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I got my plastic on Friday and waited until Saturday to go out with the .45 on my side I will try to make this brief so here goes.

My wife had just got home from lunch with an old friend and she asked me if I was ready for my wally walk, of course I was. We got in her truck and started our drive to Wal-Mart. There is some construction in one lane on the road so I am cruising along and I see in my mirror some guy driving erratically I know there isn't going to be enough room for him to get in front of me so I speed up a little so he can just get behind me, he doesn't like this. He gets right next to me and before he slams his brakes he gives me the 1 finger wave. I keep my cool and figure he is just mad because he didn't get around me. We pull to the light and he proceeds to drive up on the sidewalk to get next to me, I am starting to get a little nervous. He pulls about half a car length in front of me and waves his arm and is saying something but my windows are up. I ignore him the car in front of me sees all this and when he pulls up further the car in front slings his door open and points to the parking lot, the crazy guy says something to him and the guy in the car points to the lot and the crazy guy rolls his window up. We all turn and I figure the problem is solved, maybe the guy in the car was LEO?

I pull into Wal-Mart and the crazy guy is there, I go to pump gas and he starts driving towards me, I get back in truck and leave, he doesn't follow. I am wondering if this was the proper way to handle the problem, thinking back to the beginning I probably should have let him pass me but I am not going to become a super passive driver because you will get ran over in Houston if your like that. What so you guys/gals think?

Nobody hurt, no guns pulled, no shots fired.

Just another day in Houston. Good job keeping cool.

Jumping Frog wrote:Nobody hurt, no guns pulled, no shots fired.

Just another day in Houston. Good job keeping cool.

"Avoidance is your first defense", as I think the saying goes. Someone here came up with that btw.

Yeah, sounds cool. What might have been a situation where you wanted to puff up and get verbal BL(Before License), is now one where you seek to avoid the confrontation if at all possible. I think you did good.

RJ

Two thoughts: One, YOU kept your cool and that helped make the difference. I get pretty irritated at seeing really bad drivers, so I understand you not being happy with the whole deal, though. Second, lots of folks know how bad traffic can be in the Metroplex...but driving in Houston is a whole 'nuther thing, and I don't mean that in a good way. Best of luck to you and I'm sure things will go better for you next time.

Good job keeping your cool. Honestly i'm not sure i would have. Not to say i would have drawn, but i would at least have asked him what the heck that was all about. Of course, i'm a young hot head that has a lot to learn. But i think you did the right thing. Especially leaving when he was coming toward you at the pump. Not much tactical advantage at a gas station. Especially when there are other people around that could get caught up in the hypothetical crossfire. All in all. I think it was a good first carry. Just because you have it doesn't mean you have to use it.

...proved you aren't lookin' for trouble...and you're not hot-headed...in a give-and-take situation, sometimes we gives...and sometimes we takes!!! that guy needs to hear my favorite Eagles song: " onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I was thinking about this and realized I was looking at it from my viewpoint, not from the viewpoint of someone who was carrying for the first time.

Weren't you glad that you at least had options if it continued to deteriorate! I remember facing bad situations in the seventies and eighties when no-one had CHL's. It is a different situation unarmed . . .

I'd say you dun good avoiding a potential situation

De-escalate rather than Escalate.

"The best way to win a fight/punch is to not be there" and "Mr. Miyagi: Remember, best block, no be there. " (Karate Kid) Mr. Kesuke Miyagi (Pat Morita)

Miyagi: Daniel-san, never put passion before principle. Even if win, you lose.

...you hit a big one, Froggie...it's a big shift in mindset when you're toolin' along happy with life and just about figured out how to pay the light bill and get the yard mowed before dark and allofasudden there's someone who wants to take your head off over a little thing that happened in traffic...we weren't tryin' to jerk anyone's chain but now we're forced to deal with THEIR ignorance of that fact...having a way to get them off of you and away from your family is much better'n the old days in Texas...we are blessed to have the options we do now...I came from a state where car carry was fine, and open carry was, too...to wild, wooly Texas, where a long gun was my only option in the car...big culture shift...

I think you handled it quite well. Kept your awareness and prevented escalation.
On a side note: I drive an average 400 miles a day in the DFW area. In the past year I have seen a very significant increase in really dumb road rage incidents. In fact it's gotten to the point that I expect to find other employment by this time next year. Had one the other day in Lewisville where a person in a dark SUV flew into a rage and blocked 2 lanes because I only made space for 4 of the ramp full of cars to come on in front of me! Say nothing of the 2 or 3 that crossed the double white line behind him and took up any additional space. He pulled diagonally across my lane and STOPPED on I35E during rush hour. Started to open his door til he realized he couldn't get out because my bumper was within an inch or 2 of the driver's door. After a few more blocking moves and brake slams he went down the road. Three lanes of traffic and a ramp basically stopped and watched this idiot act up. I'm afraid that if the window had opened and a gun/weapon had appeared then he /she would have gone for a ride on my bumper. (Can't carry when working) Didn't get the plate number this time cause I was focusing on the driver, watching traffic around me, and getting away from the situation.

...amazing to me how some who won't even look you in the eye on the sidewalk become the Incredible Hulk when they get behind the wheel...talk about "compensating"...!!!

I've seen a couple of RR type scenes on the road lately around here in San Antonio, understand I do my best to avoid interior SA and just skirt the edges. My biggest concern is my 18 year old girl has just started driving and my 15 son has just gotten his permit...ugh...so I work them through "what ifs" constantly. I think our daughter has it down, the son is still indestructible he'll get there.

I'm not for a moment trying to say that Kalifornia is better than Texas but since moving here a year ago I have never in my life seen so many idiot drivers. I think I witnessed maybe 1 or 2 road rage incidents in 20 years of driving but I have seen at least 2 dozen in the year I've been here. I'm trying really hard not to bash my new home state but I have driven the length and breadth of this country and some of Canada and this is some of the worst driving I have ever seen. I'm in the Dallas area and I guess from what I'm reading that Houston is worse?!!!

Dallas drivers are panicky, indecisive, slow and generally meander aimlessly about the road. I have never seen anything like it.

olafpfj wrote:I'm not for a moment trying to say that Kalifornia is better than Texas but since moving here a year ago I have never in my life seen so many idiot drivers. I think I witnessed maybe 1 or 2 road rage incidents in 20 years of driving but I have seen at least 2 dozen in the year I've been here. I'm trying really hard not to bash my new home state but I have driven the length and breadth of this country and some of Canada and this is some of the worst driving I have ever seen. I'm in the Dallas area and I guess from what I'm reading that Houston is worse?!!!

Dallas drivers are panicky, indecisive, slow and generally meander aimlessly about the road. I have never seen anything like it.

Wasn't like that in the 1950s, 1960s, or early 1970s, when we'd ride our bike to see the cows where the busiest intersection in Houston is now ( over a million cars a week in that 1 intersection)

But then General M<motors plants up in Michigan or something closed, and Cali had fires and earthquakes, and Washington had a volcano, businesses opened here, jobs were here, ... and people immigrated to here. Yep, driving can be scary now.