GO AHEAD, I'VE HAD A BAD DAY...

Ok, so I'm parking near where I work and CMA is going on. First, the machine tells me it's $30 instead of $10. All the while this wino wants to help me run the machine and then starts his spiel. Wrong guy, wrong day. I finally turned to him and loudly said to him "Get out of my face, go panhandle somebody else." He got indignant and started arguing with me at which point I told him to get lost. He did go away but it bothered me later that it didn't run through my mind anything defensive if it had gotten ugly. Old guy already inebriated but still... Fortunately he found me on a bad day and apparently my "I'll rip your face off" tone of voice was sufficient. I'm normally not as forceful but you know, "Get out of my face" in no uncertain terms is probably as good a response as any.

Catoosa would be proud.

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I don't know what it is but every now and then there is a look. Folks who make their "living" by stealing or intimidation best learn to recognize it.

Know what you mean about thinking too late about defensive situations. Reminds me of the summer night I awoke to yelling and pounding on my door. I came downstairs to find an inebriated man yelling at my wife (long story). I took over and the situation ended without issue. Later, it FINALLY occurred to me it might've been a good idea to be armed...sheesh. Lesson learned I hope.

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A few years ago, I had the occasion to be in a stop & rob on the wrong side of Omaha. I was in a foul mood at the time. I had just driven up from Lincoln at night, and wasn't happy about it. Anyway, so I'm in the checkout line, and this rail thin black (ahem) gentleman came in, obviously stoned out of his mind. He starts sizing everybody in the place up, with a goofy smile on his face. He looks at the people, then looks at the door, then looks at the cashier, and his smile gets bigger, it looked to me like we were about to get robbed. Then he made eye contact with me. I was giving him my most congenial "mess with me, and I'll rip out your heart, and roast it on a stick, then eat it" look. He stopped dead still, then stammered to the cashier, "where's your phone"? I continued to gaze lovingly at him, and he ran out the door, into the night. I guess I need to brush up on my benevolent idiot face. I lose more puddytats that way...

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hardware store: edge of the ghetto/decaying Victorian neighborhood. After my first 'held-up' I armed myself. About a week later a kid came in and kinda nervously was standing at the counter. From my seat at the bench, I asked what he needed. He fidgeted a bit, then blurted out, "This is a holdup".

I had vowed never to lay on a floor again, waiting to be shot or not. His announcement turned me ice-cold. I moved not a muscle -- but looked him dead in the eye. For a very long slow instant he looked back, then suddenly said, "I was just kidding!!!" and left quickly.

I kinda sat there for a moment absorbing the event, when one of the other employees turned to me and said, "Man, I hope you never ever look at me, like you looked at him."

So, yeah, sometimes.

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Sometimes that's all it takes, a look that transmits "You picked the wrong one to pick on" in no uncertain terms. Unfortunately, you can't depend on looks getting through all the time. So far it's worked for me, hope that's all it ever takes.

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Pocket quite effectively. And yes there was a pistol in there at the time

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The only time I've ever pulled a weapon down here it was a knife, and that was to let the pitbull's owners know that it was NOT going to touch my beagle. It sensed something as well, but was still too focused on my dog. They called it back immediately. A couple other times all I've had to do is look at folks. Be polite, but ready for anything. One was a guy who asked for a coin - with a knife in his hand. A polite refusal sent him on his way. The other time it was a kid who thought he'd nab a camera or cell phone from a bunch of tourists I was shepherding 'round town. When he quit looking at the sheep long enough to see the sheepdog staring at him he changed his mind.

Predators can usually tell who's ready to bite back and who'll just roll over and play 'possum.

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I used to park right across the street from the mission in downtown Nashville. The winos and other trolls would congregate by the parking lot in the late afternoon waiting for the doors to open. For some poor guys, walking down to that lot was like walking a gauntlet of "forceful solicitation". Some even quit parking there because of the harassment. Strangely, they would virtually ignore me. I didn't try to act belligerent or anything, I suppose it was just street instinct that told them they would get nothing from me.

Well, here's a coincidence. The 10:00 news just came on, and the lead story was about a guy who walked into a Mt. Juliet stop-n-rob and found a 17 year old punk holding a knife on the clerk. The fellow used "command voice" and his own rather imposing appearance to persuade the kid to drop the knife and sit down until the cops got there. GOOD ON HIM!

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That "command voice" does work well most times, doesn't it......

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and don't judge not knowing what put them there. That normally keeps me out of gunfights with them.

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But neither do I intend to feed their habit. This guy was alread stoned a 7 am. If I gave money around here I'd be broke in short order - it'd be like feeding seagulls at the beach.

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