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Strange Encounter

Slowhand

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Sep 19, 2007
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Woodbridge, VA, ,
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On Thanksgiving Day I had to run some errands, so I went OC'ing. I stopped by the Safeway off Old Bridge Road and Prince William Parkway to get some things. As I was standing in line at the counter, I noticed that someone had gotten in line right behind me. Wemade upthe line in acurve in a reverse "J" so that other shoppers could get by us. After a a few moments a woman in her late 40s (maybe early 50s) walked up beside me at my eight o'clock. She stood only a couple of feetaway. She then made a call on her cell phone and started talking loudly to the person on the line (nothing regarding me or my weapon). Now, her cart (which was full and behind me) was at mythree o'clock. It seemed as though she was deliberately trying to intimidate meby leaving her cart, standing behind and to the left of me and talking loudly. Well, at first I thought I was just being paranoid, but she was purposely, without apparent reason acting in what I considered strange manner. When I turned to look at her and smile she just looked past my faceand wouldn't make eye contact and continued loudly talking on the phone. I kept looking directly at her smiling for at least a minute. She didn't move or change her glance.It was then that I realized that she had to have been trying to push some buttons. She was standing only two feelaway from me. Well, I grew up in a Marine Corps family and my step-dad has been "in my face" on numerous occasions, and I know to stand my ground. So I didn't flinch. But I was convinced that she saw by weapon and decided she was going to try torustle my feathers. Now, again, it may sound like I was just being paranoid, but you had to be there.
 

nova

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It could have been just another ignorant person from NoVa, people today seem to be blind to the world around them, she may not have even noticed or cared about your weapon, she could have been off in her own little world on the cell phone. Seen it many times before.

Or it could have been an asswipe who had some problem with OCing. I don't know :lol:
 

Slowhand

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Woodbridge, VA, ,
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nova wrote:
It could have been just another ignorant person from NoVa, people today seem to be blind to the world around them, she may not have even noticed or cared about your weapon, she could have been off in her own little world on the cell phone. Seen it many times before.

Or it could have been an asswipe who had some problem with OCing. I don't know :lol:
Yeah, I can't be sure. But in reflection, it almost seemed like she wanted me to know that if I pulled my "gun" and started shooting people, that I wouldn't get away with it 'cause she was on the phone or maybe she wanted to show me that she was in control. It was very bizarre. You really had to be there to get the "vibe" of what was happening. Maybe I was over-analyzing. But it was strange.
 

HankT

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Slowhand wrote:
But I was convinced that she saw by weapon and decided she was going to try torustle my feathers. Now, again, it may sound like I was just being paranoid, but you had to be there.
From your description, I rather doubt that she did. But if she did, she did.

Actually, she did even if she didn't.


;)
 

Slowhand

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HankT wrote:
Slowhand wrote:
But I was convinced that she saw by weapon and decided she was going to try torustle my feathers. Now, again, it may sound like I was just being paranoid, but you had to be there.
From your description, I rather doubt that she did. But if she did, she did.

Actually, she did even if she didn't.


;)
Good point. Whether she tried to rustle my feathers or not, she did. But it was a good exercise in heightened awareness while OC'ing. I need to make sure that whatever happens around me, that I stay alert and un-phased by what I think might be happening around me.
 

LEO 229

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I think she was just one of the many people out there that do not care about others.
 

AtackDuck

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King George, Virginia, USA
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One the conservative writers coined the term "oblivion" to have a descriptive word for those oblivious buffoons "out there". It would seem to fit in the instance :celebrate
 

massltca

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Oct 31, 2006
Messages
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Location
Maryville, Tennessee, USA
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Slowhand wrote:
On Thanksgiving Day I had to run some errands, so I went OC'ing. I stopped by the Safeway off Old Bridge Road and Prince William Parkway to get some things. As I was standing in line at the counter, I noticed that someone had gotten in line right behind me. Wemade upthe line in acurve in a reverse "J" so that other shoppers could get by us. After a a few moments a woman in her late 40s (maybe early 50s) walked up beside me at my eight o'clock. She stood only a couple of feetaway. She then made a call on her cell phone and started talking loudly to the person on the line (nothing regarding me or my weapon). Now, her cart (which was full and behind me) was at mythree o'clock. It seemed as though she was deliberately trying to intimidate meby leaving her cart, standing behind and to the left of me and talking loudly. Well, at first I thought I was just being paranoid, but she was purposely, without apparent reason acting in what I considered strange manner. When I turned to look at her and smile she just looked past my faceand wouldn't make eye contact and continued loudly talking on the phone. I kept looking directly at her smiling for at least a minute. She didn't move or change her glance.It was then that I realized that she had to have been trying to push some buttons. She was standing only two feelaway from me. Well, I grew up in a Marine Corps family and my step-dad has been "in my face" on numerous occasions, and I know to stand my ground. So I didn't flinch. But I was convinced that she saw by weapon and decided she was going to try torustle my feathers. Now, again, it may sound like I was just being paranoid, but you had to be there.
Encounters like that make me think that deep down most people realize that people peacefully open carrying are not a threat. If someone thought you where a threat they wouldn'tapproach or stand next to you. She was trying to project her discomfort onto you.
 

