Incident in Tulsa (would like your opinion)

[Bennies]

I am staying in downtown Tulsa today for work. Since the nature of my stay is work related ofcourse I am with out my EDC.

My co worker ( who is also a friend) and I decided to go grab a bite to eat. We left the hotel and headed down to the Blue dome district to find some food. It was about a mile walk from the hotel. When we arrived In The distric we saw a BBQ place that looked good across the street so my friend pulled out his phone and started looking at the reviews.

While he was on his phone I saw two males approaching us and I could tell they were up to no good. My suspicion was confirmed when the first thing out of one of the males mouth was, "are you all racist". Of course I politely responded, " no sir not us".

They then walk past us and to the door of the restaurant/bar we were standing in front of which was closed. They looked like they were trying to get a feel for how on guard we were. Of course I was already in condition orange and watching them closely. When they were not able to open the door to the closed restaurant they started telling us," see they won't let my friend in becuase they are racist! Do you think Tulsa is a racist town?"

I responded," not that I have heard sir." My friend replied," I don't think so but we are from out of town".

I cringed when he said that becuase they were already sizing us up and I did not want that info aired.

About this time one of the gentlmen came around my left side in such a way to position himself in front of us why his buddy stayed put behind us. My friend and I already on edge both realized it was time to go and fast so we started to j walk across the street to the BBQ place thinking that would be the end of the encounter.

As we crossed the street one of the guys yelled," hey where are you going?". I did not reply and he just yelled," ok we will just follow you then!". And so they did.

At this point I was now becoming very alarmed so we darted into the BBQ joint which to my amazement they followed us in. We were greated by the clerk who instantly knew something was very wrong. At this point one of the guys turns and walks out of the store, the other starts to look for ice cream in one of those coolers that are usually next to the check out line. He finds an ice cream sandwhich and ask how much it was. The clerk told him it was on him and to have a nice day. With that he left the BBQ store.

My buddy and I then told the clerk the whole story of what had happened. He then told us he could tell something was wrong and he had his finger on the silent alarm the whole time just in case. He also let the man have the ice cream for free becuase he wanted him out of the store and he also did not want to open the register.

I looked up the TPD non emergency number and reported the incident.

My question to you all was what do you think these guys could have been up to? My friend and I had a disagreement on how bad the situation was. I thought we were in immediate danger of a robbery or assualt. My friend did not think we were in that scenario but rather they were just feeling us out to see if we were potential victims. His other theory was that they were just on drugs.

I can look back and say if I was carrying I would have handled the situation the same. However, it sure just add to my feeling of vulnerability not having that weapon just incase it turned life threatening and there was no other way out.

[jocat54]

Sounds like you handled the situation just fine.
I think you were being sized up and were wise to get out of the situation as best you could.

[baldeagle]

I'm full of opinions (with that and 2 bucks you can buy a cup of coffee), so I'll start.

I think, at a minimum, they were sizing you up to see if you were easy targets. Your move to the BBQ joint is probably what saved you, because I think you would have been robbed if you had stayed outside. The fact that they bracketed you (one behind, one facing) is, to me, a clear indication that they were preparing for the attack. When you scooted to the BBQ joint that threw them off, and they followed you will deciding what to do next.

The fact that clerk sensed it too, although he wasn't aware of any of the previous interchange clinches it for me.

Now, for bonus points. Did you look for them before you exited the restaurant?

[Bennies]

Yes we did as a matter of fact. I also had 911 pre dialed into my phone ready to go.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Fine upstanding young men don't act like that. What kind of trouble they are is hard to guess from 500 miles away but you made it through with no loss of blood or property.

All's well that ends well.

[SQLGeek]

Good job staying alert and getting on the move. Smart thinking on the cashier's part, too.

I would have called in a suspicious person call once in the restaurant. A lot of people up to no good seem to get caught on calls like that.

Out of curiosity, what precludes you from carrying while on the trip but not working?

[MasterOfNone]

I'm thinking your friend, who already had his phone out, should have been dialing 911 once they said "we will just follow you."

[Bennies]

Good job staying alert and getting on the move. Smart thinking on the cashier's part, too.

I would have called in a suspicious person call once in the restaurant. A lot of people up to no good seem to get caught on calls like that.

Out of curiosity, what precludes you from carrying while on the trip but not working?

I work for the airlines so I am subjected to the security screening pretty much daily. I have had three seperate incidents like this where I felt I was immediate danger. All have been in downtown areas and all have been at work while I am phorhibited from carrying. The most insane one was while I was Cleveland based. I was down town going to my crash pad when 4 guys started to approach me and were most likely going to mug me. They had that look. Luckily two girls saw I was not in a good way and drove up asking if I needed a lift. I took my chances with the two girls and hopped in the car. I knew God was watching out for me on that one. The girls said it was pretty obvious what was about to happen.

Needless to say it is a comfort everytime I get back home. One of the first things I do is greet my family and go strap my gun back on. Days like today make me appreciate both my family and my gun more than ever.

[SQLGeek]

Ah that makes perfect sense now. Glad you're ok!

[chuck j]

Sounds like you did as good as you could at the time .

[rotor]

I am from New York City originally and it doesn't take much to have your instincts tell you when things are heating up. It is a sense that most have built in and that's how we survive. Those that don't have it get victimized. You all did good. My only question is why you refer to these hooligans as "gentlemen". Is there some rule on this forum that doesn't allow us to say what they really are?

[texanjoker]

Probably just messing with you for the pure joy of it.

[VMI77]

Maybe you were too polite? I think the question about being a racist was meant to put you on the defensive and exploit any white guilt. I think you were being "interviewed." I was talking to an ex Deputy Sheriff at Cabelas, and he told me he doesn't let strangers get into his personal space.....if they come within about 15 feet he puts up his hand in a halt gesture, and says something like...."can I help you." Tells them they need to stay back if they move closer. But yeah, like texasjoker says, they may have just been having fun with you. Sometimes though, the fun becomes something else once they size you up.

[RogueUSMC]

I agree with VMI77...

Back when I was stationed in Hawaii, there were 'those' areas you needed to not get stuck in. Waimanalo is one of those places...or was then. My old '77 LTD broke down there once. I found that they would approach you and test you. If you carried yourself like you could take care of yourself, they would generally leave you alone...they won't help you, just leave you alone. If you showed them you were scared, they would harass you and that might go further...they would just be having fun but it wouldn't be so fun for you.

[Julie]

Even if they started it just for fun, it doesn't take much more than a gentle breeze for it to turn the other direction. One of them will lose his cool and then the other one has to back his homeboy up. You were definitely being tested - thanks for sharing with those of us who haven't been in that situation. I probably would have been too scared to walk away.