randomoutburst wrote:I agree about making eye contact only when in a busy place, not when in an isolated area. I make a point of not putting myself in situations where I could be in isolated areas and have even gone back inside stores or my work to get an escort to my car when things don't feel right. I'd rather be preparanoid (OldSchool wrote:I agree, you did everything right, including delaying your steps to force them to wait.williamkevin wrote:Really good situational awareness (SA), and I like that your husband met and HELD the young gentleman's gaze. Well done you two!!
One possible comment about eye contact, though: Eye contact is a good move inside a busy store, where they can do nothing about it and they can be easily recognized. However, if you're on a dark street with a stalker (as Mrs. OS and I were, in a very similar situation while overseas last year), making eye contact may precipitate action after confirming to him that he has been spotted (particularly if there may be someone else I haven't yet seen). In that case, I prefer to keep that person off-balance and wondering, until I've reached a safe haven (worked for us).
(Apologies if this is a re-post, something seemed to happen to the first one.)) than hurt or dead. Women can want to be equal all they want, but the fact remains that most of us are smaller and weaker than most men, and therefore easy targets. Guns can be a great equalizer, but common sense is often a good prevention measure.
In my experience with predators, eye contact at a distance (25 feet or more) will often cause the BG's to abort their attack approach because it's much more difficult to successfully deal with an aware target. In the final stages of an attack approach, eye contact causes an immediate go / no go decision - they either break off the approach or launch the attack.
I agree that randomoutburst and her husband handled this situation in stellar fashion.
One thought for next time would be to call the police once you are certain you are being stalked. Store security personnel are not selected or trained to do anything useful in situations like this, and you certainly had enough good reason to believe you were being actively targeted. Folks who engage in this behavior don't do it just once - they commit the same crime the same way over and over. When you recognize the situation and avoid it, you have personal and vehicle description and operating method information that may be exactly what investigators are looking for to solve multiple crimes. It's very worthwhile to take the few minutes to call it in, meet with an officer, and get the info on record. You may well end up saving others from becoming actual victims.