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Old July 24, 2009, 01:04 PM   #1
Housezealot
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She Said "You don't know who your messin' with."

The other day my boss asked me to take the company lawn mower over to a place we do buisness with and mow their lawn. I was happy to do so as it got me out of the office for a few hours. The property I was mowing had a lot of pine trees were the grass was thin below and I was kicking up a lot of dust.
as I was loading the mower a woman came out of the building screaming that her car had got dusty (not damaged mind you, and barely dusty considering it was a black car) I appolagized and explained to her politely that the dust was behond my control but if I mowed there again I would knock and let her know so she could move her car.
she then exlaimed "you don't know who your messing with" and pulled out a little can of mace!
I was blown away, I was actually hoping she was going to mace me at that point, I would loved to see her explain to the police that she sprayed me for getting her car dusty.
and no I didn't call the police over the threat, I know I should have but my boss didn't want to make waves with the company as we do quite a bit of buisness with them.
oh yeah speaking of "you don't know who your messing with" I wonder how quick she would have been to pull that mace if she knew I was carrying a pistol?
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Old July 24, 2009, 01:06 PM   #2
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While I understand that you are venting about a frustrating incident, you may want to reconsider what you posted. While you may not have intended it, the implication is that you'd pull a gun on someone threatening you with mace just to win a p*ssing match. Not a great thing to post on a public forum.
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Old July 24, 2009, 01:25 PM   #3
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I infact did not pull my gun and never had any intention of doing so.
I am definetly not implying I would have pulled my gun or even considered
such a thing, I want to make that very clear. I'm just pointing out what a stupid move her actions were.
I'm sure there is a lot of idiots out there that would have though
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Old July 24, 2009, 01:30 PM   #4
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Quote:
While I understand that you are venting about a frustrating incident, you may want to reconsider what you posted. While you may not have intended it, the implication is that you'd pull a gun on someone threatening you with mace just to win a p*ssing match. Not a great thing to post on a public forum.
That was not the impression I received from the post at all. The OP was merely wondering if she would have been so brazenly threatening if she had known he was armed with a pistol.
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Old July 24, 2009, 01:31 PM   #5
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Quote:
While I understand that you are venting about a frustrating incident, you may want to reconsider what you posted. While you may not have intended it, the implication is that you'd pull a gun on someone threatening you with mace just to win a p*ssing match. Not a great thing to post on a public forum.
I didn't get any indication that the OP was willing to use the pistol. You must be alone.
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Old July 24, 2009, 02:01 PM   #6
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I try not to speculate about how others would behave if they knew I was armed (versus assuming I am unarmed). When all is said and done, it's really irrelevant - people behave however they behave, and I act and react accordingly (of course, I do my utmost to avoid any behavior which someone else might find confrontational).
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Old July 24, 2009, 02:05 PM   #7
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The world is full of dumbasses.

You should have maced her!

("Mace unto others before they mace unto you...")
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Old July 24, 2009, 02:05 PM   #8
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I bet if you were open carrying she would not even have confronted you. Not saying subtle intimidation is a good thing, but 95% of the peope out there who are looking for someone to mess with are going to pick someone without a pistol on their hip.
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Old July 24, 2009, 02:08 PM   #9
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oh yeah speaking of "you don't know who your messing with" I wonder how quick she would have been to pull that mace if she knew I was carrying a pistol?
Well it sounded like one-upmanship to me but apparently I'm the only one so I will simply apologize and let it be.

Sorry.
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Old July 24, 2009, 02:15 PM   #10
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Gun, Knife, Mace; Still an Aggravated Assault in most jurisdictions.
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:23 PM   #11
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Zespectre,
I suppose if my post wasn't read carefully you could have got that opinion from the title, I simply thought it was ironic that she would declare that I didn't know who I was messin with becuse she had mace.
I'm actually glad you pointed it out so I could clarify
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:28 PM   #12
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I was blown away, I was actually hoping she was going to mace me at that point...
Why? So you would have an excuse to use your gun on her??

Why do we encourage people to carry a weapon in the first place? To empower them! One of the most common things seen on these forums is, "I am not going to be a victim."

There are also a lot of "My wife is afraid of guns" topics and one of the most common answers is that if someone is either not physically capable of handling a gun or is not comfortable with the possibility of killing someone, then the should at least carry can can of pepper spray or mace. The whole idea is to stop an attacker and she was more than ready to do so.

You posed a threat to her. She doesn't know what a fine upstanding law-abiding citizen you are. She did exactly the right thing. You are just lucky she backed off.

To finish off with your sentence I started with:
Quote:
...I would loved to see her explain to the police that she sprayed me for getting her car dusty.
Maybe she is one of these people who was willing to take her chances and "would rather be tried by twelve than carried by six" as so many here say!

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Old July 24, 2009, 03:31 PM   #13
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how did I pose a threat to her? I was nothing but polite even after she threatend to mace me.
I think you answered your own question, I would like to have seen her face legal consequences of having maced someone over nothing.
I'll ask again what threat did I pose? she came running out screaming at me, had she aproached me rationaly I may have even given her a couple bucks to get her car washed.
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:34 PM   #14
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I've got to say, Scott, you pretty much invented that entire interpretation out of thin air. No justification for your response whatsoever.

Quote:
You posed a threat to her.
How? By mowing the lawn?

Quote:
Quote:
I was blown away, I was actually hoping she was going to mace me at that point...
Why? So you would have an excuse to use your gun on her??
No, he explained why:

Quote:
I would loved to see her explain to the police that she sprayed me for getting her car dusty.
Step back a little and READ, people. Not "read between the lines" read THE LINES... you know, what the guy actually said?
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:36 PM   #15
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I want to apologize to every one for getting there hackles up.
I did not post this trying to start an argument (but thanks to everybody that saw it from my point of view anyhow)
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:38 PM   #16
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Wrong angle

Quote:
Why do we encourage people to carry a weapon in the first place? To empower them! One of the most common things seen on these forums is, "I am not going to be a victim."

