In Response to Lapse in Awareness....my recent encounter....

[chuckybrown]

Last Sunday afternoon I head over to the local Exxon to buy a newspaper. I'm at the counter paying, facing the clerk.

In an instant, there's an older & larger gentleman behind me on my right, and he's up on me and he puts his hand on my side....right on top of my pistol, OWB, under my long sleeve shirt. I spin counter clock wise, my hand drops, and goes up under my shirt, hand on the pistol grip. I step to what is now my right to rapidly to create distance.

He steps back, and holding a computer MapQuest printout asks in a thick accent (Greek I think) where a certain street is.

In several short seconds my mind processes distance, cultures, threats, etc....and I quickly ascertain this guy just doesn't know boundaries, is older, and is lost. He had, it seemed, touched me to get my attention. Me and the clerk tell him he's one stoplight away.

I turn back and pay, and as I walk out another man in the store looked at me and said "I saw that.....that was scary". I walked out. It took me half an hour to settle down.

Like TAM, I live condition yellow....outdoors only it seems. Now, I'm going to turn the radar on indoors as well.

It was truly scary. Start to finish, three----maybe four seconds before I realized someone WASN'T grabbing for my pistol.

I had thought about posting this, but thought "no", but after reading the other post, I thought I would share. It's a strange world out there, everywhere....

[Kirk]

Many years ago while in college I used to ride with a couple deputies in Florida at night. I also carried a Buck 110 knife on my belt. We pick up a gentleman and took him to jail. We entered an area in which the deputy locked up his gun but me being young and not thinking forgot about the knife. When I did realize it I was like a cat in a rocking chair store. I kept my side with the knife always toward the wall and was very jumpy when ever I was approached. I got out of there as quick as possible but got an ear full when the deputy found out.

Not a gun but the same principal, being aware of everything & one around me and keeping it away from being accessible for others.

[speedsix]

...carrying wide awake changes a lot, from which side your lady walks on to which hand you do this or that with...where your elbow goes when you're in a crowd, just a lot to think about...that others never realize you're handling...it keeps you sharp...I trained my rookies to spend dead time while driving around playing "whatif" games in their heads...and making a plan...the guy was plain wrong...kinda like goosin' an old boxer...just shouldn't'a'oughta done that!!!

[Silverwings]

That's exactly why I can't carry in the 4 o'clock position, you can't really see if someone is approaching you from behind. I carry in the 2 o'clock position, on the right side but towards the front and not the back of my body. So I have a visual of anyone coming towards my gun.
It is true that someone could come from behind and reach for it with their right arm around me, but in order for that to happen they have to know where the gun is, and it is perfectly concealed so that is very unlikely.
I believe my instinctive reaction would be to push them away and immediately draw!

Leo.

[rp_photo]

He steps back, and holding a computer MapQuest printout asks in a thick accent (Greek I think) where a certain street is.

Greek culture is very "animated" and emotional from what I understand, with male-to-male physical contact being much more common.

It's nice if we know that, but far more important that they know our ways.

[nakedbike]

Greek culture is very "animated" and emotional from what I understand, with male-to-male physical contact being much more common.

It's nice if we know that, but far more important that they know our ways.

The side of your torso is a strange place to touch to grab some ones attention unless it is a situation where one might expect a touch like that. I'll have to add this to my list of "what ifs" I try to run through when I'm bored or waiting for code to compile.

You handled that situation well.

[dihappy]

Yup,
Condition yellow indoors folks.

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This wasnt his only victim:

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[johnson0317]

Looking at those videos is very hard. You start to play the, "What if that was me?" scenarios. That guy was so ruthless, and so fast. I am not sure how either of those victims could have come out much better, even in condition yellow.

RJ

[Scott in Houston]

Looking at those videos is very hard. You start to play the, "What if that was me?" scenarios. That guy was so ruthless, and so fast. I am not sure how either of those victims could have come out much better, even in condition yellow.

RJ

I agree. I'm in yellow all the time too, and it's just not possible to be watching everyone, all the time. I'd like to think that my spider senses may tingle a little in that scenario, but who knows. The only reason I think that I may suspect something, is someone standing next to me like that with it only being the 2 of us there, but then again, he could very well have just walked up from behind him, quietly, and completed the same attack.