Fu or Kharma?

Sir William · January 21, 2006, 10:13 PM

I MUST have an out of alignment star or something. I and a lady friend went to the Olive Garden for lunch. We then hit a few gun stores and went to the Kentucky Oaks mall in Paducah, KY. We were just minding our OWN business and shopping for DVDs/CDs. I am looking for The Scarlet Claw with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. I had my hair stand up on my neck. I begin scanning the area. There is a teenager staring at me. Grunge and the torn jeans youth uniform. I decide I will maintain eye contact. We stare at each other for a couple of minutes until I decided it was time to GO! I took my lady friend by the elbow and told her that we were leaving. She went right along. I used a parabolic mirror to check our 6. The grunge teen is right on our heels! I thought that a little icky. I switched my lady friend to my weak side and placed my hand under my fleece vest to be able to reach my Walther PP 32. My lady friend knew something was up at this point. Grunge teen actually began fastwalking and caught up with us at the exit. I was about to ask the door greeter to call security. Three Best Buy staff just popped up like a genie from a bottle, grabbed the space around grunge teen and told him in a commanding voice any PI DI would rspect to come with them. He did. I took my lady friend on and we almost collided with a LEO standing outside. We simply left the area in a hurry. I have no idea if it was a shoplifter, a stupid teen trick or what. The question I do have is simple. Did I overreact by covering my CCW? The eye contact and subsequent following made ME feel uneasy/icky/threatened enough to LEAVE NOW! I did proceed to an exit and planned to report the grunge teen and his unusual actions. I did NOT expose my CCW or make a effort to draw, I simply placed my hand under my fleec sweater to have a ready position. What Would You Do?

DimitriS · January 21, 2006, 10:36 PM

Sir William,

I've read your posts and havnt commented but this one takes the cake! MOVE!

Seriously, you've been shot at twice in the last couple of weeks, you're getting watched in stores, whats up ??

As for you going to draw, good for you, I mean after what has happend in the last month becoming edgy about everything makes sense to me. I'd be edgy too about everything.

If all 3 things happend to me I'd move about 500 miles away.

PS I dont belive in faith/karma/destiny or any other way someone wants to name it

Dimitri

Ronny · January 21, 2006, 10:45 PM

Sir William,

You, sir, have crappy luck!

I wouldn't have engaged in a staring contest with the perp, but other than that you followed your gut instinct and moved. That was definitely the best decision, along with moving your lady friend to your weak side and readying your weapon.

Quote:

The eye contact and subsequent following made ME feel uneasy/icky/threatened enough to LEAVE NOW!

Can you imagine how you'd have felt if you didn't have a weapon

jburtonpdx · January 21, 2006, 10:56 PM

I think you are just spending all your bad luck and getting it out of the way... Should be smooth sailing now! (heh, uhm dont believe that)

as far as critique - hmm
Your are paying attention to what is going on around you, noticed a problem and took action. You and your girlfriend are still alive and not hurt - you did good.

Now back to your luck - I hope you carry a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, extra cell phone battery, spare tire, can of fix a flat, tow rope, drinking water, spare gasoline (dont get that confused with the water), map, compass, whistle, ham radio, batterys and flashlight, .... etc....

Fremmer · January 21, 2006, 11:08 PM

Yer freakin' me out, maaaan......!!!

CarlosDJackal · January 21, 2006, 11:30 PM

A friend gave me a book titled: "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin De Becker. I recommend that people read it to get a better understanding of what a "sixth sense" really means.

IMHO, you did the right thing by listening to your inner self. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it is a heck of a lot better to be safe than sorry!! Stay safe!!

joab · January 21, 2006, 11:55 PM

You identified a situation assessed the threat and acted accordingly and stood down when the threat did not materialize. Nothing wrong with that

nothing wrong with a little good natured stare down either, it will deescalate more situations than it will escalate.
You just leave that part out of the police report, if filed

Capt. Charlie · January 22, 2006, 12:22 AM

Well Sir, the old saying goes, trouble comes in threes, so hopefully, trouble will look for someone else now

. Hand on weapon, absolutely positively for-surely yes!! I often carry my Walther PPK/S in an inside vest pocket (puffy, doesn't print), and I've done the "folded arm(d)" thing numerous times with my hand casually inside the vest, on the gun. To anyone else, it just looks like my arms are folded (hey, I'm just cold!

) All pluses and no minuses on that one!

Mikeyboy · January 23, 2006, 12:17 PM

Sir William...I lived in some bad areas and over the course of my lifetime I had less close calls than you...Time to move.

#18indycolts · January 23, 2006, 12:21 PM

William you keep using the phrase "lady friend", I take it that you're a Big Lebowski fan? "Hey, I didn't mean to interrupt you and your special lady." "She's not my special lady, she's my lady friend, man!"

