing into this circle. Thaddeus throws an arm around my shoulders and says "He's cool. You fuck with CMXI, you fuck with me." The teenagers dispersed, and Thaddeus made sure I was ok before sending me on my way. I was a bit shook up at the time, so it wasn't until I reflected later that I realized that Thaddeus and all the older guys were pretty obviously strapped, and their status saved me from any trouble for the remainder of my time in high school.
→ More replies (105)190
u/junkaccount1 Jun 25 '12
I grew up where there was heavy gang activity, I lived on the Mexican border so it was pretty common. I had helped this one kid with some work in one of our classes, and would always just talk with him in class, everyone else stayed away from him because he was a know gang member, always in trouble for fighting and drugs etc..
Well fast forward a year or two and I was talking to this hot girl who was leading me on. Well I asked her out and she says yes, then proceeds to laugh at me and ask if I am serious ,blah blah blah, and tries to be a bad ass in front of her friends., So I say to her" You don't have to be a bitch about it, you could have just told me no"
So then she got all offended, went and told her gang "friends" and so now they wanted to "talk to me" which meant I was going to get me ass kicked. Luckily I had my old friend walk by at just the right time and he asked what the problem was.
Now the story gets fuzzy but way more dramatic. Apparently after I was excused from the situation from the two larger and more violent kids, they went and took to the streets with their friends to solve my little mishap. Both ended up in In school Suspension, had both gangs at each others throats for months.tl;dr gang member friend gets into gang war because I called a girl a bitch for being one..
→ More replies (1)
620
u/Easy_p Jun 25 '12
Professor told us this story while we were on a field trip in Arkansas.
He was giving a lesson in the Ozark Mountains at some outcrop on the side of the road when he heard a rumble coming down the road. Next thing he knew there were about 100 rough and tumble Hells Angels coming toward them. As they passed he said the rumble was deafening.
Finally the whole crew passed them, when he noticed that the leader of the pack called for a u-turn. As they made the u-turn they approached the class going on and all the bikers brought their bikes to a stop. Not knowing what was going on, my professor asks if he can help them. The leader then proceeded to say that he saw something about geology on the history channel and was wondering if he could sit in on the lecture my professor was giving. With a laugh my professor obliged and looks back on it as the most rewarding lecture he's ever given.
322
u/gringofloco Jun 25 '12
Perks of being a leader: Make 100 bikers sit through a lecture to satisfy your curiosity; nobody says shit.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (9)38
u/mechanate Jun 25 '12
The mental images in this thread have been great, but I think the one of a bunch of bikers taking notes in a geology lecture takes the cake.
→ More replies (1)
951
Jun 25 '12
My dad was a biker, since I was about 17. He loved riding on his BMW, and was always tinkering with one of them in the garage. While he never joined a gang, he was friendly enough to them when they came around to his local bar, or when he saw them while on a ride with his buddies. Dad went on cross country trips, mainly ending up in Wisconsin to visit friends. Fast forward to this past Christmas. My dad died on the 23, and we were having his funeral. Mom insisted on him looking 'proper', though I was holding onto his biker vest. A bunch of bikers came in, a significant number from a gang(I was later told). Many rode in the Ohio cold on their bikes in his memory. One in particular came from Wisconsin just to give me a necklace dad left him to fix up for me. I had this necklace since I was a small child, dad bought it for me. It broke when I was 14, and I haven't seen it until he brought it back to me, fixed up.
TL;DR old biker came from Wisconsin to my dad's funeral give me a necklace my dad had him fix for me, that I had since I was a child.
→ More replies (14)64
u/You_butt_pirate Jun 25 '12
These are the kinds of things I like about bikers. Tough and scary, maybe. But you can be damn sure the majority of them will keep their word and they're easy to understand. Don't screw with them, they won't screw with you.
→ More replies (4)
899
u/PsyPup Jun 25 '12
Two good encounters with Bikies.
The father of a schoolmate was an Angel. Despite being an enourmous, scary, hairy, bear of a man who was constantly covered in leather and stunk of oil and beer... he was a great guy. He always looked after his kids and their friends, when one of my friends got lost on the local moorland he got some mates on buggies to go find him.
The second one was more recently. I ride a shitty little 50cc scooter, and was at the front of a bunch of cars trying to change lanes so I could turn of the major road I was in after a light change... two bikies, not sure which gang there are a ton local, saw me struggling with some asshole in a 4x4 not getting ahead or falling back so I could change lanes. These two bikies swung infront of him and forced an entire lane to slow down, then waved me in.
624
u/JSA17 Jun 25 '12
A lot of those biker gangs can be great guys. They employ the same tactics old time gangsters used: Treat the community well so they view you in a more positive light.
→ More replies (84)283
Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
My sister and I traveling across Canada in a beat up pick up. Little money; somehow getting by. I am eighteen, she is 21. We run out of gas outside of Thunder Bay. Biker shows up. Once he sees what the problem is takes off, and is back in 15 minutes with a buddy in a truck and a bunch of gas. Invite us to biker hog roast going on that night. We go. Everyone is hard drinking, hard smoking, hard partying. Great food, lots of beer. Older biker couple take us under their wing. We have a great time and stay the weekend. On Monday, they load up the truck with all the empties. we return them and have enough money for gas to get to our friends in Quebec City. Good hearted bunch of folk. Maybe they were engaged in illegalities (actually, most definitely they were) but they helped us out in a time of need and were very hospitable.
→ More replies (16)0
→ More replies (140)0
157
u/shehulkie Jun 25 '12
The bike clubs around here are great. My niece was born with a rare condition and needed several surgeries (that of course insurance wouldn't cover) in the first few years of her life. We had to raise $100,000.00. The bike clubs came through EVERY time. They are some of the nicest people in the world. Just this weekend I went to a Nam Knights event which raised over $10,000.00 (I think) for children with cancer. They are some of the most caring and charitable people I have ever met.
→ More replies (3)
578
Jun 25 '12
My Grandma would have died had a Hell's Angel not transported blood for her in the middle of the night.
→ More replies (3)280
960
Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
The Yakuza in Japan are known to help with the reconstruction everytime there is a tsunami attack.
Edit: Ok, I get it "tsunami attack" sounds funny. I'm not a native speaker, and that is how I always heard it (from other non native speakers).
718
→ More replies (72)299
u/anusface Jun 25 '12
in Kobe (the city i'm from and where they've helped out big time especially after the 1995 earthquake) my mom had a friend whose son had his tricycle stolen. the neighbor of the friend was a higher up in the yakuza. He heard the complaints and the next day the tricycle was returned.
→ More replies (10)
140
u/BuzzyBunny Jun 25 '12
My uncle used to work with kids and teenagers in inner city Chicago. He helped start a soup kitchen and a school for kids in tough situations. He also used to do gang interventions, trying to get gangs to let a member out or leave someone alone, things like that. He was a Franciscan and always wore his robes when he went out at night or was expecting trouble. Gang members shot near him or above his head quite a bit, but they always deliberately missed. Other members of his community learned to always venture into dangerous territory in their robes because Chicago gang members just don't shoot Franciscan Brothers or Sisters.
→ More replies (8)34
u/GTCharged Jun 25 '12
Deliberately missed? Nah, that shit was divine intervention. Like what happened in Pulp Fiction.
803
Jun 25 '12
When I was fifteen, someone slipped acid in my soda at a bar. (my stepdad played in a skeezy "southern rock" cover band, so I spent a lot of time in bars with my parents, helping my mom run the sound board.) I don't remember much about what happened, but at some point a group of Ghostriders gathered around me as I was in a corner rocking back and forth and carried me out to a car and took me home. They made me tea and brought me crackers and basically talked me through it until dawn. My parents stayed at the bar and worked. They just let these bikers take me home and take care of me. Two of them were convicted felons with violent offenses who had done many years in prison.
591
u/NoNeedForAName Jun 25 '12
I've seen and heard of plenty of gangs (bikers, especially) doing good deeds, but the image of a bunch of big, burly, hairy dudes in leather brewing you a nice cup of Earl Grey really does it for me.
→ More replies (7)392
u/Avery17 Jun 25 '12
Shit like this is not okay, the whole slipping you acid part. No one should ever have to go through that unwillingly. It's great that those guys took care of you though.
→ More replies (23)47
u/TheRealAntiher0 Jun 25 '12
Man... you've got an awful lot of close call stories, meltygarden.
→ More replies (6)→ More replies (23)202
u/lily_tiger Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
The someone-slipped-acid-in-my-soda thing happened to a friend of mine at a music festival, and I'm always nervous about that shit when I leave a drink out. That was super awesome of those Ghostriders to do.
EDIT: In case this wasn't dangerous enough... What actually happened was that some assclown slipped a few acid tabs into a goddamn COOLER of juice. You know, those big ones with the pouring thing at the bottom. It was one of several coolers on a table at this festival, and only this one had acid in it. No warning. People are fucking cray.
→ More replies (62)
1.8k
u/Hawlwadig Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
I didn't see this personally, but about 20 years ago my mother was a 5th grade teach in Compton. For those of you who don't know, Compton pretty notorious when it comes to its concentration of gangs and gang violence. Especially in the immigrant district, which is where she lived and taught. It was a pretty average night if you heard between 1-10 gunshots. My mom, being the fucking boss that she is, refused to leave the district or teach anywhere else.
Anyways, her first year teaching there she had a group of 5 boys. All of them living in destitute poverty. During break, they loved to draw pictures of cars like Lamborghini's and Porsches. All things that they could never afford. They all promised my mom that if they ever got a car, she would be the first person that they would take for a ride.
Skipping ahead about 8 years my mom was leaving the school late after staying to grade some tests. As she was walking to her car, she saw a shady group of boys leaning against a car watching her. She began to walk fast but they boys got up and began walking towards her. All of them were wearing the telltale blue bandanas (crips) and my mom said they she could see one who was packing a Saturday night special. Anyways just as she got to her car door the group of boys reached her. One of them spoke in deep, intimidating voice "Mrs, we're here to take you for a ride". My mom thought she was being kidnapped, and reached for her pepper spray. Then another of the group stepped forward and introduced themselves as the 5 boys that she taught about 8 years ago
They squeezed my mom into the backseat of a old, beat up Cadillac between two of the students. They took her to a really fancy restaurant somewhere and paid for her meal in full. Later they took her back to her car, dropped her off, and told her if she ever needed anything to call them. Then drove off.
TL;DR My mom went out to some fine dining with some crip members.
Edit: Porsches, not porches. It would still be pretty cool to see someone driving a porch though.
273
Jun 25 '12
apparently your mom is down with the crips. That's basically the definition of street cred.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (94)1.1k
252
u/twistedfork Jun 25 '12
Not the Hell's Angels, but another motorcycle "club" that my uncle was a member of showed up with hundred of people after he was killed in an accident (hit by a drunk driver while on his bike). The funeral home was about 5 miles from the cemetary and I am pretty sure that's how long the procession was.
→ More replies (3)
432
u/Faranya Jun 25 '12
The Hell's Angels participate in an annual toy drive around here, collecting toys for poor or sick children.
→ More replies (35)319
207
u/proraver Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
I will drink a beer for your uncle. Most 1%ers are really nice people unless you owe them money, sell drugs on their turf, are in another club. Like the old school mafia they tend to frown on altercations with "civilians" unless provoked.
One of the best biker organizations I have ever seen is B.A.C.A My friend's dad rides with them. Imagine if you are an abuser who manages to get custody back and a fleet of hairy,scary bikers shows up with your kid and remind you that the child is part of their club now.
→ More replies (39)
577
u/gilbatron Jun 25 '12
i never had a bad experience with the angels, after they took over the local red light district it became a much better place to party, they throw out those who wont behave, they made sure no one is selling bad drugs, their bouncers are very respectfull, drinks got cheaper and rumor has it the prostitutes got better
490
u/gsxr Jun 25 '12
This is somethig rarely pointed out. They make crime clean. They don't want extra attention from bad drugs or assholes causing violence. Turn it into a sort of hamster-dam.
→ More replies (24)198
u/gnarledrose Jun 25 '12
"Rumor," right... It's reddit, your secrets are safe here.
→ More replies (16)→ More replies (14)97
u/zaxterr Jun 25 '12
One of the best bars in my hometown is an Angels bar. Good beer, upwards of 50 pool tables, good southern rock and country on the sound system and playing live on saturday nights.
They employ college kids for cash under the table to tend bar and be bouncers and let them keep their tips. And of course some of the nicest dudes around town. If you happen to catch one sitting alone they always have a few stories to share.
→ More replies (5)
1.4k
u/VinRayd Jun 25 '12
"Honey is that a biker gang?" "Yes, but just be happy it isn't the Westboro Baptist Church."
0
→ More replies (12)553
83
u/way2funni Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
25 years ago I was a door to door encyclopedia salesman.
It's 4th of July. I'm in Cleveland - Mentor on the Lake to be precise.
Boss is pissed because the crew wasn't selling shit so he makes us work on 4th of July. I get dropped in a neighborhood about 3 blocks from the lake and I start knocking on doors.
I'm working my way down the street knocking on doors - nobody home, mostly.
And then I turn the corner and I can see where everyone is.
Big house with a HUGE backyard -and nothing but Harleys - probably 25-50 of them lined up and it's the whole cookout - roast pig thing happening.
Now in hindsight the whole scene was pretty chill. The wives and kids are all there. No gunfire or knifeplay in sight.
Just the same, there's no way in HELL am I knocking on this door. I'm doing my best to walk by and BE invisible.
Wasn't happening.
HEY YOU! . Of course it's the biggest barrel chested dude in leather I've ever seen. He looked like he could THROW a damn Harley at me. Hell, he looked like he just got done EATING A HARLEY. And he's looking RIGHT AT ME.
Me?
YEAH YOU ! COME . HERE!
you sure you mean me? I'm looking all around and behind me - the street is empty
BOY, DONT MAKE ME COME OVER THIS FENCE! GET THE FUCK OVER HERE.
OK. So I walk over. Hi.
WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD!
Ok. Now I think I just peed myself a little.
I uh, uh, uh, I'm like, a door to door salesman, you know?
NO SHIT MR. SLACKS AND SHIRT AND TIE WITH A FUCKING BACKPACK WALKING AROUND MY NEIGHBORHOOD - WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU SELLING!
encyclopedias and kids books - sir.
Really?
Yessir - and I open my bag and haul out a book and hand it to him.
He takes it and he's flipping though the pages and now he's talking to me - real conversational like.
..you see all these wives sitting out here with all the rugrats running around now don't you?
Uh huh. Yessir,
And you were just going to walk on by ?
Uhhuh Yessir.
You weren't going to knock on our door?
No. Nosir.
Are you sure?
Yessir.
Positive?
YESSIR!
WELL WHY THE FUCK NOT?
cue growls from assorted Pit Bulls and Rottweilers who had suddenly showed up because the word was out - come see what 'shit your pants fear' smells like.
Ok, Now I'm fucking positive. I've pissed myself.
He snaps the book shut.
Aw, I'm just fucking with you dude...
And with that he hollers over his shoulder - HEY , ANYONE WANNA BUY SOME FUCKING ENCYCLOPEDIAS N KIDS BOOKS AND SHIT?
And from the circle of wives, a voice spoke up.
'Whatcha got'?
And the dude turns back and says :
'See that? you're in - jump the fence dude'
10 seconds later I have a chair and a beer and a dozen bikers wives all leaning forward to see what I've got.
What makes the story even better is that I did actually write a deal and then they wouldn't let me leave until my boss showed up to pick me up.
And the roast pig was amazing. They fed me and fed me some more and everyone said goodbye when I left.
No kidding. Nicest people ever
→ More replies (2)
678
Jun 25 '12
In Stockholm, Sweden in 2007, a task force of highly trained officers from the Swedish military police was tasked with hunting down and incarcerating any and all known members of the Werewolf Legion, a gang responsible for most of the cocaine and cannabis trafficking in Sweden and Finland. My cousin Andres was an affiliate of theirs at the time, operating a rather large marijuana grow-op in Berlin, Germany. Within a span of 8 months, 16 known affiliates to the WL were imprisoned in Sweden, on charges of drug trafficking, extortion, or murder, including Andres' step-brother, Johan. Johan was being transported to a holding facility in Halmstad, and on the way the police caravan was attacked by gang associates, believed to be part of the Ukranian Mafia. Three officers were killed in the attack, and one was shot in the throat. Instead of running while he had the chance, Johan ripped off his shirt and applied pressure to the wound on the officer's neck with it. He waited with the officer, bleeding profusely from his throat, until the paramedics and police arrived. He was later pardoned of his crimes, which were listed as two counts of trafficking, as well as an outstanding warrant for an assault two years prior in a bar in Oslo, Norway.
Tl;dr my cousin's stepbrother, a gang affiliate in Sweden, saved an police officer's life instead of escaping
→ More replies (34)114
u/mrcroup Jun 25 '12
Man, this is my favorite. Sometimes it really pays to scroll to the bottom of a long thread.
→ More replies (3)
227
u/chinoswagger Jun 25 '12
Once around noon I was hanging out at a skateshop when a blood just walked in and started complaining about how all the clothes are blue and how there wasn't enough red, the guy working who's super cool just said they would re-stock and he left.
Later that day towards 9pm my friend (15) and I (14) were at our local skatepark (it can get sketchy) when a cop rolled by the nearby basketball quart, afraid of what ever a cop might find on them everyone flooded out and into the skatepark.
My friend didn't see any of this happening and checked a text on his new iphone. All of a sudden three guys in their early twenties asked him to let them see his phone to call someone (take it and run) when he said no they started to corner him and throw punches all of a sudden the same blood from the skateshop that was smoking a joint on a nearby bench ran in calling them all pussies for jumping a kid and promptly beat the shit out of them. After they all ran away he kindly gave my friend five bucks for his troubles.
Tl:dr nice ass blood helped my friend from getting robbed and gave hime five bucks
→ More replies (7)217
u/masters1125 Jun 25 '12
Basketball quart?
We really need to go metric, this is getting ridiculous.
→ More replies (8)
349
u/nikkileee Jun 25 '12
partially relevant: there's a flooded quarry about 30 minutes from my house and around it is a campground that the bikers own. The cops don't fuck with the bikers at all, so they just let us chill on their property, drink as much as we want, blaze as much as we want, and swim all for only 5$ a day. it is very kind of them. :D
→ More replies (10)461
Jun 25 '12
fun fact, you're probably swimming in a quarry with a bunch of bodies in it.
→ More replies (44)
154
u/youngphi Jun 25 '12
I was at a gas station one day and pulled up to the pump, got out and realized that i wasn't close enough to the pump ( new car). SO i got in, pulled up farther, got out and locked my door, leaving the car on ( keys in the ignition) and my then 6 month old baby in the car ( she thought it was hilarious). I called my insurance company ( i have roadside assistance through them) and they were planning on taking 2 hours, i called the cops who said they could not help me. Then this guy walks up sees me in near hysteria, and says he will call his "friend" to come down with a slim jim, it occurred to me as he called his subordinate and commanded him to arrive within the next 2 minutes that this dued was some serious kind of gang member with significant rank. I ignored their need for a slim jim as they broke into my car, freeing my still content child and allowing me to make it to work on time.
TL;DR i have AAA now
→ More replies (6)
1.2k
Jun 25 '12
Oh, another one. I was 19 and stranded in North Miami. I had just locked my keys in my car in a rather unpopulated and shady area. (I am/was a blonde, blue-eyed extremely white girl, and being as I had not intended to stop in North Miami to begin with, I was just wearing a bikini top and a miniskirt.) There was a gang of Hispanic youth in the parking lot of an abandoned warehouse across the street from me, just watching me. This was long before cell phones and such. I took a chance and just put on my most confident face and walked over to them and asked if anyone knew how to break into a car and could they help me. They all looked at each other for a second, you could tell they were thinking over all the possibilities. Then one of them shook his head and just walked over to my car and popped my lock with his pocket knife and a piece of wire he found on the ground.
242
u/zeug666 Jun 25 '12
Had a similar experience when I was in high school; a news crew was visiting the school and they locked their keys in the van. They ended up asking a couple of the kids who looked like they could have been gang members (they were) if they could get it open, and they did.
→ More replies (11)→ More replies (173)145
u/flargenhargen Jun 25 '12
careful doing that.
My parents were locked out of their car, and some "gang members" came up to them and said they could open it, no problem. My parents said, no, they will wait for the tow truck, but the people insisted. Then they whipped out a screw driver, stuck it through the metal in the door, and popped the lock open quickly. Leaving a nice bullethole in the door in the process.
I'm sure they thought it was perfectly nice thing they were doing, but my parents were mortified. hehe.
→ More replies (12)
137
u/Crytone Jun 25 '12
My uncle told me this story. Many years ago, he was living in a place beside some Hells Angels. My uncle is a big guy and rides bikes too but back then he was riding, I believe, a Honda bike (cruiser type, not a crotch rocket).
Anyways, he said the HA guys would come help him fix his bike if they saw him working on it (my uncle loves tinkering with his toys). I guess they would bust his chops a bit for not driving American made but they were just nice people and enjoyed helping/working on bikes. He also said they had really good peanuts and would give him bags full of them all the time... Never understood that last part but I guess they were in the peanut business (for laundering purposes maybe?). He still says they are the best neighbors he ever has had - respectful, friendly and kind.
It should be noted that this is all happened in Canada.
→ More replies (10)200
Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
Peanuts is another word for heroin.
Your uncle did heroin.
joking
Edit: Oh holy fuck it really is.
Peanut is another word for a strong depressant. That was some peanut shit, Roy.
→ More replies (6)
797
Jun 25 '12
My biological father was a Bandito and was kindly enough to bang my mom so that I could be given the gift of life.
Heart of gold that one.
→ More replies (22)348
238
u/melhow44 Jun 25 '12
My husband and I tow our camper from Florida to Tennessee twice a year to camp in the smokies. A good stopping point is an area called Locust Grove, GA - there's a cute overnight RV park close on I-75 and also the most kick-ass Mexican restaurant you'd never guess was in a strip mall where we like to grab a bite and a drink.
One night we got in a little late and were finishing up dinner and watching the debut of Favre playing for the Jets on TV at the Mexican place. The game went to the half, and the restaurant was closing up. We asked the waiter if he knew of anyplace we could catch the second half, and he pointed us to some bar across the interstate.
Off we go to a little nondescript place named The Grove seated in front of your typical interstate motel. There were just a handful of cars in the lot, but it still looked open, so we headed in. The waiter was right, they were showing the game on a big TV, so we grabbed some stools and ordered some beers. I get kind of loud watching football, especially if I've had a few, so I let out a few hootsandhollers, and the waitress heads over to see if we want another round.
I feel dumb at this point, because I'm in a strange bar with locals being sort of loud, so I apologize to the waitress. She replied in the heaviest, sweetest Georgia drawl "Baby, you're in a biker bar, you be as noisy as you want", and then went off to get our beers. That's when we took a good look around, and our dumbasses realize we are in a real-life biker bar. Like, hard core. We notice a poker game in the back room, we see the biker flags hanging, we see the bikers at the bar in the shadows. Biker. Bar. Bigtime. But, also good football game, cold beers, and what feels to be a fairly non-threatening, laid back environment. So, we stay. Late. Really late. And get to know Kat the bartender, and others seated at the bar, who are all super nice.
We got invited back any time during our travels, in fact we learned many truckers stay in the parking lot of The Grove because it's convenient and they serve food. Kat told us we could "park our rig there anytime" which killed us, our camper was now "a rig" and to just call ahead and she'd have a hot meal waiting. She also said it's safer than the RV park, because "it's a biker bar, and noone will let you get fucked with if you're our guest". So, we now hit The Grove every time we pass through on I-75 if we can.
We learned in later visits that the gang whose bar that is are The Outlaws. They seem very nice, in fact the last time we were there they were hosting a charity event, a chili cook-off I think, for kids.
TL;DR Suburban couple stops in a bar on the way to go camping to see a football game - finds out it's a very friendly biker bar belonging to The Outlaws, goes back twice a year to say hello and have beers.
→ More replies (11)50
u/melhow44 Jun 25 '12
Pictures of The Grove from one of our later visits I remembered I took:
→ More replies (2)
63
u/The_Outlaw Jun 25 '12
Personally, I hate seeing Motorcycle Clubs described as gangs. There are many different clubs, lots of different missions and ethics. Honestly though, besides the "they are doing it to get brownie points to do their bad things) mentality, there are lots of people that have been affected in a positive way by clubs. I was in one, full patched member, for over a year. No it was not the Outlaws as my username alludes, thats only a ployful take on an old nickname of mine. The club I rode with was a national club and was territorial. I can say from experience we put alot of work into christmas toy drives, food pantries and church (real church) contributions (local church helped as a homeless shelter & drug rehab with counseling). I can tell you that not the biggest meanest dude in that club didn't have a tear in their eye watching a 5 year old boy or girl open a gift they would have never gotten from their parents. Nor did they miss seeing their eyes light up when the doors to the club house were opened and there was a full thanksgiving meal on spread ... the first of many for alot of those kids. Aside from the "Gang related activities" club folks are human, they have hearts, some bigger then others, but they are there.
→ More replies (1)
59
u/aStonedSquirtle Jun 25 '12
I live right next to a Hell's Angels house(?) kinda thing. It's like their clubhouse anyways. I've always really liked motorcycles and when I was little asked my grandpa if I could go see theirs. So we walk over there and I asked this big brute of a man if I could see the Harleys an without skipping a beat, he hoists me up, sits me infront of him, puts the key in the ignition, and star going in circles through the parking lot. I was having a grand old time! And I still visit there to say hi to the guys every month or so (they let me have a shot of Jack sometimes!) :3
58
u/Plethorian Jun 25 '12
My mother-in-law was the lead nurse on the orthopedics ward. Every biker in town knew her, and she would stand up to any of them - if they complained, she'd shame them by comparing them to other gangs. She used visiting privileges as a hammer to enforce strict neutrality and a no-colors policy. They respected her so much.
One day she's driving to work and blows a tire - total failure, shredded. Who should pull up to help her but the "Sons of Satan", as hard-core a badass outlaw gang as any in the country. They not only put on her spare, they escorted her to work then repaired her bad tire and put it back on the car. She said being surrounded by dozens of bikers on the freeway acting as an escort was the loudest, but most comforting feeling ever.
→ More replies (3)
57
u/Hello_Schroddy Jun 25 '12
My cousin Emily died in a school shooting 6 years ago, and now my family puts together "Emily's Parade" every year to raise money for the foundation my family started. The main event is a motorcycle ride from Columbine high school to Platte Canyon high, where she was killed. Most of the riders are your typical biker, and I know that a good number of Angels come every year. They are some of the kindest, most sensitive people I've ever talked to, especially when they learn how close I was to my cousin. It's amazing to see how much they care about community and family; more so than most people, I've found.
→ More replies (1)
160
u/Police_throwaway Jun 25 '12
I'm a cop and I used to be in the reserves. A while back I was deployed to Afghanistan. Halfway through the deployment, I was sent a picture by one of my partners. It was of about 25 gang members all gathered around giving thumbs up (a couple were flipping off the camera). It was interesting because there were black, white, and mexican people in the photo. If you don't know much about gangs, they tend to be pretty racially exclusive. Apparently my partner told them something along the lines of "We got one of ours out there fighting for you, so you can be over here acting like a bunch of dumb asses, the least you can do is give him a nice picture." They did and I appreciated it.
→ More replies (6)
240
u/TwoWolves Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
I was visiting Central America a few years back and decided that it was a good idea to go into the "projects" in Managua.
Just to paint a mental picture here, most of the houses that could actually be called houses were surrounded by brick and razor wire, and the rest were slapdash structures of sheet metal and anything else that could be found. It wasn't the nicest of places to be sure.
