The other day ago, a very dear friend of mine related a story to me that was humorous, because I know her, but also fairly alarming to me.
She had gone to WallyWorld (Oh Boy! It's our favorite place for scary encounters!!) to fill a prescription for her young daughter. There was to be a substantial wait, during which time Gramma offered to take Daughter to the truck so she could rest. Upon asking- again- when the script would be ready, my friend decided to go and gather other supplies at another store, and return in an hour to get the medication.
Now, let me describe my friend to you. She is six feet tall, lean, strong as an ox, and known to be incredibly creative, determined, and take NO crap from ANYONE. She walked on out of the store, into the parking lot- with an expression of determination/ stress/ tiredness/ etc on her face.
And some crazy dude (he had to be crazy. Who in their RIGHT MIND would approach a six foot tall woman who looked pissed off?) accosted her- stepped directly in her path of travel, got all too close to her, and asked, "Are you a Democrat or a Republican?"
Remember when I said my friend was creative?
Her reply to Crazy Man was, "I'm a convicted felon." She also slid her hand into her purse, as if putting a hand on her pistol.
Now after I got done busting a gut laughing at her convicted felon line, (she isn't,) I thought about the story some more and found a few things to be quite alarming.
1) If someone is THAT DETERMINED to approach you, He Has A Purpose and May Not Be Operating Alone. A quick check of your surroundings is well in order.
2) She was unarmed. I am quite uncomfortable with a bluff. This time, that and her answer and physical bearing served her well to back the Creepy Determined Man off. But what if she had been a 5' 4" tall, soft looking blonde, who also tried the bluff and it didn't work?
3) Purse Carry. I. Hate. It. If you are going to carry, carry it ON you. Where you can get your gun with speed. (But to be fair, I also detest purses and refuse to carry one.)
(Again- WalMart corporate policy is allow carry, but prefer it concealed.)
I know what *I'd* have done in this instance-- but I'd like to see a bit of discussion from readers on YOUR plan of action.
-Would you stop? Keep going? Go faster?
-Do you look around?
-Have cell phone in hand to speed dial 911?
-Go back to the store and request an escort?
-Tell the encroaching potential threat to f*ck off?
-Report to management that there is a nut in the parking lot accosting shoppers?
-Wait for the "security" car to drive by?
(I SO have issue with the "security" patrols provided here. Don't know about the rest of the Wallyworld shopping populace, but if someone is providing SECURITY, please--- do not be 300#. Do not sit in vehicle, with windows rolled up, BluTooth thing jammed in your ear, radio going, driving about looking as if you were Lost In Space. Do I feel "secure" with you chumbawumbas "protecting" me? HELL NO! Which would be why I choose to protect MYSELF.)
Come on folks- let's hear what YOUR plan would be. Let's get a good educational discussion going.
5 comments:
Tell the encroaching threat to f*ck off. That's what I would have done and I'm 5' 1/2". Thanks to Crazy B, I have the confidence to do it, too. The bad guy may kill me, but I'm not going down without a fight, by God, and there WILL be some of the bad guy's DNA under my nails, between my teeth, you name it, I'm gonna cover myself in it if he's going to kill me.
I recommend basic martial arts training for everyone as supplement to CCW. Having a weapon is always better than not; but, under the given scenario (unarmed in a parking lot with no obvious weapons in view - yours or theirs), surprise is your best friend. Say nothing, YELL LOUD, hit hard, fast and often with what you got (knees and elbows work really well here) to soft targets (groin, solar plexus, wind pipe, stepping on the attacker's knee, etc.). Disengage when the threat is down and move out fast to the nearest crowd (i.e. back to the store) to call the police.
Of course, if it's election day and some one is asking you that in a parking lot near a polling station, the convicted felon line works too.
Not sure if I am allowed (as a male) to comment here...But...
if he was wearing a flower behind his ear, and added "have you ever squealed like a pig".
I am absolutely positive, that my mind would have sprung into high alert. And after taking a quick glance around to see if there were any more perps dressed in hot pink,
with glamor shoes....
I would probably of been doubled over and laughing so hard that I would be completely at the mercy of the weirdo....
But then if he would of been sizing up my woman and looking lewd at her, I would of just probably pulled out my gun and shot the bast@rd...
Just saying....
Mr. Daddy - of course you're allowed to comment; especially since you're so protective of Rach and Itty Bit.
Gun Diva: you're 5' 1/2"?? DUUUUUUDEEE that makes me feel better!! Haha!! I think if someone steps in front of you, you can't ignore them and keep going. If they're being aggressive like that, I would yell, cuss, fight, whatever it took to get away from him. I remember reading that yelling and cussing at an attacker can really stop them, because most women (soft women) don't cuss or yell or have any substance to them so to speak. I have no qualms about cussing someone out, although I talk clean in ordinary situations... ALSO, before I took any drastic action such as getting in a fight I would make SURE they were being aggressive, and it wasn't election day and I misunderstood something. I like the convicted felon line :)
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