There are also a lot of "My wife is afraid of guns" topics and one of the most common answers is that if someone is either not physically capable of handling a gun or is not comfortable with the possibility of killing someone, then the should at least carry can can of pepper spray or mace. The whole idea is to stop an attacker and she was more than ready to do so.
Scott: I submit that you have this backwards. She was brandishing a weapon in the absence of a threat, aside from the dusty car. She was not being attacked but rather was threatening the OP as if he were attacking her. Behavior like that with a gun is illegal, stupid, and dangerous, and even the hotheads who post and posture on these pages generally know you shouldn't brandish.

The irony is obvious, and i think the story is kind of funny (since the OP didn't actually get maced - it sucks, big time) and she didn't have to go to jail for assaulting him. Geez, i know he should have mowed the grass more carefully and all but...
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:40 PM   #17
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I would have called the police, and done everything in my power to see her prosecuted. Not making waves for the boss ends when someone threatens me.
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:41 PM   #18
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How did you pose a threat to her? She doesn't know you from Adam and you got her car dirty. She had no way of knowing that you work for your family business (see, I do read other posts!) and was just doing what your boss (most likely a relative) asked you to do. To her, you were probably just some punk kid cutting grass.

Did she go a little too far? Absolutely. But we do tell people to be situationally aware and maybe, just maybe, the fact that you disrespected her property made the little hairs on the back of her neck stand up and she took action.

You know you weren't doing anything wrong, but she didn't. Maybe she had a bad experience in the past which may be why she had the mace in the first place.

Just because you carry a gun doesn't always make you right!

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Old July 24, 2009, 03:43 PM   #19
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Maybe she is one of these people who was willing to take her chances and "would rather be tried by twelve than carried by six" as so many here say!
Uhh... we're talking about dust on a car here... I can fix that with a hose and a rag for free.

The whole "you don't know who you're messin' with" bit is neither here nor there. The fact is that she overreacted in a big way. I'm thankful that mace is all she's carrying, if she had a gun she would be a PR disaster for gun owners waiting to happen.

Edit:
Quote:
I would have called the police, and done everything in my power to see her prosecuted. Not making waves for the boss ends when someone threatens me.
+1
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:43 PM   #20
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scott, I think you may just be the devils advocate my friend.
and as for the post your refering to she definetly would have had reason to be concerned then. got to tip my hat you there, glad those two things didn;t occur on the same day!
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:45 PM   #21
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How did you pose a threat to her? She doesn't know you from Adam and you got her car dirty. She had no way of knowing that you work for your family business (see, I do read other posts!) and was just doing what your boss (most likely a relative) asked you to do. To her, you were probably just some punk kid cutting grass.
What world do you live in that such a thing could be considered a threat? I'm usually pretty soft spoken and gentle about things but you're just being ridiculous.
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:48 PM   #22
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scott, I think you may just be the devils advocate my friend.
Well for some of you (I think most of you) here who have read my posts on TFL, that's my job. My whole point was that it is possible, gun ownership aside, that we are not always the one who feels threatened. Obviously she never had the benefit a CCW class or she would have known about brandishing.

It is not up to us to tell make that judgement call for her and determine what is a threat and what isn't.

Bless her heart and I bet you don't mess with her again! Maybe you should go over there in proper business attire with some sort of peace offering from your company?

And for peetzakilla:
Quote:
What world do you live in that such a thing could be considered a threat?
In my world, that isn't a very serious offense, but you have no way of knowing what this woman has gone through in the past. Just because you wouldn't feel threatened, you can not make that judgement call for someone else. Obviously she carries mace for a reason and you don't know what that reason is, do you? Its that whole "Walk a mile in their shoes" thing and you don't know that woman from Eve!

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Old July 24, 2009, 03:52 PM   #23
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It is not up to us to tell make that judgement call for her and determine what is a threat and what isn't.
Yes, it really is, or at least it certainly can be. Any given person can't just decide that any given thing is a threat to them. That is completely nonsensical. A dirty car is not a threat in ANY WORLD. I don't care if she thinks it is or not. If she does, she's WRONG.


Quote:
In my world, that isn't a very serious offense, but you have no way of knowing what this woman has gone through in the past.
There is no excuse that could cause a dirty car to be a threat. NONE. ZERO. NADA. Her past is irrelevant. Some things can NOT be justified, regardless.


Threat:
menace: something that is a source of danger; "earthquakes are a constant threat in Japan"
a warning that something unpleasant is imminent; "they were under threat of arrest"
declaration of an intention or a determination to inflict harm on another; "his threat to kill me was quite explicit"
terror: a person who inspires fear or dread; "he was the terror of the neighborhood"

Threaten:
threaten - endanger: pose a threat to; present a danger to; "The pollution is endangering the crops"
threaten - to utter intentions of injury or punishment against:"He threatened me when I tried to call the police"
threaten - to be a menacing indication of something:"The clouds threaten rain"; "Danger threatens"
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Old July 24, 2009, 03:58 PM   #24
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If she REALLY felt threatened....

she wouldn't have run out of her house to confront a strange man. If I'm in my house and there is someone outside it that I feel threatened by...I call the cops. Only once they start coming into my house (or, in this case, even enter my property), thats when I take action personally.
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Old July 24, 2009, 04:03 PM   #25
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Quote:
How did you pose a threat to her? She doesn't know you from Adam and you got her car dirty.
You could take a leak on her hood and it still would not be posing a physical threat. Granted, that would not be a fun place to get maced
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