The trick is do not “buck the jack” meaning simply “give it up” when any hoodlum, especially a juvenile, sticks a gun in your face and says, “Give it up!” What most victims just do not understand is the “code of the street”.
If the victim “bucks” (hesitates) and the robber does not react to the hesitation of the victim, well, the robber has been “dissed” or disrespected and thus the robber loses face amongst his criminal peers because any hesitation whatsoever by the victim shows disrespect in the robbers’ eyes according to the “code of the street”. Losing face amongst your peers on the street is a fatal character flaw and is a sign of weakness. It is considered a sin, according to the “code of the street”, to look weak and not have victims take you seriously especially in front of your carjacking, purse snatching partners in crime.
Consequently, those who “buck the jack” or hesitate oftentimes get shot on the spot no matter if the victim gives up the goods or not! Of course, then the victims, ignorant of the “code of the street”, always report that after they gave up the goods or their belongings that they got shot anyway for no apparent reason. However, what they forgot and did not understand is that they hesitated “before” they gave it up and thus got shot.
SUPPLEMENTAL SOURCE: MIAMI HERALD NEWSPAPER JUNE 14, 1997