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After finishing dinner Friday night, we're standing in the restaurant parking lot telling our friends goodnight. Wife wants to walk across the street to the convenience store and see if they have ice. (We've been without power since Ike.) Just as we're wrapping up the evening we watch a Bellaire police car with lights on pull up on the side of the store, officer gets out, draws his sidearm and proceeds very cautiously toward the door of the store. I immediately told my wife and friends we need to take take cover in front of my car, since it's a straight line from the door of the store past the officer to us.

My wife quickly responds to her training by looking at me and saying, "Huh?" Our friends look at me as if I'm playing some game. Within seconds, four more police cars pull up so now the members of my dinner party are paying attention. I repeat to my wife to join me on the other side of my engine block. She says, "I'll just get into the car and we can go," and proceeds to hop into the front seat and look at me as if I'm playing some kind of game. Our friends casually saunter over to their car.

Realizing that my wife isn't going to listen to me (there's a new one for you married guys, can you imagine that?), I decide the best course is to as quickly as possible get my wife away from a potential line of fire. I choose not to drive in front of the store and instead scoot on down the street away from the back of the store. In the rearview, I see a police car with flashing lights coming our way so I pull to the side. Our friends, still oblivious, pull up next to me as if I'm pulling over to chat. "Don't you see the car behind you?" "What car?" At which point the police car pulls up next to us and illuminates us with his spot. He goes on to start searching the next block, two more police cars come by, each pausing to check us out with their spotlights and then they too start searching the next block. As we never saw anyone leave the front of the store, the BG must have gone out the back.

I decide that I'm not going to drive forward into the dark streets and possibly encounter a very desperate person who is looking to hitch a ride, so I do a U-turn and get out of that neighborhood. My wife thinks I was over reacting, I think I didn't particularly care to watch a potential shoot-out. The officer had his weapon out for a reason.

I was wearing my P239 and had an extra mag, and I'm very glad that we didn't walk in on that robbery. Just a few minutes made that difference. (I could be mistaken, the women may have wanted to stand and chat in the parking lot for another half hour, who knows?) I've given some thought how I would react if ever caught in something like that, glad I didn't have to take the test this time. Where I have absolutely no doubt about what to do is if a robber starts marching us toward the cooler in the back of the store, that simply won't be allowed.

This week, with the power out and the city a bit on edge, my wife hasn't once rolled her eyes at me for carrying. I think she's a little closer to understanding why I carry as often as I can. Oh yeah, a month ago her dad got robbed at gunpoint while working in a charity shop that he sponsors. My wife is a very good shot, but has no interest herself in carrying.

I think you did very well facing all the opposition you had to deal with in trying to protect everyone.
Some people just do not understand what situational awareness is all about and they think that it will never happen to them. I am glad that you were aware and did what you could to keep everyone safe...and thank the Lord that you didn't have to find out what you would have done if you walked in on a robbery in progress. I have played these kind of scenarios over in my head many times. I just hope I make the right choice when the time comes.

I am thankful that you, your wife, and friends are all okay.

-geo

on the car thing, I was cruising down the freeway, and I saw a Fire Truck coming up behind me, and everyone else on the freeway. So I slowed down and moved over. some "mentally defficient" person decide he wasn't waitin' for no one, no how, and cut me off, then cut off the Fire Truck.
wish I'd strapped that .50cal on the roof of my truck, like I wanted to....
guess the whole flashing lights, sirens bit was just for show, like an ice cream truck or sumpin....


anyway, I think you did great. It's only overreaction right up until the moment your planning works in your favor. then it's called being prepared. I think you might oughta have a "sit down" with the little lady. what my friends call a "come to Jesus meeting."

You used your noggin, so you wouldn't have to use your gun. It may have been a big to-do about nothing, but situational awareness makes a world of difference.

Kudos to you, Sir.

DoubleJ wrote:on the car thing, I was cruising down the freeway, and I saw a Fire Truck coming up behind me, and everyone else on the freeway. So I slowed down and moved over. some "mentally defficient" person decide he wasn't waitin' for no one, no how, and cut me off, then cut off the Fire Truck.
wish I'd strapped that .50cal on the roof of my truck, like I wanted to....
guess the whole flashing lights, sirens bit was just for show, like an ice cream truck or sumpin....

On rare occasions in Plano, I've seen cops running behind amublances and fire trucks without lights, waiting for these. I wish they'd do it more often; it'd be a lot more productive in terms of safety than any speed trap.

iratollah wrote:My wife quickly responds to her training by looking at me and saying, "Huh?" Our friends look at me as if I'm playing some game. Within seconds, four more police cars pull up so now the members of my dinner party are paying attention. I repeat to my wife to join me on the other side of my engine block. She says, "I'll just get into the car and we can go," and proceeds to hop into the front seat and look at me as if I'm playing some kind of game. Our friends casually saunter over to their car.

You might consider taking this opportunity to help her understand what the real deal is when bullets meet up with car doors. A picture is worth a thousand words and might give her a new respect for behind the engine block positioning.

Good situational awareness! You don't want to be Mr. "right now" when someone decides to vent their spleen.


Glad you survived Ike.

DoubleJ wrote:on the car thing, I was cruising down the freeway, and I saw a Fire Truck coming up behind me, and everyone else on the freeway. So I slowed down and moved over. some "mentally defficient" person decide he wasn't waitin' for no one, no how, and cut me off, then cut off the Fire Truck.
wish I'd strapped that .50cal on the roof of my truck, like I wanted to....
guess the whole flashing lights, sirens bit was just for show, like an ice cream truck or sumpin....


anyway, I think you did great. It's only overreaction right up until the moment your planning works in your favor. then it's called being prepared. I think you might oughta have a "sit down" with the little lady. what my friends call a "come to Jesus meeting."

Driving down the street when an ambulance pulls out about five cars behind me and flips on it's lights. Everyone pulls over EXCEPT the driver immediately in front of the ambulance. He takes this as on opportunity to pass everyone. He was still leading the ambulance when I lost sight of him.

And I can sympathize with you iratollah. My wife would probably react exactly the same. When I told her my friend and I were getting our CHLs her reaction was along the lines of boys playing cops.

Excaliber wrote:You might consider taking this opportunity to help her understand what the real deal is when bullets meet up with car doors. A picture is worth a thousand words and might give her a new respect for behind the engine block positioning.

Even better: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/thebuickotruth.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also, note that these were done with an older Buick, so it's a lot tougher than most current production vehicles.

KD5NRH wrote:

Excaliber wrote:You might consider taking this opportunity to help her understand what the real deal is when bullets meet up with car doors. A picture is worth a thousand words and might give her a new respect for behind the engine block positioning.

Even better: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/thebuickotruth.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also, note that these were done with an older Buick, so it's a lot tougher than most current production vehicles.

Thanks, KD5RH. Those are the kind of pictures I was actually looking for but couldn't locate them in the time I had available. They're a much better illustration of the fact that car doors may offer some concealment, but they're not worth much as cover.

KD5NRH wrote:Even better: http://www.theboxotruth.com/docs/thebuickotruth.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Also, note that these were done with an older Buick, so it's a lot tougher than most current production vehicles.

Excellent pics, thanks very much. I showed them to Krakatollah, she was willing to discuss what happened and said that she now has a better understanding of what it means to take cover.