imported post
I just got home from Wal-Mart, swung by there to pick up a couple of things and see what 9mm ammo they had in (tons of 40S&W at the Southwest Jacksonville Wal-Mart by the way). I wanted to see if they had some skate tape and after wandering for a few minutes I finally stopped and asked a fellow who was unloading some boxes. I said "Excuse me sir, do you all carry stair tread or skate tape?". He looked right down at my Ruger and then moved around the boxes and closed about 8 paces to get right in front of me. Then started asking me questions about why I needed the tape while switching back and forth between eye contact and eyeballing my weapon.
I immediately took a half step back and raised my left arm (hands full) up high enough to protect my gun and kept my strong hand away from the weapon but "in the air" so to speak. I finally just said "I need it for my stairs, usually I get it at Lowe's, if you don't have any I'll just pick it up tomorrow" to which he replied yeah we don't have anything like that and I went on about my way.
It might come off as a little paranoid, but this was too close for my comfort. They eye contact felt like an attempt at dominance and the distance changed quickly from several yards to muzzle contact range. On one hand I have to commend him for quickly getting out from behind the obstacle between us and placing himself in a more advantageous position, but he sure set off a lot of alarms. Most people tend to keep distance when they notice me carrying.
I tried to employ the "Be polite, be courteous and have a plan to kill everyone you meet" philosophy to the situation. I'm not sure what I could have done better other than to continue to try and create distance while remaining polite.
Sorry if there doesn't seem like much point to this, it's just what happened to me this evening. Anyone else have some people who just seem to get too close for comfort when carrying?
I just got home from Wal-Mart, swung by there to pick up a couple of things and see what 9mm ammo they had in (tons of 40S&W at the Southwest Jacksonville Wal-Mart by the way). I wanted to see if they had some skate tape and after wandering for a few minutes I finally stopped and asked a fellow who was unloading some boxes. I said "Excuse me sir, do you all carry stair tread or skate tape?". He looked right down at my Ruger and then moved around the boxes and closed about 8 paces to get right in front of me. Then started asking me questions about why I needed the tape while switching back and forth between eye contact and eyeballing my weapon.
I immediately took a half step back and raised my left arm (hands full) up high enough to protect my gun and kept my strong hand away from the weapon but "in the air" so to speak. I finally just said "I need it for my stairs, usually I get it at Lowe's, if you don't have any I'll just pick it up tomorrow" to which he replied yeah we don't have anything like that and I went on about my way.
It might come off as a little paranoid, but this was too close for my comfort. They eye contact felt like an attempt at dominance and the distance changed quickly from several yards to muzzle contact range. On one hand I have to commend him for quickly getting out from behind the obstacle between us and placing himself in a more advantageous position, but he sure set off a lot of alarms. Most people tend to keep distance when they notice me carrying.
I tried to employ the "Be polite, be courteous and have a plan to kill everyone you meet" philosophy to the situation. I'm not sure what I could have done better other than to continue to try and create distance while remaining polite.
Sorry if there doesn't seem like much point to this, it's just what happened to me this evening. Anyone else have some people who just seem to get too close for comfort when carrying?