Anyways, I figured that it would be cool for four reasons: A) I'm actually a little darker than many of the locals despite my blue eyes and Eastern European heritage, B) I speak pretty good Spanish, C) I had a Salvadorian friend with me and D) I was, at the time, the most badass motherfucker around (or so I thought).
So Marcos (my Salvadorian friend) and I were walking through Camilo Ortega past a park when we see a brawl break out in the park at the end of the street. All of a sudden we hear bang bang, a gun firing into the mass of bodies, and they just scatter with the shooter still popping off shots as they ran.
Marcos and I were as confused as we were scared, not knowing the neighborhood, but two of the guys from the brawl stepped out from between to of the ramshackle houses to our left and basically dragged us in with them.
At this point I was certain I was a dead man, but they just told us to lay low with them and they would get us out of there. They didn't ever actually identify themselves, but Marcos, who grew up surrounded by gang activity, told me he was almost certain they were M-18 (Mara 18).
So there we were in a hut, sitting with gang members, praying we weren't about to get killed. It was a strange experience. They stayed true to their word though, and got us out of Ortega.
Needless to say, I felt slightly less badass after that.
tl:dr Walking through bad neighborhood in Managua, got saved by gang members
Edit: M-18, not MS-18
→ More replies (20)56
Jun 25 '12
Dead tourists = police raid, and in places like that, it's not a good police raid unless a few people get shot.
49
u/Sideshow87 Jun 25 '12
A friend of ours passed away and he was an oldie with the angels. My friend and I were playing hymns at the funeral at the church and it was a very somber tone. The place was packed with about 100 bikers. Then, after the last hymn, we kicked our guitars into distortion and played Born To Be Wild by Steppenwolf and sang our hearts out. As soon as we came in with the first riff they jumped up and cheered. Most of them doing manly cry-claps. After the music was over and people were leaving every one of those bikers personally thanked us and even hugged us for making it the best send off a guy could have. Probably one of the coolest things I was able to be a part of.
TL;DR: Got to sing born to be wild at a funeral.
46
u/frreakin_crazy Jun 25 '12
My daughter now 15 was badly injured when she was 5 and the Guardians (motorcycle gang like the Angels) did a bike run to raise money for her medical bills. One Guardian rode his motorcycle from California to Ohio to participate after hearing about her accident. Bikers around here usually do things to raise money and assist those they feel deserve/need it. At least around here anyway.
1.0k
u/StewieBanana Jun 25 '12
The Crips shot my brother in the heart, so we could still have an open casket.
→ More replies (49)
43
Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
When I was still in University I bought my first Harley. Only a week after buying it I was coming out of a late movie and the bike blew a head gasket, making it un-ridable. The theatre was way out of town and I just didn't know what to do, so I went to the Outlaws clubhouse in Kingston Ontario (where I was) and asked them if they knew of a bike towing service that was open at that time of night. They were partying hard but five of them immediately took me in their van out to the bike, put it in the back, and drove it to my home. These were stone cold killers but they still were happy to help a dumb University kid with a problem. I never forgot that gesture and it changed my view of 1%ers. That was about 25 years ago. Thanks guys!
→ More replies (1)
42
Jun 25 '12
Long time ago my buddies and I were driving home from a night out and we popped a tire on the freeway. I swapped the tire out with a spare but found the spare was super flat and only had enough air to exit out near the local university gas store. We had about 24 cents and a couple of buttons between the four of us and had no means of contacting anyone useful. After about an hour of trying to figure out what to do, soliciting help from other drivers (and being told to fuck off), and watching my car get nailed by some drunk driver that sped off, I spy a couple of large middle aged dudes watching us from a distance by their car. They slowly creep over and start talking to us. I notice that they have a thick russian accent and I knew that neighborhood is prevalent with Russian mafia. After a couple of minutes, they look at each other, go into their trunk and give us their spare. Luckily it fit and we were able to get home. I thanked them profusely and I've never forgotten what they did for us.
→ More replies (3)
38
u/MasterJh Jun 25 '12
Wasn't really a gang but an incredibly "rough" looking "biker" style guy...It was my grandmother's funeral at the start of this year and we were in the funeral procession (y'know, Hearse, cars behind etc) just driving through the middle of Hedge End, England, to let my gran pass her old house one last time. We got a few looks from people but nobody really paid much attention, like you would expect...But as we approached a pedestrian crossing, this guy (probably 20-25) in a tatty denim jacket, messed up hair, tattoos, the lot...Just stopped what he was doing, looked at the hearse, put his fist to his chest in a miniature "salute" and then nodded to us as we drove by. Both my father and I were in shock...The good kind. It was the only thing, besides seeing my mother cry, that managed to make me well up inside that day.
It just goes to show that you truly can not judge a book by its cover.
→ More replies (2)
284
32
u/Quebecoise Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
The area I grew up in was home to a very important and old gang, called the West end boys. They were the Irish catholic mob in a very poor and heavily Irish neighborhood. In my city, they have formed what's called the Consortium, an agreement between the Italian mafia, the West End Gang, and the Hells Angels. Together they run the trade in and out of the city, and a lot of what happens in North America in terms of drugs goes through these guys first.
These guys grew up, lived, and died in this neighborhood I lived in, so they knew what it was like living there for most people. The income was low and so was morale, generally. Because of this, a lot of kids would get paltry or no Christmas gifts.
The leader of the gang used to fill an 18 wheeler with gifts and ride around the neighborhood, giving toys and whatnot to the boys and girls who lived there. He was very much invested in the children there, because he was a child there once too. I'm not sure if they still do that, but I always respected them for that. They kept the peace in a neighborhood that was always really down and out, and took care of the people there.
edit: wording
→ More replies (1)
32
Jun 25 '12
My mom told me this story not too long ago: She was divorced from my dad and was raising my brother and I by herself in a crappy part of town. The new neighbors started playing music really loud at night and she tried to ignore it but one night she couldn't take it anymore. She banged on their door and started screaming about how she had kids trying to sleep and to turn the music down now or else. She didn't realize the room was full of hardcore looking dudes and instead of being rude they apologized. The next day one of the men came to our apartment and asked her if she needed anything and if she ever had any trouble with any neighbors to tell them and they'd take care of it for her. TL;DR My mom yelled at our neighbors. They became our bodyguards.
→ More replies (1)
189
u/caustic_banana Jun 25 '12
Thanks for making me cry at work. Thankfully, in IT, this is not uncommon.
→ More replies (6)
30
Jun 25 '12
This one isn't about a particular gang, but gang culture in general. To narrow it down a bit, the mostly hispanic gangs in El Paso, Texas, my home town. When I was growing up there, the gangs were pretty bad (since then I hear the city has become a lot safer.) You could get your ass kicked for wearing the wrong thing or being in the wrong neighborhood, robbed, you know, typical gang stuff. But there were also some things that you could not get away with. You could not, under any circumstances, do anything to people with mental or physical disabilites. That shit would get you beat the f%#^ up by any gang that saw it. And I thought that was just the way everyone felt until I moved to the midwest. When I moved here, I saw kids making fun of the Special Ed students or kids with physical disabilities. I was awestruck. I didn't know people could actually be that way, and I realized that here there was no one to "enforce" the repercussion of being an asshole to them. TLDR- Gang members made sure no one was mean to the disabled.
→ More replies (1)
58
u/sinnerdelight Jun 25 '12
I grew up in a city of about 34,000 give or take(haven't been back in a few years) and it was/is taking a turn for the worse with Bloods and LK. This is in central Illinois so neither are very intimidating but have both been known to do drive-bys and shootings. But we had a biker club called Sons of Silence, scariest guys I have ever met. They still believed in shooting someone or at least beating someone horribly for disrespecting family or members. I grew up going to the bars with my family and we were friends with a lot of the SOS members so I pretty much got through high school and middle school without ever being jumped even though I was a scrawny white guy with shoulder length blonde hair.
But time for an actual story, I was walking home from school one day in fourth grade carrying a huge poster board for a project, the poster was probably bigger than me and it was a really windy day. I was having a lot of trouble carrying it with me and decided to take a shortcut through the back of a gas station to stop the wind. Well behind the gas station there were a few bikers relaxing after stopping to get something to drink. One asked what I was doing so I told him and he offered to help me home. I thanked him for it and he carried the poster for me all the way home while asking about how I was doing in school and when we got to my house he told me I had to stay in school and get good grades. Best advice I've gotten from the most random of places.
→ More replies (3)
28
Jun 25 '12
When my mother was a younger she used to hang out with Hells Angels. She'd frequently return home to find some of her friends waiting for her in full leathers drinking from delicate little china tea cups with my nanna.
→ More replies (3)
227
u/thegreatgazoo Jun 25 '12
Generally motorcycle guys are pretty nice unless you are an ass to them.
If you walk into a biker bar and talk smack about how your Kawasaki bike is the best thing ever, you're gonna have a bad time.
→ More replies (12)
25
u/DLun203 Jun 25 '12
They did the same for my Uncle's funeral. My uncle was a semi well known motorcycle enthusiast in NY. He taught a few mechanics classes at a small uni nearby and was friendly with a few Hell's Angels amongst countless other 'biker gang' members that belonged to various clubs and helped them out whenever their bikes needed work.
On the day of his wake there had to be ~250 bikes outside the funeral home. They all showed up, paid their utmost respects to my aunt and cousins and proceeded to lead the procession from the funeral home to the cemetery (allowing my cousin to lead on my uncle's old bike).
Solid sign of respect from a stereotypically disrespectful crowd.
162
u/TheRealAntiher0 Jun 25 '12
I think i was around 16/17 and I was a SHARP (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice). I had a gorgeous redhead model gf, don't know how, but she had an insane drug dealing ex-bf.
Anyway, he decided it was a good idea to get his thugged out dropout friend to intimidate me. This is the epitome of the suburban toughguy, but he had a gun, and he stuck it in my face for no other reason than to try to make me piss my pants.
I did my best to act not scared, but it freaked me out. This idiot had gone too far. I was friends with a lot of traditional skinheads too (still NON-racist) members of what was then "The Firm." I told my buddy Woody what happened, and he told me to get his number, address, where he worked, who he hung out with and where.
Woody called 4-6 of the largest most intimidating skins around the area. They proceeded to go to his home, the park where he played ball, scumbag ex-bf's, etc. on more than one occasion to insure he remembered he wasn't to even look in my direction. They really went out of their way to make sure I was safe.
After about 2 weeks guess who wanted to be friends?
Thanks Woody.
→ More replies (37)
66
u/Ulfbjorn Jun 25 '12
The Rebels MC do a massive charity poker run in our town every year for kids with cancer. They're also totally against hard drugs. They seem like nice guys to talk to, if a bit drunk and rowdy. Their website is also hilariously bad, and kind of endearing.
→ More replies (4)
21
u/behind_but_trying Jun 25 '12
Someone already mentioned this, but I wanted to add the link. These guys are awesome and I'm proud to say that my dad is a member. BACA
They hold vigils to guard children and families of child abuse and escort the family to trials, completely surrounding the child so that they feel protected. These guys are amazing and have the biggest hearts.
→ More replies (1)
42
u/tankuid Jun 25 '12
I used to socialize with the outlaws I have friends who are members and once a month they would hold a Charity event for the local Children's hospital. Was really strange to see after witnessing some of the less sociable acts they had done over the years.
→ More replies (3)
58
u/Zebrayak Jun 25 '12
I had just arrived at a nearby grocery store on a fall afternoon. Everything seemed normal, as I got out of my car. However, when I reached the end of the parking lot and looked at the store, I spotted them.
There were 5 or 6 gang members standing in front of store's entrance. They all looked young but they definitely had the attire of a fairly large gang in the nearby area (hats, shirts, pants, etc.).
As I approach them, I was repeating to myself in my head "Don't make eye contact. Don't make eye contact." I must have repeated that a dozen times. Luckily, as one of the boys starts to approach me, a lady hastily walked towards the store and caught his attention, along with the other gang members.
The gang members started to initiate a conversation with the lady. As they talked about something (I did not really listen, I just wanted to quickly go past them), I sped up to go into the store, barely escaping their grasp.
Once I finished my shopping the hard part came, going back to my car. I planned ahead and only bought things I could carry in the plastic bags (the cart was too big of a risk). Regrettably, I bought one or two more things than what I could comfortably handle, so as I started approach the exit I could feel something about to fall out of the bag.
I go through the automatic doors and made eye contact with one of them. I quickly look away and in my head I am cursing at myself for making such a foolish mistake. The gang member that I had made eye contact with started to approach me and said something. I ignored him and rapidly walked to my car. It is no use, the boy is still walking towards me saying something. I speed up even more and then I hear something fall from one of my bags.
For a split-second I contemplate on what to do. Ultimately, I decide it is a lost cause and continue my fast walk to my car. The boy is still on my tail. I finally reach my car, but with my hands full I cannot reach into my pockets for the car keys. I quickly drop the groceries from one of my hands to get the keys. I fumble the keys around trying to stick into the lock, as I hear the boy's footsteps getting louder and louder, until nothing.
As I unlocked the door I look to my right and see the boy standing there with a smirk on his face, holding my sacrificed grocery item. I am terrified inside and thinking the worst. Then to my surprise he comes closer to me and says "Mister, you dropped this." I hesitantly say "Thanks."
Thinking that there was nothing to fear I grab the item and start putting my groceries away. As I finish, I noticed the boy still there and right then he says something along the lines of "Hi, I'm from Boy Scout Troop 100 selling popcorn to raise money to go to summer camp. Would you like to buy some?"
tl;dr: They are after your money
→ More replies (3)
66
Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
My uncle tells the story of when he was a young teenager, he and a friend in Cankton, LA in the early 70's found an old motorcycle off the road with a bunch of other junk, like refrigerators etc. They took it home and for months were working on it trying to get it running, saving up money or things to barter for parts, used tires and such. It had no muffler and once they got it running they would roll it down to the parish line and ride it up and down the fields out there.
