I am sorry to say I had my first code Red!
Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 2:57 pm
I don't know where to start. My girlfriend and I are still shaken up. This only happened an hour ago. Anyways, my girlfriend went to get new tires at Discount Tire. I was following her in my car and as we pulled into the parking lot a man seemed to get upset because he was going to back into a parking spot that my girlfriend took. I was right behind her and he pulled forward about two truck lengths to back his car into the spot. The problem was she was already in the spot before he even decided to stop and put it in reverse. So really he had no reason to even get upset.
Ok, so my girlfriend and I get out of our cars and this guy starts to yell at her while backing into another spot 3 down the lane "I almost hit you". At first we didn't realize he was talking to us but then he yelled it again. We gave each other that look that you give your significant other when you can tell someone is a little crazy and said nothing nor did we look at the man and walked inside to the discount tire.
We get inside and the place is full of about twenty people (women and small children also). We are waiting in line to talk to an employee with about 7 other people and I see the guy come in the door. I said "oh great here we go" he had that look on his face that he was going to start a fight over a parking place. He comes bursting in the door and immediately yells at my girlfriend and gets no more then 2 feet from her and yells "I almost hit you". Once again I clearly noticed him saying "I almost hit you", ok so you didn't hit her is what pops into my mind and back away from my girlfriend immediately. Those where my exact words! This man was 6 foot 4in - 6 foot 7in and weighed over 300 pounds even though he was 20 years my senior. I immediately went to color RED!
Now everybody in the store and engine bay (this guy was that loud that the guys could hear him from outside with their air wrenches going) is looking at us and what is going on. I remained calm as he shifted his attention to me. He stood about 4 feet from me and my girlfriend who was now behind me. He stood over me (I am only 5 foot 8in) and started yelling "I am not even talking to you". I then told him to step back out of my personal space because we felt threatened. He then starting yelling again and inched forward a bit. I then gave a verbal command to stop and raised my left hand while having my right hand very close to my iwb holster and changed my stance. At this point he looked down and eyed my pocket knife that was clipped to my pocket and I think he thought I was ready to use it. He must have thought a 4 eyes like me would never carry a gun because he backed up a little and then continued to yell. The management then asked him to leave and then he looked around and realized he had made a big mistake. He then said how long is the wait. The employee looked at him and paused. Then said 45-60 minutes and started to tell him to leave again but the man said he couldn't wait that long and he would come back later.
He stormed out and didn't come back! A little girl started crying and everybody in the store was shaken up and the manager watched him leave and said he was going to call the cops if he didn't leave immediately. He left and that was the end of it. I give all this detail but it only lasted about 10-15 seconds. All of this over a parking spot! After everybody calmed down one man said to me "your lucky he didn't have a gun and shoot you". I immediately thought about the situation and thought about what went right and wrong and how the one thing I did do right was observe his body language the whole time. I can clearly say that if the manager did not ask him to leave he would have kept yelling and I think that snapped him out of his rage. I also think if the manager said nothing that more then likely it would have escalated and my girlfriend or myself would have been assaulted and I would of had to draw my weapon to protect us because this man was clearly much stronger then me and would have easily hurt me very badly and probably kill my girlfriend if he punched her. She is only 4 foot 10 in!
Carry all the time guys!
Ok, so my girlfriend and I get out of our cars and this guy starts to yell at her while backing into another spot 3 down the lane "I almost hit you". At first we didn't realize he was talking to us but then he yelled it again. We gave each other that look that you give your significant other when you can tell someone is a little crazy and said nothing nor did we look at the man and walked inside to the discount tire.
We get inside and the place is full of about twenty people (women and small children also). We are waiting in line to talk to an employee with about 7 other people and I see the guy come in the door. I said "oh great here we go" he had that look on his face that he was going to start a fight over a parking place. He comes bursting in the door and immediately yells at my girlfriend and gets no more then 2 feet from her and yells "I almost hit you". Once again I clearly noticed him saying "I almost hit you", ok so you didn't hit her is what pops into my mind and back away from my girlfriend immediately. Those where my exact words! This man was 6 foot 4in - 6 foot 7in and weighed over 300 pounds even though he was 20 years my senior. I immediately went to color RED!
Now everybody in the store and engine bay (this guy was that loud that the guys could hear him from outside with their air wrenches going) is looking at us and what is going on. I remained calm as he shifted his attention to me. He stood about 4 feet from me and my girlfriend who was now behind me. He stood over me (I am only 5 foot 8in) and started yelling "I am not even talking to you". I then told him to step back out of my personal space because we felt threatened. He then starting yelling again and inched forward a bit. I then gave a verbal command to stop and raised my left hand while having my right hand very close to my iwb holster and changed my stance. At this point he looked down and eyed my pocket knife that was clipped to my pocket and I think he thought I was ready to use it. He must have thought a 4 eyes like me would never carry a gun because he backed up a little and then continued to yell. The management then asked him to leave and then he looked around and realized he had made a big mistake. He then said how long is the wait. The employee looked at him and paused. Then said 45-60 minutes and started to tell him to leave again but the man said he couldn't wait that long and he would come back later.
He stormed out and didn't come back! A little girl started crying and everybody in the store was shaken up and the manager watched him leave and said he was going to call the cops if he didn't leave immediately. He left and that was the end of it. I give all this detail but it only lasted about 10-15 seconds. All of this over a parking spot! After everybody calmed down one man said to me "your lucky he didn't have a gun and shoot you". I immediately thought about the situation and thought about what went right and wrong and how the one thing I did do right was observe his body language the whole time. I can clearly say that if the manager did not ask him to leave he would have kept yelling and I think that snapped him out of his rage. I also think if the manager said nothing that more then likely it would have escalated and my girlfriend or myself would have been assaulted and I would of had to draw my weapon to protect us because this man was clearly much stronger then me and would have easily hurt me very badly and probably kill my girlfriend if he punched her. She is only 4 foot 10 in!
Carry all the time guys!