HankT

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massltca wrote:

Encounters like that make me think that deep down most people realize that people peacefully open carrying are not a threat. If someone thought you where a threat they wouldn'tapproach or stand next to you. She was trying to project her discomfort onto you.

She may not have seen the gun. Or she may have assumed LEO.

People get really engrossed in their cell phones sometimes...
 

Mayday

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Feb 14, 2007
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Alexandria., , USA
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Sounds like a typical passive-agressive anti. There are MANY of them out there. They wont tell you anything to your face; instead they prefer to use passive agressive techniques like the one you describe. I have zero doubt she saw your firearm and this is her way of telling you off.

If you want to feel better, just think of her poor husband who's going to have to hear about this little encouter for the next two weeks. Poor guy. ;)
 

AbNo

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Jun 8, 2007
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Shenandoah Valley, Virginia
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Hey Peter, you DO realize you've kind of broken the display of this thread.

Can you maybe upload a smaller version of that to Imageshack or something, or use the URL tag instead of IMG?

And I'll have to agree with Mayday's take on the situation.

Next time, just interrupt her. "Excuse me, miss, you're uh, hurting my ears a bit on your cell phone."

Smile nicely the whole time. ;)
 

peter nap

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Oct 16, 2007
Messages
13,551
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Valhalla
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Hey Peter, you DO realize you've kind of broken the display of this thread.

Yeah....I didn't check her size before I linked her...Time to zap the SM:lol:
 

Doug Huffman

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Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
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Washington Island, across Death's Door, Wisconsin,
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'Oblivion' is a good word and 'coined' before conservativism.

Intrinsicly it is 'forgetfullness' and 'distraction'. Extrinsicly it is 'forgotten' and 'ignored'. It comes through Old French from Latin oblivisci.

Either we are equal or we are not. Good people ought to be armed where they will, with wits and guns and the truth. LAB/NRA/GOP KMA$$
 

Slowhand

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Sep 19, 2007
Messages
139
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Woodbridge, VA, ,
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massltca wrote:
Slowhand wrote:
On Thanksgiving Day I had to run some errands, so I went OC'ing. I stopped by the Safeway off Old Bridge Road and Prince William Parkway to get some things. As I was standing in line at the counter, I noticed that someone had gotten in line right behind me. Wemade upthe line in acurve in a reverse "J" so that other shoppers could get by us. After a a few moments a woman in her late 40s (maybe early 50s) walked up beside me at my eight o'clock. She stood only a couple of feetaway. She then made a call on her cell phone and started talking loudly to the person on the line (nothing regarding me or my weapon). Now, her cart (which was full and behind me) was at mythree o'clock. It seemed as though she was deliberately trying to intimidate meby leaving her cart, standing behind and to the left of me and talking loudly. Well, at first I thought I was just being paranoid, but she was purposely, without apparent reason acting in what I considered strange manner. When I turned to look at her and smile she just looked past my faceand wouldn't make eye contact and continued loudly talking on the phone. I kept looking directly at her smiling for at least a minute. She didn't move or change her glance.It was then that I realized that she had to have been trying to push some buttons. She was standing only two feelaway from me. Well, I grew up in a Marine Corps family and my step-dad has been "in my face" on numerous occasions, and I know to stand my ground. So I didn't flinch. But I was convinced that she saw by weapon and decided she was going to try torustle my feathers. Now, again, it may sound like I was just being paranoid, but you had to be there.
Encounters like that make me think that deep down most people realize that people peacefully open carrying are not a threat. If someone thought you where a threat they wouldn'tapproach or stand next to you. She was trying to project her discomfort onto you.
That is the exact impression that I got.
 

Slowhand

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Messages
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Woodbridge, VA, ,
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Mayday wrote:
Sounds like a typical passive-agressive anti. There are MANY of them out there. They wont tell you anything to your face; instead they prefer to use passive agressive techniques like the one you describe. I have zero doubt she saw your firearm and this is her way of telling you off.

If you want to feel better, just think of her poor husband who's going to have to hear about this little encouter for the next two weeks. Poor guy. ;)
Yes, that is the impression that I got. Too bad that I didn't have my recorder on me.
 

modelo57

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Aug 19, 2007
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, Connecticut, USA
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I think she was just being a jerk and trying to get "cuts". I've run into this tactic many times at stores in my area, especially at this time of the year. I'm sure the fact that you OC'ed had her in "hyper mode".
 

Slowhand

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Woodbridge, VA, ,
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Most people have a sense "personal space". This woman stood next to me as if I were her husband and no one else was near us. She was staring past my face as if she was looking at someone right next to me, but she would never make eye contact with me. Like I said before, you really needed to be there to get a feel for the situation. But I am convinced she was agitated by my firearm and was doing "something" to make herself feel empowered, or something.
 

massltca

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Oct 31, 2006
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Maryville, Tennessee, USA
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Mayday wrote:
Sounds like a typical passive-agressive anti. There are MANY of them out there. They wont tell you anything to your face; instead they prefer to use passive agressive techniques like the one you describe. I have zero doubt she saw your firearm and this is her way of telling you off.

If you want to feel better, just think of her poor husband who's going to have to hear about this little encouter for the next two weeks. Poor guy. ;)
I agree, I think she definitely saw the gun.
 
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