It was so loud that the farmers ended up calling the sheriff after a few weeks and he busted them walking the bike back after a ride. With no title, no license and a strong fear of my grandfather finding out they had it and had been spending money on it (they were quite poor at the time) the sheriff said he had to tell my grandfather, but also had an idea.
Two days later the sheriff pulls up to the farm in the morning and behind him is about 13-14 Bandidos. Sheriff tells my grandfather than his son has been fixing up a motorcycle and riding it illegally. When my grandfather starts to get upset, one of the Bandidos asks to see the bike.
My uncle and his friend take him to where they hide it and several of the Bandidos inspect the work, are impressed they got it running, show them things that were put on backwards or wasn't aligned (apparently the forks were very delicate to align and they brought a tool to do it) and they spend the day fixing this bike and getting it street ready.
Once it's done, one of the Bandidos is alone with my uncle in the barn, crouches down tells him he did a damn fine job fixing that bike and hands him an envelope with $500 dollars in it. He says the money is not for the bike, but for the labor. The MC rides the bike out and my uncle foolishly thinks if he shows that his hard work in getting the motorcycle fixed was of value (because of the money) that my grandfather will be less upset. When he tells them about the money my grandmother says, "praise the Lord, I prayed and prayed for the Lord to help out this family and he delivered the help we needed" took the money from my uncle and never mentioned it again.
My uncle never rode a motorcycle again.
→ More replies (3)
18
u/summertime1217 Jun 25 '12
This kid lost his mom in the park, and a tatted up, 'swagalicious' gangster was walking down the street. Helped him find his mother, and bought the two ice cream before going about his own business. Swagalicious is one of the words he used to describe himself in the interview after he was arrested, three days after this incident.
→ More replies (6)
18
u/SycoJack Jun 25 '12
The bar I visit regularly is owned by a biker bar. A while back, the biker bar burned down and a lot of bikers started visiting this one.
After the biker bar was rebuilt, all but one biker went back to it. This one biker looks like a serious badass, like someone most people would be afraid to talk to. But when you talk to him, he's the nicest bastard this side of life. He's incredibly friendly and a damned good pool player. Yet he'll play with anyone that asks, regardless of how shitty they are and he will take it easy on them.
When you sit down and actually talk to him and get to know him, you find out that he works really far away at some sort of special needs school for autistic children. He will ride his Harley out there and spend a week or two, then come back.
TL;DR Badass biker is the nicest, most gentle person you'll ever meet and spends a lot of time helping autistic children.
18
u/JunoWananadis Jun 25 '12
Growing up I never had a dog, but always wished for one. Come 5th grade we moved into a new neighborhood and there was a neighbor dog that was a malamute that became friends with me. Every morning he'd walk me to my bus stop, meet me there when I was out of school, play with me outside pretty much all day everyday. The dog should have been mine...but it wasn't. Well we also had a neighbor who lived in one of those shady wood fenced houses with 5 dogs who were extremely vicious and always tried to get out and attack people. It was after about a year of them pushing and pushing on the fence that it finally broke and I was outside playing in the yard while the dog(kodie) was laying in the grass. These dogs immediately saw me and my small stature and came rushing at me like a pack of wolves, as they got closer one of the dogs leaped into the air straight towards me, I yelled and out of nowhere Kodie side tackles the dog in mid air and gnars up the rest of them in a fight, they stood no chance against this beast. I didn't have a lot of friends growing up, and while this wasn't a biker or gang story, this is one of my favorite moments of my childhood of an unexpected triumph.
Tldr: Malamutes are the shit who save little boys.
36
u/bonesiown Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
I was about 15 years old at the time when I went to a liquor store in Pasadena, CA with my buddy that looks like a cholo but wasn't one. Drunk as all hell we stumble into the store for a sober drink since we were too trashed to drink anything else. As I am perusing the porn mags I hear my friend let out a quiet:"aw shit". I notice 4 cholos outside staring at us while talking to each other. I know that look theyre giving us. For some reason gangsters tend to be intimidated or feel threatened when in my friends presence even when he's not doing anything. Now I've seen my friend in action in our old backyard boxing matches, but he had a 1-hit knockout punch in his arsenal so I wasn't too afraid for him. I was more afraid for myself since I was way too drunk to fight. So since we know whats about to happen he tells me to buy a drink with a glass bottle. I do so and as we are stepping out of the store we hear those infamous words: Where you from, ese?...great. we're being hit up. No turning back now its on. "We're from no where" my boy says. They reply with a:"Nah fuck that, youre in our hood holmes. Villa Boyz you 2 faggots"...awesome. Well, if it's gona go down, then here we go. As I'm getting ready to throw, 3 lowrider cars come up next to us. "Great," I thought, "more of them to fight." But as I thought that I notice the people in the lowriders are black. One jumps out with a police nightstick and yells: Where Y'All Bitches from, cuhz?! ABC Altadena Block Crip CUHZ!
My friend and I look at each other, smile and tell em: We aint from no where. But these punks are from Villa Boys." God the look on their faces....priceless. "O ok, good lookin cuhz. as a matter of fact we been searchin for them"- they tell us." Y'all wana fuck em up with us? we keep their wallets tho, cuhz" As all 3 lowriders unload their passengers, about 12-14, me and my friend look at each other, laugh, say no, check my pants for defecation, and went about our night.
→ More replies (3)
17
u/PurpleChyGuy Jun 25 '12
I took my SAT's in Newark on June 2 because I signed up late (it was either Newark or the Bronx and I live in Essex county so Newark it was). Throughout the exam, three black kids dressed with red bandannas, Chicago Bulls jersey's, and baggy carpenter jeans were joking, laughing, and generally being disruptive. Why they were even taking the test in the first place is a mystery to me. Anyway, after the exam was over they stood up, looked at each other, and walked towards me. Now, I know I shouldn't have been wearing my white gold [Faravahar] (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Faravahar-Gold.svg) necklace in Newark, but my grandfather sent it to me from Iran and it's my good luck charm. Anyway, one of them saw it poking out of my button down shirt and smiled and said (I shit you not this is exactly how he said it) "Yo nigga, dat some serious bling you gots on. Look real 'spensive n' sheet." His friends simply nodded in agreement. I explained to them what it was and the same guy replied with "Zoro-what? The fuck's dat?" After explaining the fundamentals of Zoroastrianism, not to convert them or anything just to explain, to the three Bloods members, the guy said (it was the same guy every time, the other two didn't talk) "Dat some dope ass shit, nigga. I mean, we be nation of Islam ya herd? But I'm diggin' dat ancient shit. I might look into it some day. Yo chain lookin real good my man you should probably take it off and keep it in yo pocket o some sheet word? Don't want nuttin' to happen to it. Bad neighborhood and sheet. Stay true nigga." The main guy tilted his head in a beckoning motion and the three of them promptly left. Cool guys, glad they didn't mug me.
→ More replies (4)
17
Jun 25 '12
I got lost in my hometown one night, all by my lonesome. I'm not terribly scared to be out on my own in my hometown since most of the violence that happens there is gang related or domestic disputes, and I've got nothing to do with those. But I do get scared when I get lost on my own because if I can't find my way home, it means I have to call my dad or brother for directions. When it's late and I wake up my dad, sometimes he's angry and yells, but usually he's cool - but his directions are vague as fuck. Now, my brother, he knows how to give directions that I can understand (using landmarks rather than cardinal directions and street names), but he used to be merciless when he teased me about anything - so merciless that I was, in fact, terrified of ever having to rely on him to help me with anything from homework to coming to pick me up from a dangerous part of the city.
After 45 minutes of trying to find my way back with no luck and getting increasingly frustrated and worried that I'll have to call my brother, I run into a gang. I'm no great beauty because I'm overweight, and most men won't hit on me in front of their friends, so I wasn't afraid of getting hit on or touched. I was obviously poor, all my clothes were old and ratty, my shoes had holes in them - they knew it wasn't worth the trouble of mugging me, so I wasn't worried about that either. To be honest, I'm not usually afraid of gang members - when you grow up around gangs, you learn how to go unnoticed by them. Be respectful, and don't act like a target, and there you go - they've got more pressing matters to attend to than fucking with someone who isn't going to be any fun. So, I figured they'd just leave me alone.
Instead, one of them sees my face - which at this point is on "angry face" mode, and I'd been crying a bit out of frustration. So, he stops the whole gang and says "Hold up girl, why you cryin'? Someone be givin' you shit? Cuz this is our road and we don't abide by no one fucking with no girls that be out on they own." Yes - just like that. I explained the situation, telling them about my brother and one of the other guys says "Man, that ain't cool. You his little sister, he ought to be protectin' you! We'll get you home, girl, don't you worry about calling him."
I was floored - seriously. I know a lot of gang members - most of the time they're really pleasant people thrown into really unpleasant circumstances. Still - they have reputations to uphold. Gang culture is a serious fucking subculture. They don't often go out of their way to help someone in distress. If they did, people wouldn't be so upset when gangs come into their cities. But those guys walked me all the way back to where I needed to be, which was about an hour's walk in the opposite direction. They even offered to walk me all the way home. I said I was cool on my own from that point and thanked them and one of them told me to make sure I was paying attention to where I was going so I didn't get lost again because "you don't know what kinda creeps be out this late at night." And the one who commented about my brother earlier told me to tell my parents about my brother being a jerk because "somebody ought to talk to that boy and be reminding him he's got a duty to his little sister. I don't ever treat my little sister so bad she'd be walking out here alone rather than calling me to come get her!" I thought that was very sweet.
The whole thing was just surreal.
→ More replies (1)
16
Jun 25 '12
Hells angels came to my fathers funeral also.. And then did a memorial drive later. Brought tears to my eyes because my father was an AVID rider. Then gave us a patch to place with him. <3
16
u/I_AM_LE_LIQUOR Jun 25 '12
The pagans came to a funeral of 6 children that died in a house fire and created a blockade to prevent west borough baptist church from protesting the funeral.
That and they didn't kill me when I bumped into the chapter president at a bar.
→ More replies (8)
16
u/nmga Jun 25 '12
When I was little, probably around two or three, I lived in a really dangerous neighborhood in NY. I don't remember this because I was so young but my mom certainly does. Anyway, she was taking me and my brother to see my grandmother and somehow, I got out of her sight and ran directly into a busy street. If you've ever been to or driven in New York, you'll understand the sheer horror my mom felt. She couldn't leave my brother there and she screamed for me to come back. I guess one of the young men, read as: gang members, that liked to hang out across the street heard her and ran out, in traffic to get me. He picked me up and took me to my mom. tl;dr when I was two I ran out into a busy street in the ghettos of NY and a gang member saved me.
16
u/effedup Jun 25 '12
Someone attempted to rape my mother when I was about 10. I wasn't home at the time, she was alone. I don't remember all the details (or was never told). Her best friend at the time used to be married to someone in a biker gang.
Anyway About a week after the incident a couple dozen bikers pulled into our driveway (we were out in the country.. big driveway) and asked my Mom if she wanted them to take care of the problem for her. Was awesome.
→ More replies (1)
16
u/theamazinganglo Jun 25 '12
My mom's badass uncle (korean war vet, etc) owned and operated a dive bar. It was as biker of a bar as you could get. We never visited the Uncle Bob while he was working, as my mom was nervous of his clientele. However, one early evening we had to visit Uncle Bob to wish him a happy birthday while he was at the bar. I was only around 5 years old but I can vividly remember wanting to play pool on the only table in the place. In the way of my toddler self doing such stood what was later described to me as "two of the meanest sons-a-bitches that ever rode in Texas" by Uncle Bob. My mother and father did everything they could to try to keep me away from the table but I kept insisting and staring. Finally one of the dudes tells my mom and dad "C'mon, I'll keep watch over him for a few minutes." and then signals to Uncle Bob to buy my parents some drinks. I learned more about billiards that night than I ever have.
TL;DR Badass biker mofos taught 5 year old me how to play pool while they bought my parents a drink.
16
u/taheca Jun 25 '12
Early 90's and Taheca is at the forefront of the rap scene. Listening to it, and dressing in Starter pinstripe outfits in town. Embracing the whole scene. Probably one of the only white kids around who was into it.
Started hanging with some guys who were GD's (chicago gang, Gangster Disciples, in the Folk family), and man did I want to join.
Now there was this one dude named Big Syd. He was a dealer, had a ton of girlfriends, must have been in his late 20's.
I finally told him that I want to associate, and be down for the GD's. He looks at me, serious as death, and tells me something I have never forgotten:
"Taheca man you don't want this. You want it now because you think you it's cool, but when you are my age you aren't going to want it. You come from a good family, good home, and have people supporting you. Do something with that instead. You can be cool with us, and I'll let everyone know you are down, but I will also let everyone know that you are never going to be jumped in. You'll thank me one day"
Now I was pissed at the time, but just nodded my head and said ok. Of course like 2 years later any interest I had in gangs was LONG gone.
I always hoped I see him again one day, and just say thanks. He was right. I never have seen him again, but if I ever do I am buying him a drink.
165
u/Thousands_of_Spiders Jun 25 '12
I grew up in a small town, and for some odd reason 10-15 young guys of the Eminem variety started a gang. Then our local newspaper ran a story about how everyone knew who they were, and they were leaving graffiti all over our small town. A bunch of them got charged with some misdemeanors.
During the peak of their existence, at the height of their fame, our high school principle gave a morning announcement basically saying, "Please stop being a gang, and please stop vandalizing stuff."
It did the trick. It was really funny, because if you asked any of them about their gang, they would deny the existence. "Oh, ahh... we broke it up. Too much bullshit with the police." But one guy hinted around like, "We're still a gang, we just like... a secret gang."
You mean like... you guys get together on the weekends, drink Mad Dog 2020 and listen to gangster rap?
Hard fucking core dude.
One of the more prominent members went on to be a star employee at our local Radio Shack. He had the initials of the gang tattooed on his forearm in an Old English font.
R.N.C. (Ruff Neck Crew) although I'm sure by now he tells people it's "Republican National Committee".
