Familial and systemic abuse growing up. When I began getting old enough to stand up to my stepmother's constant physical and mental abuse, I was accused of serious delinquency, my protests were not believed, and I was put first in a mental ward and then into a group home. I was frequently beaten up there and in school until an older kid who was a friend and mentor taught me how to defend myself.
Later in life I lived in a dangerous part of town, lots of meth heads and other nasty folk living there. You had to be ready to defend yourself at any time, including at night when you were asleep. I had to break up fights in the place I worked without getting involved myself. Later on in life I've mostly devoted myself to deescalating things and spotting trouble coming.
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