Sized up in San Antonio parking lot

[Vol Texan]

Ive noticed that a lot of CHLers are WAY too paranoid and take the smallest, meaningless situations and blow it up....

That sounds like a grossly over generalized, insupportable, and insulting comment. In fact, the actual CHL track record would clearly rebut your comment.

I just call it situational awareness.

9mmboy,

I'd bet you see more CHLers on a daily basis than you know, because (like you), most of us are just walking around not advertising that we're armed.

Perhaps the only place where you 'go' where you can clearly identify a lot of CHLers is here, on this forum. If that's the case, and all you see is, ..."that a lot of CHLers are WAY too paranoid and take the smallest, meaningless situations and blow it up....", then may I please remind you that this is just the forum for that kind of talk.

But why are we this way?

We're all a function of the things we've learned over time, and that forms our individual character. For example:

• Ever since I learned that it's important to defend myself, I've learned to select my seating in a room (such as a restaurant) differently.
• Ever since I learned how to clear a room with the sheriff's department 25 years ago, I've approached doorways differently.
• Ever since I've started traveling internationally, I've become more aware of what I'd do to keep safe while away.
• And yes, ever since I've (re-)started carrying a gun daily, I've become more aware of my surroundings.

And no, I'm not special by any means...I think you'll find similar traits among others on this forum. On average, we have more situational awareness because of the fact that we're carrying. Because of that situational awareness, we notice more things, and we run the 'what if' scenarios in our minds. For example, every time I arrive into the airport of (pick your favorite third world country and insert here), I begin considering all sorts of contingency planning for what I'll have to do to get back home safely if the situation gets unfriendly. Do I do this because I'm expecting it to happen? No, I'm more aware so that it doesn't happen. As the adage says, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

So you read a lot of that type of stuff on here...and (as I said above), that's what it's here for. We discuss what's on our mind, we share our stories, and we ask others to challenge us on here so that we can become better at what we do.

So yeah, you may observe that, "a lot of CHLers are WAY too paranoid and take the smallest, meaningless situations and blow it up....", but I'd like to suggest a different observation: "I see a lot of CHLers, but I never know who they are. However, when I do visit a specific website for CHLers to openly discuss the challenges of carrying daily, to learn more about how to avoid being a victim, and to share best practices; I find that it's a place where they allow the what-if scenario discussions to flourish, so that they can learn as much as possible from their peers."

Yeah, that's probably more accurate.

[9mmboy]

Ive noticed that a lot of CHLers are WAY too paranoid and take the smallest, meaningless situations and blow it up. He could of just been a very nosey person, or like stated above , making sure you werent breaking in the car. He was probabl6 a fellow CHLer.Of he were trying to jack you, the perfect time would of been when you had your head down in the trunk.

in the OP's defense, we weren't there. AS WE ALL KNOW, sometimes you just a a sense that something is wrong. I've found to my regret, when I ignore that sens bad things happen.

Plus, we're CHLers, we are more paranoid. But "just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."

Agree with your last paragraph

[LSUTiger]

I had a similiar thing happen to my wife in the parking lot of a Toys R Us in Houston.

I had just put the kids in the car while my wife was putting toys in the trunk. I stood up to look around over the open trunk and I could see a young urban male, some distance away change directions and started walking quickly towards us in between several rows of cars, she had her purse in the shopping cart not paying attention with her back to him.

Alarm bells went off immediately but not wanting to overreact, I watched him for a few seconds, he was clearly focused on her and when he got about 15-20 yards away I told her to walk to me and she then turned around.

When she turned around he slowed a bit, looked up made eye contact with me and stopped. I stared back with an unblinking death stare and stepped forward to try to get closer to the wife and he just froze there for a couple of seconds and then started walking in the same direction he was before heading our way.

Wifey realized the potential danger and quickly jumped in the car and we drove out of there in a hurry.

[Dreamer42]

To allay any misconceptions, or misunderstandings, I was never paranoid, in fear (carry a .45) nor did I blow anything out of proportion. The *ahem* gentleman in question was poorly dressed (not making a social judgement, just a fact) and was definitely eyeing me as, I think, a potential target. He had doubled back not ten yards away on the other side of an SUV, and was making eye contact with me. Even after I had pressed the remote fob to lock the vehicle he was still looking. Not many theives lock the car they just robbed. I did all the things I was supposed to do. Funny how observations can get blown out of proportion by people and their comments. Simply: I was a potential target and I just want my experience to be a learning tool for others.

[SQLGeek]

No criticism from me! You maintained your vigilance and didn't present a soft target. Good job.

[Vol Texan]

No criticism from me! You maintained your vigilance and didn't present a soft target. Good job.

Same here!

[G26ster]

There's a big difference between good SA and paranoia. SA is part of a system that alerts you to a potential threat. It does not tell you whether the threat is actual or not. I think 9mm boy was stating his belief that a good percentage of CHL holders tend to consider many mundane actions of others based on clothing, manner, appearance, time of day, or other everyday factors as an actual threat. I could be wrong.

[Abraham]

...and I would say most CHLers know the difference, but have better than average SA.

We are not a group of bug eyed loons, much as some insist we are i.e., anti-gun nuts...

[nightmare]

I don't think of it as Paranoid! I think of it as PREPARED & AWARE.

I think the word you're looking for is preparanoid.

[VoiceofReason]

Ive noticed that a lot of CHLers are WAY too paranoid and take the smallest, meaningless situations and blow it up....

That sounds like a grossly over generalized, insupportable, and insulting comment. In fact, the actual CHL track record would clearly rebut your comment.

That sounds like a grossly over generalized, insupportable, and insulting comment. In fact, the actual CHL track record would clearly rebut your comment.

[Deltaboy]

You did just fine. I'M less nice after dark in a strange place myself.