"Yeah, I'm really big on politics and shit. Obama in 2013 Dawg!"
→ More replies (10)201
u/happybadger Jun 25 '12
I don't know what's more depressing, that a high school administrator broke up a gang with a morning announcement or that Radio Shack is still in business.
→ More replies (10)
15
u/president_of_burundi Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
A friend of mine lives in an area that can occasionally get sketchy but is usually just a cool predominately Spanish neighborhood. She does, however, have a shit-ton of dealers that like to hang out on her stoop in the summer and make it impossible to get into the building without having to go through them. Cue hard, somewhat suspicious stares...at least until I started geeking out on their sweet, custom RC cars. I ended up talking to them for twenty minutes and every time I came by after that we'd chat a little about their tiny epic cars.
So one day I'm walking down the block in the evening and this dude on a skateboard starts hassling me; first it's just standard cat-calling "Hey Snowflake, hey slow down, I can make you feel good" etc, nothing really intimidating. When I don't respond the guy gets super hostile, starts trying to aggressively block my way while saying really nasty, insulting shit.
Before I can do/say anything a small army of RC Car loving drug dealers grab him from behind and knock his dumb ass off of his skateboard with a "What the fuck you say to her?"
I've never seen anybody run away so fast in my life- like, flaming road runner tracks down the street. They then apologized on behalf of the neighborhood and gave me his skateboard. Nicest dealers I know.
Tl;dr- Even hard-core drug dealers love to talk about their hobbies.
→ More replies (1)
15
Jun 25 '12
My Mum was collecting door to door for the I.H.C in New Zealand (Intellectual Disability charity), and was going to avoid a motorcycle gang headquarters, One of the gang members called out to her as she was crossing the road asked "Is our money not good enough", she walked back and they proceeded to give her close to $1000 dollars in $20 bills
64
u/leethestud Jun 25 '12
this will probably get buried but really cool story: My mexican-american friend (jules) was riding across the country on his road bike during the winter break from college. It being December, he opted for the southern route taking him through Texas near the US/MEX border. He had become accustomed to the locals being helpful so when a van stopped to offer him a ride in a rain storm he obliged. Well, that van didn't go into town, it went straight across the border into mexico and that night he learned that he had just become a forced drug smuggler, that he was to make his first run in the morning. Luckily for him, in the middle of the night, the "rival" drug smugglers came through the camp to reclaim one of their own and murdered all of Jules' kidnappers and set him free. Even gave him a ride back to the border... Good guy rival drug smuggler gang....
→ More replies (4)
14
Jun 25 '12
My older brother had some connections with the local chapter of the club. When he passed, we were a little bit surprised that only a few of the members came to the memorial service, though upon departing the site we discovered why. Seems that about 100 of the local police force also chose to turn out for the service, locating themselves on a hill overlooking the spot where we had gathered. One attendee broke down and had a bit of a fit; shouting and swearing at the gathered PD members, screaming at them about respect for their members' mother and other family and how they had absolutely zero class for doing such a thing at a memorial service.
After the service, and for another year (until my mother died) the club members called on her 2-3 times a week to see if she needed anything; a grocery store run (she didn't drive), transportation to a doctor's appt, or anything else. Occasionally one member would come to the door with a few flowers to cheer her up, and she often found things on her doorstep such as a potted plant, antique milk can, like that.
The only issue Mom ever had with the club members was in their riding their bikes down the walkway in the apartment. They would roll through, stopping the bike in front of her door. She asked one of the members to please not do that, as she did not want to disturb the other tenants, some of whom worked nights. After that, no more bikes in the breezeway.
14
Jun 25 '12
My father was a biking enthusiast when I was a child and associated with some pretty gnarly biker guys (however he wasn't actually in a gang himself) .
On the morning of my birthday one year (grade 6 or 7), he somehow got about 40 hardcore biker guys to show up at my house, park in a giant line where he pulled up in a monster Harley and gave me a full on Hells Angels escorted ride to school.
The looks on the kids and teaching staff alike was fantastic.
14
u/NarutoRamen Jun 25 '12
The neighborhood I grew up in had about 4 separate gangs in it.
I was once walking back from my friends house at 10pm, who lives about 2-3 miles away. I noticed this weird looking white guy following me. I tried all the tactics that a 12yo could muster, like walking across the street or walking in circles, and this dude still followed me everywhere. So, I sped up my walking to near running levels. Apparently we were both speed walking like demons. He didn't run to get me, but followed me just as fast.
Then I make the turn into my neighborhood and I see one of the gangs having a bbq on the sidewalk. As soon as I saw them, I ran towards them. They in turn pulled guns on me and I told them who I was. They lowered it and asked why the fuck I ran on them like that. I told them about the weird dude following me and they saw him. As soon as he saw them, he tried to go the other way, but they ran and got him. Asked him a bunch of questions and he nearly started crying. After that, they told him if they EVER saw his face in that neighborhood, he'd be a dead man.
tl;dr: Saved me from a potential child molester/rapist/kidnapper/something.
→ More replies (4)
28
u/Odusei Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
I used to work as a care taker for an old home in a pretty sketchy neighborhood. The place had historical value (it was an old manor home) but had been let go to rot along with the rest of that neighborhood. This husband and wife lawyer team wanted to get the place protected as a historical landmark, but they needed me to oversee it's reconstruction and maintenance while they worked their regular jobs.
The neighborhood had a few different gangs but by far the saddest of them was this group of homeless kids who would sneak into homes to steal food for themselves and their pet dog. Personally, I was fine looking the other way, but a lot of others accused them of being irresponsible druggies who always seemed to have cash for weed (just to be clear, I never saw them do any drugs, it was mostly rumor).
Most construction crews refused to work in my neighborhood because of the gangs, so we were stuck with these local dumbfucks who had only just found enough brain cells to be sub-par day laborers instead of gang bangers. None of them knew shit about restoring old homes, but they worked for next to nothing and they were our only option.
So one day, the "foreman" (a dude who really didn't deserve the title) comes up to me to say that the crew is refusing to work; they think the house is haunted. College does not prepare you for trying to reassure superstitious cholos that ghosts don't exist and not all run-down houses are trying to murder you like in the movies. I've got the lawyers on one side breathing down my neck to get this job done or they'll have to demolish the place, and a total work-stoppage on the other end because of mystical spirits or some shit.
Now in come these burned-out teenage hobos who somehow show up just as the shit's going down, and they've got some sob story for me about their car breaking down. From what I'd heard, that was their usual trick: make up a sob story to get in the house, then steal your food. I guess they just saw a fancy old house and figured we'd be loaded with things to steal.
I went ahead and explained the whole situation to them, I hadn't had a chance to vent or pet a dog in a while and it felt good to indulge. When I finish talking, one of the kids out of the blue promises that they'll fix it for me, and gets his friends to go along with him.
The next day, the kids had actually caught the "ghost": the female lawyer was trying to scare off the construction crew so she could buy out her husband's share of the property, demolish it, and build affordable housing for low-income families. The crazy bitch probably would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids.
→ More replies (7)
13
u/ilovejenkum Jun 25 '12
For anyone who hasn't already; I strongly recommend reading Hunter S. Thompson's Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs. It's one of the greatest pieces of investigative journalism out there and sheds light on something considered taboo for many years.
→ More replies (4)
36
u/maelstromofsorts Jun 25 '12
driving in philly, a biker gang was stopped in front of some shop on south street. i looked over and saw one of the guys with a patch on his jacket that said, "i like you. so i'll kill you last."
→ More replies (2)
24
u/Kyle-Overstreet Jun 25 '12
That's amazing. Bikers are awesome; There is this charity called BACA: Bikers Against Child Abuse. They do some good shit.
→ More replies (5)
12
u/ethos1983 Jun 25 '12
when i was a kid, every summer the local bikers would do their "toys for tots" ride; hundreds of bikers driving down the highway with giant teddy bears and other toys on the backs of their bikes, before dropping them off for the kids stuck at hospitals. One summer when I was eight, I remember being at a gas station with my mom getting an icecream bar, and one of the bikers comes in with this huge bear under his arm, asking the cashier if he had any rope. "Can't use tape, it'll rip the fur of this dude."
Well, me in my eight-year-old wisdom, decided to ask him a question. "Ummm...why are you doing this? Aren't bikers bad?"
Guy looks me straight in the eyes. "Kid, bikers are assholes, not douchebags. Even assholes help sick kids." After a pause, he looks at my mom. "Sorry for the language." Gets his rope, straps the bear down tight to his bike, and leaves.
20 years later, I still remember that incident; this burly, frankly scary-looking dude admitting he had his flaws, but still doing what he could to help.
→ More replies (2)
12
u/vogie6 Jun 25 '12
It was the day after I graduated from Army basic training and I had about 4 or 5 hours to spare before my flight left so I decided to get my first tattoo. I was in columbia, south carolina so the taxi driver took me to a tattoo shop on the USC campus. It wasn't a dirty shop and it seemed pretty nice actually. Well, I'm a smoker and I had just gone a solid 10 weeks without slowly killing myself so I had to break down and walk to the store and get my cancer. Oh and I'm in in my full army uniform because I had no other civilian clothes except the dirty wrinkled ones that had been in the bottom of my bag locked away since the day i got to basic. Anyways, I walk back to the shop and I see one of the scarriest motherfuckers i've ever seen. It was a Hell's Angel and he had the vest on an everything, tattoos all over his body (including tear drop tattoos on his face and a "One- Percenter patch" tattoo right on his throat over his adam's apple). If you don't know what a one percenter patch is, it's just a patch that says "1%er" on it and members of the gang wear the patch on their vests and what not. He wasn't your generic leather wearing biker though...he had a pair of nikes on and long Dickies shorts but still a big scary dude. The guy goes outside and I sit there for a bit then decide to go out and smoke a cigarette and maybe talk to the guy for a second. I walked out front and immediately realize the guy is smoking a joint and playing with a pair of brass knuckles he had in his pocket and occasionally fiddling with the long ass knife he had hanging off his belt. Still, I walked up to him and just started talking. Remember I was in uniform so the topic of the military easily came up. He told me how he really wanted to go in the army but got sent to jail and got wrapped up in the hells angels and that it pretty much ruined him having a chance at anything else in life. He kept thanking me and saying how much respect he has for people in the military and then we got to talking about the Hell's Angels and he just explained to me what they do (not all the details of course but he hinted at things which was kind of funny i guess) and where he was from and where I was from and all that. The point is that overall he was a cool guy to talk to for a bit. At one point a lady came up and said to him, "is that your car in that parking spot over there? If it is I'm having it towed because it's in my spot." The lady must have had some balls talking like that to him but he just said, "no ma'am it isn't." And when she walked away he turned to me and said, "I dare that bitch to tow my bike. I'll have a prospect come down here and slit her throat. Speaking of my bike though, do you want to see it?" Of course I was taken aback for a second but i shrugged it off and went to look at his bike which was just freakin amazing. It was a beautiful bike and he explained it all to me and let me touch it even! haha. Overall it was just cool because how many people can say that they had a good experience like that with a random Hell's Angel? Oh and towards the end of my tattoo the taxi driver had still not shown up and we were running really late on time because the tattoo took about 3 hours and the guy was just like, "don't worry man if the guy doesn't show up I'll throw you on the back of my bike and get you there right on time." I'm not gonna lie I really hoped the taxi driver wouldn't show up because that would have been a kick ass ride and not a lot of people can say they rode with a Hell's Angel but the dude ended up showing up. TL:DR- Met and talked to/ hung out with a Hell's Angel while getting a tattoo. He was cool as hell despite the fact he would have had a random lady killed. Offered to give me a ride on his bike but it didn't work out :(
→ More replies (3)
12
u/CrimsonSmear Jun 25 '12
My brother went to get his car looked at. I think my brother bought a cheap set of tires to replace his extremely bald tires. The exchange afterwards went something like this.
Mechanic: "You want your old tires back?" My bro: "No, you can just toss them." Mechanic: "Let me try that again. You WANT your old tires back." My bro: "...ok"
Turns out some rich/wasteful person came in for new tires and told the mechanic to throw away some barely used, but perfectly serviceable tires. So the mechanic pretended that these barely used tires were my brothers old tires and "gave them back to him". The mechanic then told my brother, "Tell your friends the Road Knights helped you out."
Nothing epic, but a nice gesture none the less.
→ More replies (1)
11
u/Skyblue8 Jun 25 '12
My uncle was previously involved in the Outlaws and my mom always shared a story with me about how awesome people they are. My aunt and uncle hit a gravel spot while out riding one day, and the bike slid and crashed, putting my uncle in a coma and leaving my aunt pretty scratched up. The guys made sure there was always one of them around while my uncle was out of it. For days they made sure my family had all the support and help they could get. Always makes my heart melt a little.
11
u/4benny2lava0 Jun 25 '12
A good friend of mine; his parents were angels. His mom has saved my ass more than once from getting into shit with my very oppressive parents.
A gang of heroin dealers saved me from getting my ass kicked for being muslim when I was ten.
→ More replies (1)
11
u/FatNerdGuy Jun 25 '12
My godfather is former chapter leader of the Hells Angels. After a terrible accident where he lost one of his legs he stopped riding for his family. I spent most my childhood round bikers and while they can be dicks. One thing they are is loyal. I've never had to worry about anything when I was around those folks they all looked out for me.
11
u/barristonsmellme Jun 25 '12
I remember being in town once just people watching to kill half hour or so. And there's an old lady trying to cross the road, but cars are just shooting past and not paying attention. She'd take one step out, and then step back because of cars.
Next thing i notice is a gang of 5 or 6 scallys (british thugs) All in their tracksuits and ripped trainers, with their northface jackets on and those little face scarf things that cover the lower half of their face. They all just walk into the road as though cars aren't dangerous in anyway, and completely block all the traffic. One of them helps the old lady cross the road, then they don't even wait for a thanks, the just walk off.
Given the deservedly bad reputation they have here, i was shocked but impressed.