Derius_T · January 23, 2006, 12:47 PM

Glad you got out ok Sir William. Sometimes we have no warning other than that 'bad feeling'. That thing that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Sometimes you find a reason, sometimes you don't. Just LISTEN to that feeling every time. I think you acted accordingly. You're ALIVE right?

sterno · January 23, 2006, 09:12 PM

That's really weird! Bad Gris-Gris.

Did you do something bad to anyone recently? Let's hope that "Comes in three's" thing is true.

pickpocket · January 23, 2006, 09:28 PM

Sir William -
You don't have to move, my friend. You need to trade up your Walther for some body armor and an MP5

Stay safe!

Dwight55 · January 23, 2006, 10:53 PM

It is always easy to monday morning quarterback any situation, . . . and I don't want to really do that here. My question, . . . why do you suppose the kid was following you?

Do you look like a victim or something? Do you look like a loaded mark? Is there something he connected with that makes you look like easy street? Please don't think I am trying to run you down, . . . I am just trying to see why stupid did what stupid does.

I would have a couple of my friends (if I were you) help me assess the situation and see if they can come up with any suggestions. I would also go back to the Best Buy and find out all I could about this perp. Something was going on in his little acid head, . . . and it may not be over yet. He may have you figured for a bad debt some time back, . . . or your lady friend as someone from his past he needs to see again, . . . and neither of them has to have a grain of truth for him to fester up a case against you through his grunge and his zits.

Be careful, . . . look into it, . . . can't hurt a thing to find out the info.

May God bless,
Dwight

PS: I think you showed a whole lot more restraint than I would have. I'd have probably done a couple of aisle shifts, . . . and if he just kept following me, . . . well, . . . . . .

Sir William · January 23, 2006, 11:33 PM

I did check. Shoplifter. Expensive games. He thought he could blend in with us and scoot out of the store. Their security had him IDd when he entered and had been tracking him, that is why the LEO was at the exit. I couldn't get anymore out of the security for typical confidential information reasons. I am going to go yellow for a month and see what I notice. There was an attempted kidnapping today according to the news.

January 22, 2006, 12:22 AM	#8
Capt. Charlie Moderator Emeritus Join Date: March 24, 2005 Location: Steubenville, OH Posts: 4,446	Well Sir, the old saying goes, trouble comes in threes, so hopefully, trouble will look for someone else now . Hand on weapon, absolutely positively for-surely yes!! I often carry my Walther PPK/S in an inside vest pocket (puffy, doesn't print), and I've done the "folded arm(d)" thing numerous times with my hand casually inside the vest, on the gun. To anyone else, it just looks like my arms are folded (hey, I'm just cold! ) All pluses and no minuses on that one! __________________ TFL Members are ambassadors to the world for firearm owners. What kind of ambassador does *your* post make *you?* I train in earnest, to do the things that I pray in earnest, I'll never have to do. --Capt. Charlie

January 21, 2006, 10:13 PM	#1
Sir William Senior Member Join Date: October 13, 2004 Posts: 3,261	Fu or Kharma? I MUST have an out of alignment star or something. I and a lady friend went to the Olive Garden for lunch. We then hit a few gun stores and went to the Kentucky Oaks mall in Paducah, KY. We were just minding our OWN business and shopping for DVDs/CDs. I am looking for The Scarlet Claw with Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes. I had my hair stand up on my neck. I begin scanning the area. There is a teenager staring at me. Grunge and the torn jeans youth uniform. I decide I will maintain eye contact. We stare at each other for a couple of minutes until I decided it was time to GO! I took my lady friend by the elbow and told her that we were leaving. She went right along. I used a parabolic mirror to check our 6. The grunge teen is right on our heels! I thought that a little icky. I switched my lady friend to my weak side and placed my hand under my fleece vest to be able to reach my Walther PP 32. My lady friend knew something was up at this point. Grunge teen actually began fastwalking and caught up with us at the exit. I was about to ask the door greeter to call security. Three Best Buy staff just popped up like a genie from a bottle, grabbed the space around grunge teen and told him in a commanding voice any PI DI would rspect to come with them. He did. I took my lady friend on and we almost collided with a LEO standing outside. We simply left the area in a hurry. I have no idea if it was a shoplifter, a stupid teen trick or what. The question I do have is simple. Did I overreact by covering my CCW? The eye contact and subsequent following made ME feel uneasy/icky/threatened enough to LEAVE NOW! I did proceed to an exit and planned to report the grunge teen and his unusual actions. I did NOT expose my CCW or make a effort to draw, I simply placed my hand under my fleec sweater to have a ready position. What Would You Do?

