Paying for Parking
Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2014 12:07 am
I was in Downtown Dallas last-night with my girlfriend and two other friends. We were near the Dallas World Aquarium, but I don't know the downtown area very well.
We were paying for parking and while the two girls had their faces into the electronic parking box thing where you pay for your stall, I was standing back and noticed a stocky male about 6 feet tall(220-230 pounds) had walked up behind us and did not get out of a vehicle(first alarm bell...why is he here if he didn't park a vehicle). He didn't look like a bum so I subconsciously ruled out panhandling.
I immediately engaged him verbally in a somewhat loud but friendly "Hey, how are you doing?" When he kinda nodded at me and didn't instantly respond, I went back(20 feet away) to unlock my car and glove-box where my gun was and that made him very nervous. I didn't even pull it out of the glove box, but I wanted to unlock the glove box and leave my door open so I could draw it within a few seconds if I needed to.
He then kept repeating that we didn't have anything to worry about him and he was simply checking to see if this parking lot offered a 24 hour rate that was cheaper than the Hotel he was staying at. I was able to verbally diffuse the situation while my g/f was paying for parking and her friends were standing by while I was standing next to my car with the door open and the glove box open. My eyes were glued on his midsection where I could see his hands and gauge his physical intentions which is something I learned in basketball at a very young age. I had made up in my mind that with his first step of any aggressive movement toward any of my friends that he was going to get shot.
While I might never know what his intentions were, I am glad for my girlfriend and her friends safety that no one was injured.
I felt that on a scale of 1-10 I would have graded myself an 7.5-8/10 on handling that situation, but the other two people who were there did not know that I carry a gun almost everywhere I go. I do not tell some of my acquaintances in those situations because I don't want them to be alarmed or even develop a false sense of security just because someone in their party is carrying a gun.
If you guys go out on double dates downtown, would you tell the other couple that you're carrying just to notify them? Maybe you guys hang out in circles were everyone is carrying anyways...? Do chime in..
If I could have done it over, I would have liked to have ordered my g/f away from the meter in a non alarming way as to not escalate the situation. She knows that I carry every day and knew exactly what I was doing and said she wanted to carry on so the guy wouldn't get more upset. She was within a 6 foot distance of the man.
I guess the lesson learned here is try to be aware of your surroundings and be proactive in engaging the situation before anything gets out of hand.
We were paying for parking and while the two girls had their faces into the electronic parking box thing where you pay for your stall, I was standing back and noticed a stocky male about 6 feet tall(220-230 pounds) had walked up behind us and did not get out of a vehicle(first alarm bell...why is he here if he didn't park a vehicle). He didn't look like a bum so I subconsciously ruled out panhandling.
I immediately engaged him verbally in a somewhat loud but friendly "Hey, how are you doing?" When he kinda nodded at me and didn't instantly respond, I went back(20 feet away) to unlock my car and glove-box where my gun was and that made him very nervous. I didn't even pull it out of the glove box, but I wanted to unlock the glove box and leave my door open so I could draw it within a few seconds if I needed to.
He then kept repeating that we didn't have anything to worry about him and he was simply checking to see if this parking lot offered a 24 hour rate that was cheaper than the Hotel he was staying at. I was able to verbally diffuse the situation while my g/f was paying for parking and her friends were standing by while I was standing next to my car with the door open and the glove box open. My eyes were glued on his midsection where I could see his hands and gauge his physical intentions which is something I learned in basketball at a very young age. I had made up in my mind that with his first step of any aggressive movement toward any of my friends that he was going to get shot.
While I might never know what his intentions were, I am glad for my girlfriend and her friends safety that no one was injured.
I felt that on a scale of 1-10 I would have graded myself an 7.5-8/10 on handling that situation, but the other two people who were there did not know that I carry a gun almost everywhere I go. I do not tell some of my acquaintances in those situations because I don't want them to be alarmed or even develop a false sense of security just because someone in their party is carrying a gun.
If you guys go out on double dates downtown, would you tell the other couple that you're carrying just to notify them? Maybe you guys hang out in circles were everyone is carrying anyways...? Do chime in..
If I could have done it over, I would have liked to have ordered my g/f away from the meter in a non alarming way as to not escalate the situation. She knows that I carry every day and knew exactly what I was doing and said she wanted to carry on so the guy wouldn't get more upset. She was within a 6 foot distance of the man.
I guess the lesson learned here is try to be aware of your surroundings and be proactive in engaging the situation before anything gets out of hand.