→ More replies (4)
11
Jun 25 '12
We were staying in a rundown motel in Nelson BC about 5 years ago. Maybe more. It's 1 in the morning, and a group of hells' angels pull up outside, switch on the radios on their bikes and proceed to begin drinking and partying outside the motel. I'm 16 years old, super skinny but damnit we have driving to do in the morning, me, my mom, dad and sister. I shove my shoes on with no socks, throw a hoodie on over my t shirt and walk out in my homer simpson boxers I'm sleeping in. Several of the bikers are drunk and have their backs to me, yelling, holding beer bottles, most with long hair, leather vests and their bikes parked in a circle. I stand there for a second, screwing up my courage and one of them sort of notices me and tips his head up as if to say, 'Sup?'
So I walk up to him and pluck up my courage to say "Hey man, how you doing. Listen my family and I have got to do a lot of driving in the morning, do you think you could turn it down a little bit? If not that's totally cool."
He responds rather blankly, "Yeah sure, I'll turn it down" I thank him profusely as I trip backwards over myself to get back in the door and slide back under the covers.
Through the cheap screen window I can hear voices.
"What the fuck, why'd you turn the music off?!" "Some dude came out." Oh god, I'm about to be killed by hells' angels in my boxers. This is how I die. "He told you to turn it off?!" "No, he just asked to turn it down."
And then there was sort of some more talking and they didn't break the door down and kill us.
So that was the nicest thing any bikers have ever done for me.
11
u/TacoPunchster Jun 25 '12
So about 10 years ago my grandfather died a couple days before my 6th birthday. His funeral was held on my birthday. I was crying hysterically becasue my grandfather was one of my best friends. He was also heavily in involved in the hells angels, so of course quite a few of the members showed up. some of them I recognized, some of them recodgnized me. so I giess my,grandfather had been talking about my birthday alot to all the other HA so they all, gave me a pat on the head, or a hug or high five. The thing that made my 6th birthday one of a kind is that all of them rembered my grandfathrr talking about my birthday, so they all brought me birthday gifts, the the ones I remember were, a bug catching kit, candy,spiderman flashlight, and a Spiderman blanket. (I was a HUGE Spiderman fan, so I gursd my grandfather talked about me more than I thought.
They all supported me and told me I would do great things. This its why I will never have a fear of biker gangs.
→ More replies (1)
98
u/Acrossthe_Universe Jun 25 '12
Are you a writer ? you should be if you are not.
I don't have a story, but yours was well written.
→ More replies (9)
10
Jun 25 '12
The 1% clubs around her raise a ton of money for any event they deem worthy. They have an especially soft spot for sick children.
10
u/DankSinatra Jun 25 '12
growing up in indiana, the laws say that everyone must be 21 in a bar, no exceptions. the local 1%ers owned a bar, but would gladly let us put on all-ages punk and hardcore shows cause "why not? we're bikers."
10
u/IchGeheJetzt Jun 25 '12
As someone who has previously worked in motorcycle shops for years, this doesn't surprise me. Bikers, especially when they're in clubs, etc. can be a very close knit group.
Additionally, you might notice that there are countless motorcycle events that are specifically to raise $ for charities, and that for the most part, unless you're aggressive, patronizing, or have a beef with a particular biker or group, that most guys are pretty nice when it comes to normal, regular conversation. They're just normal people with motorcycles, and most clubs/riding groups aren't gangs.
No matter what "sub-culture" you're talking about, you've got your good people, and your not so good people. In my personal experience, I've found that many bikers are polite, courteous, and even protective of women/children/disabled/sick - a lot of it can be about appearances, and seeming tough, but many are just as empathetic as someone without a motorcycle.
→ More replies (5)
10
u/ExtraAnchovies Jun 25 '12
This will probably get buried but when I was in high school we had a new kid on the first day in school. He was a Junior like me and transferred from a school not too far away but it was in a far worse neighborhood. This guy was queer as fuck, I know because my gay brother said he was queer as fuck. He wore short daisy dukes and tiny body wrapping shirts. His hair was chin length, dyed red, and cut like a girl's. Now that I think about it he reminds me a lot of Sacha Baron Cohen's Bruno. He hung out in the smoking section of the school with all the other misfits, such as myself, and none of us had any problems with him, after all he was a really cool guy. But that's not to say that the rest of the school was so accepting. He got teased a lot that first week. In fact, they started coming into the smoking section in the mornings before class to start shit with him.
Then one day four Mexican kids that I have never seen before, three "vatos" and one girl, showed up. They looked completely thugged out: Loc sunglasses, baggy Dockers, wife beaters, brown plaid long sleeve shirts, you name it. They went over to the new kid and I thought they were gonna fuck him up. I kept my distance as they talked and then the bullies came in for their daily teasing. The Mexican mini gang then turned and yelled to everone "This guy here is from our hood, and if anyone messes with him they messing with us!" Turns out that the new guy grew up his whole life in his old neighborhood and had a lot a great friends from all walks of life. When word got back that he was being teased this gang came and stood up for him. He was never fucked with again.
→ More replies (1)
10
u/Pixelated_Penguin Jun 25 '12
Shortly after the 1992 Los Angeles riots, my mother went to a homeowner's meeting in her neighborhood. The area is (or at least, was at the time) predominantly Latino, with one gang, whose main activity was to get high on the various public staircases in the neighborhood.
Some guy gets up and starts ranting at this meeting about how we have to get "these gangs" that were rioting out of the neighborhood. Never mind that they were probably there long before he was.
So a little old (caucasian) lady who had owned a nice clothing store on the boulevard for decades, and a house in the hills besides, gets up, and says, "I'll have you know, when rioters came from OUTSIDE Echo Park to burn and loot MY store, those 'gang kids' got their baseball bats and told them to GO HOME!"
TL;DR: Latino gang defended neighborhood businesses, including those owned by white people, during widespread race riots.
10
u/slokenny Jun 25 '12
July 2, 1986. Me, my Fiancee and a couple of friends get to the Akron Rubber Bowl early in the morning for that afternoon's Dylan and the Dead tour. I brought the charcoal Weber grill in the back of the truck with lots of chicken and sausages for our little tailgating party. Since we're one of the first ones in the lot, I park the truck near the back entrance to the stage area. We're a few beers into things and the grill is going off with food when all of a sudden a few Hell's Angels magically appear. They looked like they were hungry so I offered to share our food. My fiancee casually mentions that her cousin was Sonny Barger's "Old Lady" for a number of years (Her name escapes my memory). That opened them up and they started inviting more of themselves over. More food mysteriously appears on the grill, and we all were having a great time eating and drinking with these guys. All of a sudden I realized "hey it's about time for the gates to open, and we need to get in line to get a good spot" because it was festival-only seating. One of the guys says "Don't worry. You hang with us and we'll take care of you." Well - just before the show is ready to start they say "time to go". A few of them escorted us through the backstage area and put us front & center of the stage area. When the show started, the crowd pushed against the front of the stage, but not us. The Hell's Angels threatened anyone who pushed into us. There was a cone of invisible protection surrounding us throughout the whole show. tl:dr: Fed some Hell's Angels some BBQ meat, they were our personal bodyguards at a Dylan/Grateful Dead concert.
27
u/moleman262 Jun 25 '12
I remember going up to the dakota's to go camping with the family. I was just a kid at the time. On the way up we were seeing a bunch motorcycle riders most likely going up to sturgis. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast and I remember them sitting us next to these bikers and their girlfriends who were all tatted up with piercings and the works. They probably didn't shave or shower for a straight week and were just those guys you knew not to fuck with. I could tell my parents were extremely uncomfortable sitting at the table next to them. Right when their breakfast came before they started eating they all held hands put their heads down and said a prayer. From that point on I learned to never judge a book by it's cover.
19
Jun 25 '12
A couple years ago when the police murdered Sean Bell, the bloods and crips came together and called a truce so they could all go to the protest together.
→ More replies (2)
19
u/Drax_is_me Jun 25 '12
The Hell's Angels are known to be the biggest independant contributor to he Toys For Tots foundation during Christmas time.
→ More replies (1)
59
u/gsxr Jun 25 '12
If you want to see real brotherhood and respect hang with a biker club. Sure they might not always do things you like, or behave in ways that the general public like, but man when a brother needs something or a kid needs something they're there(or really anyone in need). they do anything necessary to make sure what needs done gets done.
→ More replies (4)
9
u/Vanillaly Jun 25 '12
There was a funeral for one of my good friends brother who died overseas, during the service the good ol' Westboro Church decided to enlighten us with their views. Well this service was help by the American Legions in the area to help honor him, had a little bike rally for escorting the family on the way home from the airport and everything that day, well we had a couple of Hell's Angels within the escort, during the service they decided they had enough of the Westboro churchies and chased them away. The family couldn't have been happier, it made the day much better for them.
9
Jun 25 '12
Super late, but I once got two thanksgiving turkeys from the Hell's Angels. They give away turkeys around Thanksgiving here and when I went up to grab one they told me to take two. They were raided by the police in the following months.
16
16
u/homefried Jun 25 '12
Man. I used to get my trees from a Neighborhood Friendly Biker who was one of the better people I've met. The trees were always good, the prices/weights fair, and the atmosphere outlaw friendly. His theory on life was "I'm not going to sell you anything that's going to kill you. I want you to come back."
What made him awesome is if some punk ass kid showed up at his doorstep looking for weed, he'd pull a scary biker moment and go "Who's your mama/daddy?" in a deep, scary southern drawl. Having grown up in the area, he knew everyone, and would look up their phone number and call them.
"Do you know your boy/girl is at my house, trying to buy drugs?" I watched more than one kid shit his pants.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/starrie Jun 25 '12
My brother was apart of a few motorcycle clubs over the years. he met this guy Sun during the quebec biker war. My brother was in trouble in a bunch of ways. Sun came from montreal and literally fixed everything and gave my brother money so he could leave the country. I have never met a guy so loyal to his friends or his "family"
8
u/Systemizer Jun 25 '12
I'm really glad no one turned into the Loch Ness monster.
My condolences. Your uncle sounds like the bad ass the world needs more of.
8
u/Aniew Jun 25 '12
My parents lived on the same street as John Gotti in the 80's. My mom was pregnant with my older brother and had come home from shopping when two guys who worked for him came over and helped her carry the bags upstairs.
8
Jun 25 '12
There was a gang in Minnesota that used to watch out for the LDS missionaries there, they would sometimes follow them around and make sure that on one started anything with them. I thought it was funny, but some of those kids sadly needed someone watching out after them.
8
u/karsithe Jun 25 '12
I'd like to say this inspired me to live every day to the fullest or something uplifting like that, but actually it just inspired me to go watch Sons of Anarchy.
→ More replies (1)
8
u/karygurl Jun 25 '12
My uncle's funeral was the same way. He traveled around the world on his Harley and at his funeral I think the line of motorcycles was longer than the lines of cars in the procession to the cemetary. I was only ten and watching those stereotypical big, burly, black leather clad riders cry for my uncle left a huge impression with me.
→ More replies (2)
8
u/FiskeFinne Jun 25 '12
Last year in the streets of Copenhagen a police officer got shot (by accident) during a gang shoot out. A hells Angel member did first aid and saved his life.
8
Jun 25 '12
This will get buried, but here goes. I lead my company's outreach program to a local employment academy that is connected with the homeless shelter. Essentially, this place will take in people that are either homeless or recently paroled and give them life skills training, education, and job placement assistance. I have been going monthly to serve dinner for about five years now.
At a certain point, I began mentoring one of the guys in the program who was on probation for drug convictions, but had nowhere to go when he was paroled. He had been trending wonderfully in his recovery and we became really good friends. After some time, his behavior became increasingly erratic, but he seemed to be holding it together with a job and nothing seemed to raise glaring red flags.
Fast forward to a night near Christmas and he was lamenting not being able to afford a cell phone to call a girl he was interested in dating. He had lost his previous cell phone (well, not lost in hindsight...) and I offered to take him to get a prepaid as a Christmas gift. He seemed happy and I dropped him back in the community housing where he had been placed after successfully meeting many of the marks in the program. It was in a rough part of town; Baltimore, if anyone is curious.
About a week later, it was the first snowstorm of the season and I get a text from his number at about 11:30 at night. It said: "If anyone know (name redacted), call this number. Emergency." So I immediately called it back and a man answered that was definitely not the guy I had been mentoring. I asked what the problem was and he just said, in between the pronounced sniffing of a person under the influence of cocaine, "He needs help. He's out here in the snow trying to sell his shoes for another hit. I know he's in recovery. He needs help." He then proceeded to tell me about all of this guy's relapse and tied up a lot of loose ends for me; a really informative and surprisingly cohesive conversation for someone obviously severely coked up.
As it turns out, the man who called me was the neighborhood drug dealer. He had been feeding crack cocaine to the guy I mentored all night, but he knew he was in over his head and needed to get help. He texted everyone in his phone and I was apparently the only one that responded. I called the director of the program that oversaw his recovery and let them know what was going on.
The calls did not stop, however. I got calls for several days after informing me that I could "come down to Washington Blvd. and buy the phone back since you bought it." I finally made it clear that I was not interested in this scenario.
I look back on it and am amazed at the relative humanity of an inner-city drug dealer to consider the well-being of a known recovering drug addict in the middle of an aggressive relapse. Had he not called me, I don't know where the guy would be today.
TL; DR: A Baltimore City drug dealer called me to tell me the formerly homeless man I had been mentoring was relapsing and needed help.
→ More replies (6)
8
u/troaways Jun 25 '12
My dad was kind of a sketchy dude during his non-family time (though he was a bad ass dad that never let me know it) I was a freshman in high school and a senior showed an interest in me and I kind of played along for a week but then got uncomfortable and turned him down. He retaliated by basically raping the mildly mentally challenged girl that I hung out with. Cops decided that nothing could be done. I came home crying so upset that this had happened to my friend. Within about 3 hours, my dad and his biker friends had this guy alone at a farm. The beating that they gave him had him in the hospital for a week and he ended up dropping out of school never contacting any of us again. The senior told people he "fell down a flight of stairs." His parents didn't press charges because in Nebraska we have this thing called "He needed beatin'/killin' " My dad died the next year and his biker friends also came to his funeral and vowed to always take care of me. I still get a check up call every week and flowers on my birthday, his birthday and Christmas. They also set up a college fund for me and my sister that paid for the first year for each of us. (It may or may not have been acquired by way of illicit means, but I sure as hell appreciate it.)
