Two men came at me in the Parking Lot Tonite!

[marksiwel]

I was loading Groceries with my wife, when two White Males in their early 20s approached us from the dark.
I quickly undid the saftey on my pepper spray, and moved my shirt so I could reach for my Browning (Glock holster is in the mail)
They said something and reached into their pockets...
They handed me a Church of Latter Day Saints DVD asking if they could come buy and talk to me and my wife
Whew it was a close one
I declined said No thank you but good luck, and sent them on thier way.

Got my Blood pumping though.

[Lumberjack98]

Good situational awareness, however I'm surprised that you let them get that close to you.

I kind of had something similar happen at a gas station and decided that I would never let someone get that close to me again without drawing some serious attention to the situation.

[glbedd53]

Might should have told them about all of us jumpy CHL holders out there. Especially at night when we are with our wives. Might have saved their lives.

[suthdj]

Might should have told them about all of us jumpy CHL holders out there. Especially at night when we are with our wives. Might have saved their lives.

Didnt you know the lord will protect them or bring them home either way it is win win for them.

[coog83]

I vowed to get a CHL five and a half years ago, when my mom was visiting the wife and I in Denton. She had gone out to gas her car up at the Exxon right outside of UNT on 35E, when two early 20s males sent a young woman off to try to sell my mom "perfume," which she quickly identified was most probably cloroform(sp?) and told her to stay away from her, because she was allergic to perfume. This was in 2004, and my mom was driving a one year old Infiniti G35 at the time, when they had first come out. She had recently read an email that sounded like urban legend, about people peddling perfume, which was really cloroform in order to rob you in parking lots. After she told the girl she was allergic, all three quickly got in their vehicle and sped off. The bottom line is, as everyone else says, "situational awareness." I think that goes a long way in staying alive.

[Medic218]

Yeah, better watch out for those Mormons on thier missions...they're a motley crew....

[mctowalot]

These guys could have been scoping you and yours out in order to rob you (or worse). It's common for them to have a cover story - in this case handing you the dvd. It's possible that because you put off an "I can defend myself" vibe they pulled the dvd out of their pocket instead of a weapon.
What's scary is the thought that some very nice but not so situational aware people might fall for these guys "invitation" and let them into their home.
Dvds are cheap and badguys have no limit on how low they will stoop to trick their victims.
That Browning may have protected you after all.

[PSLOwner]

Wow, that is scary....... not just for your safety, but imagine the aftermath if the situation had gotten out of hand or a horrible accient occured.

I am shocked that anyone approaches people like that...... pure intentions or not, they have to know that is stupid.

[shortysboy09]

I am shocked that anyone approaches people like that...... pure intentions or not, they have to know that is stupid.

I am shocked as well. I never just walk up to people in the dark like that. The other person never knows your intentions and you are just asking for trouble if you slip up on a stranger like they did.

Why the heck were they on church business that late in the day? Marksiwel said it was dark, so that tells me it was past 8 o'clock. The two mens story sounds fishy to me at best and I think Marksiwel's posture may have discouraged them from their real intentions. Good job buddy I say.

[driver8]

This isn't the 1950's. The days of approaching people you don't know at night are long past. I think it's more likely than not that they were not who they said they were. If they were, they need to be educated before they get a toe tag.

[marksiwel]

It was a Real DVD btw, I think maybe they were legit, I saw them walk into the Store after-wards, also they took our cart back for us. I just think they were Dangerously unaware of how other people may see their intentions.

[PeteCamp]

I don't know of, nor have I ever seen, any Mormons doing anything but door to door. They want to know who is a prospect and base return visits on your home address and response. They lose any possibility of that doing walk ups in a parking lot. It really isn't hard to get Mormon materials to hand out, so authenticity cannot be based on that. I think you were real lucky.

BTW Mark ... Did they have name tags on? All of them now are required to wear those tags so they have a better chance at an audience at the door. Their manner of dress is also a pretty good indicator of who they are. I'll say it again, I think you may have been very lucky indeed.

[bdickens]

[SQLGeek]

I've been approached several times by LDS Missionaries while out in public. They certainly do not just go door to door.

[dubya]

Perhaps I rely to much on how I feel the people "look". Clean cut would likely get up to me. Scraggly looking not.

As to LDS, my experience is they seem to like to go up and talk to people in public a lot now. Perhaps they feel it is less threatening.
Several times in my neighborhood park I have had them come up. Last couple times it has been 2 young women each time (they have to be older to go as women). Typically they have more to talk about when they leave than when they met me. They also seem to be a bit naive and unworldly. Hard to imagine today.

But, typically, I let no one just walk up to me... it's not that type of world any more, big city or little.