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So number 24, as written, says to use only very small caliber guns...

As far as your specific situation with that guy

...a man standing no more than 3 feet behind me peering over my shoulder. .... I was between him and my truck with the doors open, so virtually no room for me to move.

Looks like three options to me: 1) Get in truck and close the door; 2) Suddenly push past him to get some space; 3) Stay put, ride it out, and see what happens.

Him ignoring the shouting and arm signals is troubling -- doesn;t matter if he doesn't speak english, those are pretty universal signs to go away. He may not have been entirely in his right mind -- not crazy, necessarily, but impaired by drink, drug, or some unfortunate mental condition. As long as he was giving no other signs of trouble, I would not have acted against him (e.g. pepper spray or push him away), I probably would have done my darndest to get in my truck and lock the door. Hard to tell, there is a lot of detail and (mis)perception in a situation like that this is hard to bring to a forum post.

I do train with some guys in Austin pretty regularly on situations like this where it suddenly turns bad --- for instance, if your new friend there had suddenly produced a weapon and/or attacked. We also work on the SA bit, and some tactics to avoid getting to the 3-feet-away-and-no-where-to-go situation. If you are anywhere near Austin, we are always looking for new training partners.

As far as situational awareness on the street, you might take a look at what you do -- or don't do -- when you walk around, especially at transition points. I have been surprised by people being right outside entrances, or moving up close to me when I am getting in or already in my car. Luckily for benign purposes.

So I made it a procedure that when I approach a doorway, I look to both sides of the other side of the doorway repeatedly as I move through it, kind of "pie-ing" the angles (but quickly, and w/o my gun out). It was a pain in neck at first, but now it is pretty much second nature. As I walk down the street or across the parking lot, I occasionally step to the side and turn 90 degrees so I can see who behind me. (This is much harder to remember because there is no trigger, like a doorway, to remind me. I get a feeling of uncomfortableness if I go too long without looking around, tho.)

A friend of mine recently taught me a little technique or procedure to be better "alert" with respect to people when I do see them. Every person I look at I try to do the same thing, to ingrain it in my mind. He had a mnemonic for it, which I have already forgotten, but roughly it goes like this: Hands shoes shirt eyes hair hat. Look at the hands -- can I see them? do they have a weapon in them? Shoes -- do they match the rest of the person? A uniform (e.g. police or security guard) with those athletic shoes that light up when you walk probably says something is wrong. Shirt (really, shirt/jacket/coat) -- is it appropriate? Hoodie on a warm day? Eyes (and face) -- what at they watching? Me? Hair -- again, does it match the rest of the person? long, short, bald? Hat -- wearing one? appropriate (e.g. uniform)? None of this by itself is means something is wrong (except weapon in hands) but together it may mean something, and mostly it gets me to actually pay attention to the person for a moment -- and will help me describe him later if need be.

The human brain works with abstract models of the world, and we often see what we expect to see. This allows us to not get bogged down in detail, to recognize patterns, to think big thoughts and plans quickly. We see the forest, not the trees. Temple Grandin, an animal behaviorist who has autism but also a PhD, has some great insights on this. She thinks "normal" people are amazingly "blind" because they miss so many details that an autistic person like herself picks up on immediately. (Unfortunately, this means autistic people can get sidetracked by those details -- they see the tree, but never comprehend the forest).

So we can miss important details. When you walk out of the store and expect to see the same parking lot with your vehicle in it, that is what you will see unless there has been a huge change. You won't see minor details, like people loitering around, unless you force yourself to look at them. I find this a big problem for myself, and try to consciously counteract it, but it can be difficult.

Also part of my strategy is to recognize that I am human, it is very hard to stay in a state of awareness all the time, and I could very well be unpleasantly surprised very close up. So I practice empty hand defenses against knife and gun as well, I do not depend solely on being able to immediately access my handgun or to have the distance and time to employ it.

That nice little jolt you got when you found someone standing right next to you will probably do more to sharpen your awareness than any number of advisory posts.

Your situations are ones I have encountered, and have been actively working on, partly on my own and partly with some other folks that I train regularly with. This will give me a chance to organize some of my lessons and thoughts, so grab a cup of coffee, I will probably eat up a couple or three posts with this.

"Be Alert!" or "Maintain Situational Awareness" are nice phrases, but they describe a state of being, not an action. They are right up there with "Be Careful" (that works great on kids, doesn't it?).

How do you get to that state? You might want to analyze the way you do things, look for the gaps or places where you tend to lose "awareness," either of you gun's location or who is around you, and then figure out what actions you can take to mitigate this.

For example, you probably look both ways before crossing the street without even consciously thinking about it. You weren't born with this action as an instinct, your mom and dad drilled it into you when you were a brat (or you probably would not be here). It wasn't enough for them to tell you "Be careful crossing the street!" They had to show you how to be careful crossing the street, give you some actions to be able to implement "Be careful crossing the street!" Probably something like "Look left, look right, look left again." (Or is it look right, look left, look right? I always get mixed up so I look both ways several times. )

Some people on the forum have said they perform a "cross" before they leave the house to make sure they have all their stuff. They touch all the places they should have something, the motion making something of a cross. Gun, flashlight, wallet, knife, or whatever. I think this is an excellent idea, and one I am working on, because I have also launched out of the house without my gun, when I was distracted by an unexpected event.