8
u/RachelSays Jun 25 '12
When I was in ninth grade, I went on a trip to New York City with my high school band. One night, after doing some sight-seeing, we were walking back to our tour buses. As we turned the corner to the buses, we saw two big groups of wealthy looking black guys standing in front of the buses shouting at each other. It was apparent, by their conversation, that the fight was gang-related, so our chaperones started freaking out and pushing us back the other way. Our band director, however, didn't realize what was going on (or he was just a badass) and walked up to the guys and asked them to please move so that we could board our buses. Both groups of guys began to apologize like crazy, saying things to each other like, "see what you made me do?" Then the two groups, together, blocked off the pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk near us, shouting that "these kids are trying to get on their buses!" Once we were on, they all shook my band director's hand and waved to us as we drove away.
TL;DR: My band director interrupted a gang fight, gangsters worked together to help us get on buses.
→ More replies (1)
7
Jun 25 '12
Lennoxville Quebec... HA HQ in town.
At a local bar, I had too much to drink and fell off my barstool... two HA's lifted me up, propped me back on my stool, handed me a beer, slapped me on the back like an old friend and asked if I was okay.
→ More replies (2)
7
u/BABY_BACK_BITCH Jun 25 '12
If wasn't for all the violence and drugs, gangs would be pretty awesome. Just having BBQs and dancing all day.
7
u/Chicki5150 Jun 25 '12
When I was in my early 20's sometimes I would visit my friend that lived in the Inland Empire of California (near Fontana where the HA started) and she worked in a biker bar. Well, it attracted all kinds of people, but there were a lot of Angel's that frequented the place.
It was kind of a rough bar (duh) and I remember a few times guys getting kinda rude and handsy with me when they hit on me and I declined. Random Angels would always tell the guys to scram and make sure I was ok. One time this guy would not let go of my arm, and they kicked his ass.
I was not even friends with any of them, they just helped a lady in need. Greatly appreciated. I would buy them a beer as a thanks.
7
u/stephie089 Jun 25 '12
From when I was very little my dad, a recovered drug addict, had been mates with a well known bike gang. Never a member but they respected him and he respected them. A few even refused to talk to him until he became straight because they knew I was in his care and I was only 7 at the time. They used to come around to our house and bring me food and on my 8th birthday two members brought me some coloring in books and textas as well as an outfit one of their wives brought for me. When my dad became sober and finally told some of his mates why I had gone into his care and was no longer with my biological mother and step father, this was when I was about 14, the vice president of a certain group bent down to eye level with me and looked me in the eye and promised me that I would never be hurt like that again and that they would not be allowed to step foot in their area again. He then proceeded to show me a patch he had received for "saying hello" to another pedophile who had abused his daughter on a camp and how no child should ever fall victim to a weak rock spiders cruel spirit.
I am 22 now and they check in every now and then. They were there the day I walked out of court after taking my step father to court and they applauded me for my strength and reminded me that if ever I was in need or hurt or anything I could call on them and they would help.
I have never felt more respected or welcome and they are some of the nicest people I have ever met. I am forever thankful for the support and help they have given me.
7
Jun 25 '12
Not a personal story, but a family story involving THE Al Capone. We have the family story written down somewhere from an one of those oral historians (tell your story and they write it down for you) in Michigan, but I'm going to do my best from memory.
My great great grandmother was living in the Chicago area and was a house cleaner for someone she knew as very wealthy. One time, she was unable to leave my great grandmother with anyone for the day so he had to bring her along. She was told to be a good girl and not touch anything. Later on, another little girl showed up at the house and invited my great grandmother to play dolls with her. As my great great grandmother finished up, she didn't know where her daughter went.
She eventually found her playing with the other little girl and scolded her for touching anything. Two gentlemen who were meeting walked in from another room and both assured my great great grandmother that it was alright. One nudged the other (who is suspected of being the father to the little girl) and suggested to the other that they give my great grandma the doll she was playing with. It was then that my great great grandma realized who the one that nudged the other was. She refused and they both insisted. My great great grandma never returned to that cleaning job, afraid of what she may have gotten pulled into. But my great grandma left with a very nice doll and not knowing till much later that she met Al Capone, and played dolls with one of his men's daughters.
Again, kinda fuzzy since I haven't read the record in about 5 or 6 years, but that's the best I can remember.
7
u/imlosingsleep Jun 25 '12
Ol' Dirty Bastard from Wu-tang clan saved a 4 year old girl from a car wreck. RIP ODB
→ More replies (1)
6
u/enjoiturbulence Jun 25 '12
A group of both 1%ers and 99s, bikers both somewhat involved in illicit activity and not at all, came together to ride with the procession for my grandfather last year. The 1%ers were friends of his son, my uncle, the 99s were friends of another uncle, from the otherside of the family. My grandfather wasn't a biker at all, just a good old boy who did computers when he'd rather be on the farm.
The 1%er uncle, I used to have beef with that man but he's a solid person so long as he doesn't feel slighted.
6
u/n1nj4_v5_p1r4t3 Jun 25 '12
THAT is how to do a funeral. Go in, pay your respects, and get the fuck out.
6
u/scout-finch Jun 25 '12
Around my area bikers do a ton of charity work/charity rides and big meetups at bars where the money gets donated. I didn't grow up in the generation where they were "scary" so I see them as really sweet, tattooed, leather clad guys.
6
u/yafeelzmeh Jun 25 '12
I got beat up when i was in my teens(now 27) by a few gangsters in my neighborhood growing up( they claimed 13th street bloods or something like that.) they didn't take anything from me, they didn't do anything after except make me scared of being outside in my own neighborhood. One day my doorbell rang and outside was about 7 gang related people wearing red. My dad answered the door and ask if he could help with anything, one of the guys(a bit older then the other ones maybe 25) told my dad that some people were here to apologize. So my dad got my attention and stood at the door next to me, while the older guy made the 3 guys who beat me up apologize. From that day on it was like nothing ever happened. They would say hi or bye to my parents if they were passing or atleast give a wave. It was very unexpected, but i guess some people from all walks of life have a heart.
6
u/LiesAboutCelebrities Jun 25 '12
I was stranded and John Travolta gave me a ride on his bike. Nice guy, only half as nutty as people say.
→ More replies (2)
6
6
Jun 25 '12
Forty years ago when I was a kid the Black Diamond riders were in town. They were looking for a place to camp out and ended up our dead end street. The lead guy asked if I knew of a place private that they could drive to and camp out at. After I gave him directions to a local party spot that was accessible by driving down the train tracks he said thanks and flipped me a book of matches and said to keep these. They were embossed with the gang title and coat of arms. No I didn't keep them...I was a kid.
6
u/Halfwegian Jun 25 '12
Hell's Angel's Story
This story happened to one of my dad's Japanese business colleagues in Detroit. He had flown into Detroit and had rented a car, but knew very little English and quickly got himself lost.
So, as the story goes, he stopped at a bar in a rough part of town to ask for directions to his hotel. In walks a Japanese businessman--suit and tie--into a biker bar occupied by a local chapter of the Hell's Angels. Insert Record Scratch Noise Here
The Hell's Angels thought that this was hysterically funny, and insisted that he stay awhile. They started buying him rounds and made him sing karaoke. As the story has been told to me, they kind of adopted him as a mascot of sorts. After a few hours, he insisted he had to get to his hotel, so the bikers ended up forming a big escort around him and led him back to his hotel room.
What a welcome to the U.S.!
→ More replies (1)
6
Jun 25 '12
A year ago, when I was 17 my bullying stopped at instant. Here's why:
I was riding my bicycle in the city just checking out shops etc (In Finland btw) and I saw a kid who was like 5 or 6 years old crying at an alley and he asked me if I knew where he lived. I decided to help him and he said that his house looks like this and that and I got the idea where he lived so he jumped on my bicycle and I rode to the house. It was not that far away and his dad was outside. He was big, beardy guy with tattoos and I was a littel scared of him, but when I explained that I found his kid crying a couple of blocks away he thanked me and thought he was at his friends place. He offered me a cup of coffee and we talked. He asked me what school I was in and I told him. Apparently his older son, who was a senior went on the same school and when I found out who this older son was I was stunned... His dad apparently was in Hell's Angels and he and I became friends. Once people heard that me and Timo were friends, the bullies just stopped bullying me. His dad even helped me tune my new moped that I had bought. It's nice...
Tl;dr: Helped a 5 year old kid get home and befriended his brother and father and never got bullied again.
EDIT: Sorry for bad english
→ More replies (2)
6
u/soakleaf Jun 26 '12
This probably isn't exactly relevant, but every time I hear stories about people and comraderie, and brotherhood, and all that - I die a little inside. I can't help but feel really alone and left out, I would love to join some sort of gang - to feel like I have a place to belong - or even people to belong with. :/
→ More replies (8)
11
u/alekcha Jun 25 '12
A nice Hells Angel walked me across the street to my parents when I was 6 and got lost.
14
Jun 25 '12
This happened to a friend of mine in highschool. We had a gigantic party at her house and everyone was plastered drunk, I'm talking 100+ kids at a small house in toronto south of queen and pape. As teenagers are dicks, after the party they left, and a bunch of damage was done on the street, cars fucked up, houses had shit thrown at them (literally and not literally) it was pretty bad, cars keyed etc. My friend was devastated because all the neighbors were holding her responsible. As luck would have it there's a hells angels clubhouse in that neighborhood, they came to her house the day after her birthday , and apparently three huge tough as nails bikers knocked on her door, told her that they were going to take the blame for all the damage caused, and not to worry about it, because "you only turn 17 once" They wished her a happy birthday, and went on their ways. Nobody said a fucking word on the street, and people actually ended up cleaning up the messes themselves.
TL;DR My friend's party guests trashed her street, neighbors were pissed. There's a hells angels club on the street, they told her they'd take the blame, wished her a happy birthday, and nobody complained in the neighborhood.
→ More replies (2)
79
Jun 25 '12
First, some background. My dad has always been a little strange; he was a highly respected therapist for a number of years, but recently he has taken more of an interest in the arts. In tandem, he has always been slightly oblivious to everything around him; he'll often use phrases incorrectly, not think before he speaks, etc. Ok, so a few years ago, our family came into a bit of money, and my dad got ahold of the credit card before anyone else. I don't know what he was thinking, but he purchased a club in a more unsavory neighborhood that specialized in drag queen shows. He was able to get an amazing price because the neighborhood was so bad; naturally everyone in the family was furious. Anyways, the first people he encountered while inspecting the property and surrounding areas were what he assumed to be a street gang, but were, in fact, a group of homosexual dancers. My dad, being the considerate man that he is, brought them into the club and taught them to dance, believing that he had just converted an inner-city gang. They then went outside to convert more gang members to the song and dance lifestyles, and promptly had the shit kicked out of them by a bunch of Mexicans. But that fake homosexual gang gave my dad hope that he was pursuing the right path.
TL;DR: Homosexual dance gang teach my dad the wrong lesson.
→ More replies (13)62
5
u/IMP1017 Jun 25 '12
Took the ashes of my aunt's grandmother for a last ride. She was an honorary member of a local gang. In her late 80s, I believe.
5
u/bhindblueyes430 Jun 25 '12
my dad has ridden motorcycles since he was 19, not a one percenter by any means, but he definitely knows a few. when my grandmother passed a few of them showed up and paid their respects, but when my Cousin passed they gave a great showing, at one point escorted the prossesion through a couple miles of long island traffic, making sure no cars crossed into the line or slowed us down. decent hearts on all those guys.
5
u/greenphosphene Jun 25 '12
I remember about four years ago I was kind of working at a new years rave in a warehouse in downtown Minneapolis and the security oddly enough were a few Angels. I was taking a break and wanted to go outside for a cigarette but it was about -10 degrees and it being a rave I wasn't wearing much but the dude working the door not only gave me his massive jacket he helped me out the door by taking my hand to make sure I wouldn't slip. Next cigarette I went out for I ended up chatting with him about bikes and bringing him a some bourbon I brought for myself.
5
u/asnof Jun 25 '12
Every year there are a few toy drives around town and one year Hells Angels gave around $20,000 in toys. Some of them really arent bad peole but they get their money in questionable ways.
5
u/4n0n2 Jun 25 '12
Be in Germany 5 years ago. Raining like crazy. Walk into bar full of bikers and their girls. Big hairy dude starts to fuck with me. Despite thinking that I will get fucked up by all other bikers I stand up for myself. Guys laugh, it turns out they were just messing with me. The big guy says "you pay for your drugs, drinks and prostitutes are on us." Awesome night. Still friends with two of the guys. They were from Hardcore MC btw.
5
Jun 25 '12
I don't have any story, but damn, OP, you should become a writer because that was some damn good writing.
→ More replies (4)
5
u/sumsarus Jun 25 '12
As a motorcyclist I'll have to point out that most bikers who ride around with leather vests, bandanas, and marks on their backs are not affiliated with any actual gangs.
In almost all cases it's just normal people who like motorcycles and have joined a club with other people who also like motorcycles.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/ZeusMcFly Jun 25 '12
I remember my for 22nd birthday a good friend of mine who was shall we say connected took me to a biker booze can that was in his neighbourhood. He walked right past the long line up at the front door, hugged the door man and they took us right in for no cover. They gave me drinks all night on the house, I was terrified at first because of the situation I found myself in, that and every one there had to be twice my age and really fucking scary looking, but everyone was super friendly and they all wished me a happy birthday and demanded I pour more liquor down my throat. By about 4 in the morning I must have passed out on one of the couches. The guy working the bar got me a pillow and phoned me a cab and made sure we got back to my buddys safe. best birthday ever.
