We have friends from out of state at the moment. Today we learned they had never been to Casa Bonita, despite having lived here for a significant amount of time before moving out. We had planned to go to the Denver museum and then meet up with another friend who was in town by sheer chance after being abroad for a few years. It was the first time we'd all been together in around 10 years.
I had planned to wear my kilt with my friend wearing his to Pint's Pub for dinner, but he had run out of space in his luggage and since we were going to be out all day, I didn't think it was going to be comfortable. Secondarily, I counted off West Colfax, City Park, and downtown. Yeah, no way I was going to skip carrying for sake of wearing my kilt.
We went to Casa and no incident. We got there later than intended and the line was longer than expected. We decided to spend time there and skip the Museum for today since it was closing at 5. We left (in two vehicles) and DW wanted to stop at Starbucks to get a mint something or other to clear out the Casa taste and help digestion. We stopped at the one at Colfax and Santa Fe. I pulled in and she went inside while I waited in the car with the two DDs. I rolled down the window for air while we waited.
A man approached and said "Hey Buddy". I said "Howdy" and glanced at my peripheral staying in yellow. I moved my hand along the arm rest toward my .357 in a belly band. He asked if he could wash my windshield and I said "No, thanks" and subtly lifted the back of my shirt, keeping my hand near. He crossed past "respectful distance" and continued to engage me until he got within arms' reach of my door. As he did, I went to red, locked eyes with him, and gripped my gun. I let it rest there and said "No, thanks" again, a bit more assertively. I am positive he saw my last move and switch to red because he immediately backed THE. EFF. UP. He said something about trying to raise money with his girlfriend and wandered off. I looked around and went back down to low orange until DW came out. As we left the parking lot, I pointed him out to her and related the story.
Thinking back, a lot of things bothered me. Number one, I do *not* like agressive panhandlers. Another night on Colfax when I said "no" to someone getting in my face they tried to stand in my way and flashed a box cutter at me. They backed off after some exchange, but that's another story. I'm charitable, but coming up to my window like that is rude, agressive, and just a bad idea. Many others would not have given the second "No, thanks". I certainly hope my wife wouldn't. The angle he approached at didn't allow me to have the passenger's side and particularly not the backseat where my daughters were in vision and I had to rely on my ears. I'll need to work on that. I was able to keep the drivers mirror in peripheral vision, though.
Also, he really just looked too "clean". His shirt was brand new. Not like he got it at a secondhand or something. It was a "Go Army" Tshirt with a pocket crest logo. It wasn't worn at all except for a couple of washings. His shoes and shorts looked like normal wear. His complexion and hair were sunworn, but not unhealthy/malnnourished. He really looked like he could have stepped off a construction site or other outdoor labor job. He may have been legitimately just raising money, but he wasn't starving.
We all decided to go to Cheesman Park to kill some time as there was a kids' play area there. I noted to my friend that whereas at Casa we let the kids have pretty much free reign so long as they were staying together and we checked in with them every few minutes, at the park it was "swivel head " with "left, right, distance, count the kids, left, right, distance, count the kids". She said, "Yep, constant vigilance" and I relayed what had happened on the way over.
I had planned to wear my kilt with my friend wearing his to Pint's Pub for dinner, but he had run out of space in his luggage and since we were going to be out all day, I didn't think it was going to be comfortable. Secondarily, I counted off West Colfax, City Park, and downtown. Yeah, no way I was going to skip carrying for sake of wearing my kilt.
We went to Casa and no incident. We got there later than intended and the line was longer than expected. We decided to spend time there and skip the Museum for today since it was closing at 5. We left (in two vehicles) and DW wanted to stop at Starbucks to get a mint something or other to clear out the Casa taste and help digestion. We stopped at the one at Colfax and Santa Fe. I pulled in and she went inside while I waited in the car with the two DDs. I rolled down the window for air while we waited.
A man approached and said "Hey Buddy". I said "Howdy" and glanced at my peripheral staying in yellow. I moved my hand along the arm rest toward my .357 in a belly band. He asked if he could wash my windshield and I said "No, thanks" and subtly lifted the back of my shirt, keeping my hand near. He crossed past "respectful distance" and continued to engage me until he got within arms' reach of my door. As he did, I went to red, locked eyes with him, and gripped my gun. I let it rest there and said "No, thanks" again, a bit more assertively. I am positive he saw my last move and switch to red because he immediately backed THE. EFF. UP. He said something about trying to raise money with his girlfriend and wandered off. I looked around and went back down to low orange until DW came out. As we left the parking lot, I pointed him out to her and related the story.
Thinking back, a lot of things bothered me. Number one, I do *not* like agressive panhandlers. Another night on Colfax when I said "no" to someone getting in my face they tried to stand in my way and flashed a box cutter at me. They backed off after some exchange, but that's another story. I'm charitable, but coming up to my window like that is rude, agressive, and just a bad idea. Many others would not have given the second "No, thanks". I certainly hope my wife wouldn't. The angle he approached at didn't allow me to have the passenger's side and particularly not the backseat where my daughters were in vision and I had to rely on my ears. I'll need to work on that. I was able to keep the drivers mirror in peripheral vision, though.
Also, he really just looked too "clean". His shirt was brand new. Not like he got it at a secondhand or something. It was a "Go Army" Tshirt with a pocket crest logo. It wasn't worn at all except for a couple of washings. His shoes and shorts looked like normal wear. His complexion and hair were sunworn, but not unhealthy/malnnourished. He really looked like he could have stepped off a construction site or other outdoor labor job. He may have been legitimately just raising money, but he wasn't starving.
We all decided to go to Cheesman Park to kill some time as there was a kids' play area there. I noted to my friend that whereas at Casa we let the kids have pretty much free reign so long as they were staying together and we checked in with them every few minutes, at the park it was "swivel head " with "left, right, distance, count the kids, left, right, distance, count the kids". She said, "Yep, constant vigilance" and I relayed what had happened on the way over.