January 21, 2006, 10:36 PM	#2
DimitriS Senior Member Join Date: August 14, 2005 Location: Anywhere in Ontario, Canada Posts: 626	Sir William, I've read your posts and havnt commented but this one takes the cake! MOVE! Seriously, you've been shot at twice in the last couple of weeks, you're getting watched in stores, whats up ?? As for you going to draw, good for you, I mean after what has happend in the last month becoming edgy about everything makes sense to me. I'd be edgy too about everything. If all 3 things happend to me I'd move about 500 miles away. PS I dont belive in faith/karma/destiny or any other way someone wants to name it Dimitri

January 21, 2006, 10:56 PM	#4
jburtonpdx Senior Member Join Date: February 22, 2005 Posts: 267	I think you are just spending all your bad luck and getting it out of the way... Should be smooth sailing now! (heh, uhm dont believe that) as far as critique - hmm Your are paying attention to what is going on around you, noticed a problem and took action. You and your girlfriend are still alive and not hurt - you did good. Now back to your luck - I hope you carry a first aid kit, fire extinguisher, extra cell phone battery, spare tire, can of fix a flat, tow rope, drinking water, spare gasoline (dont get that confused with the water), map, compass, whistle, ham radio, batterys and flashlight, .... etc....

January 21, 2006, 11:08 PM	#5
Fremmer Senior Member Join Date: June 19, 2005 Location: Nebraska Posts: 3,482	Yer freakin' me out, maaaan......!!!

January 21, 2006, 11:30 PM	#6
CarlosDJackal Senior Member Join Date: May 25, 2004 Location: Central Virginia Posts: 109	A friend gave me a book titled: "The Gift of Fear" by Gavin De Becker. I recommend that people read it to get a better understanding of what a "sixth sense" really means. IMHO, you did the right thing by listening to your inner self. Even if it turns out to be nothing, it is a heck of a lot better to be safe than sorry!! Stay safe!!

January 21, 2006, 11:55 PM	#7
joab Senior Member Join Date: November 17, 2002 Location: Orl Fla Posts: 3,254	You identified a situation assessed the threat and acted accordingly and stood down when the threat did not materialize. Nothing wrong with that nothing wrong with a little good natured stare down either, it will deescalate more situations than it will escalate. You just leave that part out of the police report, if filed

January 23, 2006, 12:17 PM	#9
Mikeyboy Senior Member Join Date: October 31, 2005 Posts: 1,231	Sir William...I lived in some bad areas and over the course of my lifetime I had less close calls than you...Time to move.

January 23, 2006, 12:21 PM	#10
#18indycolts Junior member Join Date: January 3, 2006 Location: Indpls Posts: 1,159	William you keep using the phrase "lady friend", I take it that you're a Big Lebowski fan? "Hey, I didn't mean to interrupt you and your special lady." "She's not my special lady, she's my lady friend, man!"

January 23, 2006, 12:47 PM	#11
Derius_T Senior Member Join Date: November 29, 2004 Location: South West OHIO (boondocks) Posts: 1,337	Glad you got out ok Sir William. Sometimes we have no warning other than that 'bad feeling'. That thing that makes the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Sometimes you find a reason, sometimes you don't. Just LISTEN to that feeling every time. I think you acted accordingly. You're ALIVE right?

January 23, 2006, 09:12 PM	#12
sterno Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2005 Location: South Louisiana Posts: 362	That's really weird! Bad Gris-Gris. Did you do something bad to anyone recently? Let's hope that "Comes in three's" thing is true.

January 23, 2006, 09:28 PM	#13
pickpocket Senior Member Join Date: January 6, 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 570	Sir William - You don't have to move, my friend. You need to trade up your Walther for some body armor and an MP5 Stay safe!

January 23, 2006, 10:53 PM	#14
Dwight55 Senior Member Join Date: June 18, 2004 Location: Central Ohio Posts: 2,568	It is always easy to monday morning quarterback any situation, . . . and I don't want to really do that here. My question, . . . why do you suppose the kid was following you? Do you look like a victim or something? Do you look like a loaded mark? Is there something he connected with that makes you look like easy street? Please don't think I am trying to run you down, . . . I am just trying to see why stupid did what stupid does. I would have a couple of my friends (if I were you) help me assess the situation and see if they can come up with any suggestions. I would also go back to the Best Buy and find out all I could about this perp. Something was going on in his little acid head, . . . and it may not be over yet. He may have you figured for a bad debt some time back, . . . or your lady friend as someone from his past he needs to see again, . . . and neither of them has to have a grain of truth for him to fester up a case against you through his grunge and his zits. Be careful, . . . look into it, . . . can't hurt a thing to find out the info. May God bless, Dwight PS: I think you showed a whole lot more restraint than I would have. I'd have probably done a couple of aisle shifts, . . . and if he just kept following me, . . . well, . . . . . .

January 23, 2006, 11:33 PM	#15
Sir William Senior Member Join Date: October 13, 2004 Posts: 3,261	I did check. Shoplifter. Expensive games. He thought he could blend in with us and scoot out of the store. Their security had him IDd when he entered and had been tracking him, that is why the LEO was at the exit. I couldn't get anymore out of the security for typical confidential information reasons. I am going to go yellow for a month and see what I notice. There was an attempted kidnapping today according to the news.