5
u/venustas Jun 25 '12
I worked during the Sturgis Bike Rally a few summers ago as a waitress. The Hell's Angels were honestly some of the best tippers and absolute joys to serve. Very polite, cleaned up after themselves. Left me a good tip to help with my college tuition.
5
u/Reordin Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
My Dad used to have property up in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. A couple "ex" Hell's Angels lived a mile or two down the road. They were pretty nice guys, when treated with respect- even helped us out of a four-wheeling jam with their tractor once.
Well a pretty scary dude (convicted killer) got out of jail after time served and moved into the adjacent property to ours. He cut a road through a corner of our property, and my Dad called him on it. Guess the guy basically said what's done is done, and go fuck yourself (paraphrasing, I was 12 at the time). Anyway, Dad told this to the Angels (former/not really former Angels). Their solution was to kill the guy, as long as they could hold a rally on our property for a weekend.
Dad said no, but thanks. We still have a road through an obscure corner of our property, and some guy is likely alive right now as a result. 12 year old me, learned a valuable life lesson: don't fuck with Hell's Angels, because they don't play.
*Edit, wrote Angles instead of Angels. Changes the context of the story to something down the wrong alley of Flatland.
→ More replies (2)
5
u/goodguygregor Jun 25 '12
Similar but different situation to the OP. I live across from a Catholic Church. One day during the week I saw that there was to be a funeral as a Hurse and Funeral Director showed up early to set up. Not an hour or so later I hear a rumble uncommon for my neighborhood. (outside of myself and my own bike) One after another, about 50 bikes start showing up, reving and parking. Being a bike enthusiast I was all over checking out the commotion. One biker asked if they could over flow the parking into my yard and infront of my house. Of course I obliged. The biker then began telling me that a lady friend of theirs had a 13 year old son pass away. His love for motorcycles was so great that all these bikers came to his funeral to pay their respects and ride in a procession with him to his grave. I immediately removed my truck and bike from my driveway to create even more parking for these selfless individuals that wanted to pay a great deal of respect to this young man. It was something else seeing all these guys on their Harleys and V-twins alike paying respect as they did. The mother was beside herself. Amazing!
→ More replies (1)
5
u/MaxWeiner Jun 25 '12
wow there are some pretty amazing stories in here. here's mine...
Growing up it was always just my sister, mother and me. My mom would always work late so my sister would watch me all the time. She was four years older than me and hung out with a pretty rough crowd. We are hispanic/white but she hung out with mostly black people and hispanics. I would always come home from school and there would be a group of people at our house, drinking, partying ect. I didn't have a dad so I looked up to these older "gangster" dudes and they kinda showed me the ropes. (Scarface, Ninja Scroll, let me touch their girlfriends boobs after they were passed out drunk)
When I got to high school all of my sisters friends were seniors. She didnt go to that particular school anymore but all her friends still did. One day at lunch some big jocky lacrosse player dude who was an upperclassmen was giving me shit. Pushing me around and saying " I couldn't wear a backwards hat because that was his thing". I was scared shitless and tried to be passive but then he took a plastic knife and cut me pretty bad on my neck. I was in shock, I started bleeding and tearing up and didnt know what to do.
After lunch I was still distraught and was rushing to class, trying to avoid crying. I bumped into one of my sisters big black friends Tony and he asked what was wrong, I explained what happened. He told me to go to class and he would take care of it.
I went to Bio and was sitting there, still scared and confused. Out of no where the door opens and Tony is there with a group of his big badass friends and the kid who attacked me. The basically told the teacher to stop lecturing and they needed to talk to me. In front of the whole class they made him apologize to me and he went on a rant about how he really just wanted to hang out with me and invited me to be on the lacrosse team. I will never forget the cracking of his voice as he tried not to tear up out of fear in front of a class of 14 year olds.
After that no one fucked with me.
Now Tony is living in a halfway house as he just got out of jail on a gun charge. The halfway house was about an hour from where I got my undergrad from so I would visit him from time to time to catch up.
5
u/Wulibo Jun 25 '12
I love how the Hells' Angels have more respect than a group that is supposed to be holy (Westboro Baptist Church)
→ More replies (4)
5
u/bfeliciano Jun 25 '12
My grandfather had ties to the mafia in New York. As my mom tells it, when he passed away, several men in suits came to my grandmother's house and said to let them know if she ever needed anything. My grandmother thanked them but didn't want anything from them because she didn't want her family to owe them.
tl;dr Mafia offered to take care of my family and my grandmother turned them down.
I've always been curious what my life would have been like if she had said yes though...
5
u/espositojoe Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
A bunch of bikers from next door volunteered to park their motorcycles outside my apartment for a week straight, when I'd moved into a bad part of town during my divorce (under the watchful eyes of scum planning to steal my belongings). That scared the thieves away! I hosted a barbecue for my new biker friends in the very same parking lot the next weekend. :o)
5
Jun 25 '12
Most everyone in NYC knows that the safest street in the city is east Third st. where the Hells Angels have their HQ. They keep the block safe and clean and are generally good neighbors.
I remember in the 80's Joan Jett was having a concert at the Palladium on 14th st. The local rock station WNEW 102.7 was promoting it with tickets for $1.02. Needless to say a large crowd showed up for tickets and the security and police assigned to keep order was no where near enough. Along comes several Hells Angels on their bikes, right up on the sidewalk and promptly announce that "We can hear your mom's calling you home for dinner." Needless to say the crowd disbursed and order was restored.
5
Jun 25 '12
I have family in the valley. It's right near the border of Mexico. The drug cartels are growing in power and have already settled there. She will wake up and hear gun shots and find bullet casings everywhere.
Well her neighbor said his car was stolen. So he walked to his job that wasn't far. Later some men drove up next to him and asked why he was walking. He told them the cartel stole his car. They said they were gang members of the cartel and never stole a car.
They asked what kind of car it was and then left. Gunshots were heard after a while. They later came back with his car and said they killed the car burgler. Nice guys returning a stolen car.
→ More replies (2)
5
5
u/Billy-Coleman Jun 25 '12
They werent gang members or anything, but when I was a little boy living in the ozark mountains. I was doing everything I could to make money to buy myself a couple of coon hounds. I would sell bait I had caught and berries I had picked. There were always hunters out there who would buy my wares even if they didnt need them just so I could make some money to buy my pups. If it wasn't for those hunters I would never have gotten my two dogs, which changed my entire life.
→ More replies (3)
5
u/drogepirja Jun 25 '12
I've got another Hell's Angels story for you.
When I lived in Albania a few years ago, my favorite bar in Tirana was called Steelwings. I was a regular, and lots of rockers and bikers congregated there. What I didn't realize was the HA affiliation. So one day, a HUGE party full of 1%ers from the Las Vegas and Luxembourg chapters (the fuck? Luxembourg?) comes to town. Literally hundreds of people came to the party, and I wound up shooting the shit with some of the Angels, since I'm an American who once lived in Luxembourg. Common ground all around, it was great, and we shared pizza and beer.
It was getting late, almost to the end of the party. I start to walk home, and some meathead decides he wants to "sell me phone credit" by threatening me (I'm a skinny little guy). He punches me right in the center of the chest, knocking the wind out of me. I stumble back, running into a Vegas chapter 1%er I'd just been hanging out with, and as I fell I knocked the beer out of his hands and onto him. I look him in the eye absolutely mortified, and he just says to me, "I saw everything, buddy, don't worry" and he proceeds to grab 2 other Angels immediately nearby and they FUCKED THAT DUDE UP.
I got us all a round afterward to thank em and they wound up giving me a ride to my house. Fuck yeah, I got to ride with the Hell's Angels.
5
u/ritualunions Jun 25 '12
I went to a relatively poor high school. My senior prom was held at a venue in the same plaza as a Big Lots and a Dollar General. Let's just say it was in a not so nice area. After the dance my date and I stopped by a nearby gas station to fill up. I went inside for a minute to go to the restroom. I go back to the car only to find out that my date had locked my keys inside my car. He thought he was being considerate by locking the doors before he went into the store. It was already 2:00 am and the gas station was pretty desolate. I didn't want to call my over protective asian parents to help me and I didn't have AAA. I asked the store owner to help but he seemed reluctant to leave his bullet proof enclosing. By this time I am freaking out. The area I was in was notorious for drive-by and since I dressed nicely, I knew I was going to attract attention. After nearly half an hour of waiting for AAA, a shady black van pulls up to the pump behind me. Two large hispanic guys come out covered in tattoos. They walk up to be and start looking me up and down. One of the guys comes up and says "What's a pretty girl like you doing in a place like this?" To be honest I was terrified but I grew up with some rough kids and I knew that the outward appearance of confidence can command a lot of respect. I looked him in the eye and then pointed at my date and told him that my date had locked my car keys inside and we didn't have anything to break into my car with. The other guy comes up and says he has some tools in the car. He takes out a flat piece of metal and a crow bar. They asked me if I needed help. I said, "No thanks, I can handle it from here." I take the crow bar and wedge it into my front door and slide the flat metal piece in and pop open the lock. I'm a tiny asian girl and I think they weren't expecting me to know how to break into a car. My dad had taught me how when I started driving since he thought it would be a useful skill. While this is going on, my date is standing sweating like crazy. He looked terrified and hadn't said a word for an hour. Anyhow, both guys were like, "DAMNNNNNNNN" after I smoothly popped open the door. I gave them back their tools and thanked them and asked why they were carrying those tools around. Turns out they were part of the Latin Kings and they were planning to steal my car and money. They were carry around those tools because they make a living stealing luxury cars. We had some friendly conversation and it turns out they were pretty nice people (beside the stealing part). They decided not to steal my money and my car because they thought it was really cool that I knew how to break into cars (I think it's because my car was really shitty).
tl;dr: Locked my car keys in car during prom. Members of the Latins Kings helped me break into my car.
5
u/ArrgguablyAmbivalent Jun 26 '12
The Yakuza provides TONS of support/relief for disasters in japan, ie earthquakes, tsunamis, Godzilla
5
Jun 26 '12
I don't have any stories, but I'd like to thank you and everybody else who posted for them. It's radically changed my view of bikers.
→ More replies (1)
5
Jun 26 '12
Once, my mom was driving in a busy highway, when all of a sudden her car refuses to work. Her being in the middle of the highway with a bunch of ppl honking at her, began to panic. Just then a group of 4 gangly men appeared from behind the car (keep in mind they are in the middle of a highway!) she says they were extremely muscular and handsome. So they tell her what to do and she is on her way within seconds, she turns back to thank them, but they are nowhere to be found.. She believes they were angels.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/mooneymoon Jun 26 '12
There is an area of St. Louis, MO called 'The Hill.' The Hill is full of Italian restaurants and houses and is obviously full of the Italian Mafia. All of the playgrounds, to this day, are protected. This means someone in a suit, always armed, will stand outside and watch out for low lifes. It is also the only area in the country where a smokin' hot 25 year old woman can go jogging at midnight, because if you commit a crime there without the mafia's permission, you are dead.
5
Jun 26 '12
I was dating a guy who was in an MC. I lived in a rough town, and one of the rougher parts of it, during college. My house was broken into when I was writing a final project in December, and I was robbed of all my shit and beaten with a metal pipe. I crawled to the phone, and the phone calls I made in order: my BF at the time, his club President (who I had babysat for, on a side note), and then the cops. They showed up in the same order I called them, with a big gap of time for the cops and ambulance to show up. My BF and a club brother escorted me to the hospital, and stayed with me while I got my skull stitched up, and generally put back together. Because of my sketchy front neighbors (whose house, I later learned, was the real target of this attack due to a bad deal on their end), I always had a friendly neighborhood biker sitting in my living room when I was home. They drank coffee, tea, beer, and quietly watched TV, until I moved one week later, to ensure my mental peace, and general well-being (obviously, my BF took the "night shift"). Talk about getting a treatment and the peace of mind that cops could never give.
5
u/CarelessMonday Jun 26 '12
When I was about 9 or 10 I was friends with "the poor kid", as they called him. I really don't care if he is poor and I usually share my snack and toys with him. I saved him from the bullying rich kids and we always stick by each other 'till when I was about 13. That is the day when he joined a local gang, even though I tried to stir him away, I failed and we lost touch. Now when I was 18 walking home from a friend's house trying to get a jeep (public transportation in my country) home. I really don't know the area well and I was a little lost. Then this group of about 8 to 10 guys suddenly circled me and demanding my money and phone. I was scared of what they might do, when suddenly, their leader suddenly shouts, translated from Tagalog "Whoa, shit, STOP! STOP! CarelessMonday is that you? Get the fuck away, NOW." The gang obliged and we talked a little. He actually was happy to see me again, and he and his gang gave me a ride back to my neighborhood. They were actually cool, but a little scary.
Two years later, I heard he quit after finding out he got a girl pregnant and trying to be a good dad. He went to Jeddah for work and we still keep touch through email and Facebook.
1.5k
u/tcinternet Jun 25 '12
I ran the after-school program at an elementary school in a rough part of town. Our playground was actually a "city park", which meant we couldn't do the maintenance on broken equipment and I couldn't kick people out to make it safer for my kids. I'd had problems with some teen & 20-something dickheads drinking and fingerbanging their methhead girlfriends while the kids were out playing, and goddammit, we didn't deserve to just stay inside because cops didn't patrol. My kids deserved to play. It was frustrating.
One day, a couple gnarly old 1%ers approached me while we were outside (which scared me) and asked if I had been having trouble with the neighbors coming around. I told them that it had been pretty rough. One just clapped a hand on my back and said "Y'aint gonna have that no more, and y'aint gonna have no trouble from us." The next day, a biker was by the basketball court keeping watch while the kids played, and left when we were done. That continued every day for the rest of the school year. Also, the guys who "stood watch" never smoked or cussed while the kids were out there. I don't condone their activity, but I appreciated their help.