Almost Outed - Amusing Case

[LittleGun]

My concealed carry was almost outed while I was visiting a friend. My friend owns and manages an apartment complex, located in a kind of seedy part of town. He asked me to take a look at his computer that was having problems.

My friend knows that I have a CHL and that I carry all the time. While I was on my way to his apartment office, he telephoned me and told me that he would be late, and that I should go into the office and get started. He said that the maid knew I was coming and would let me into the office.

I arrived and spoked to the maid. She let me into the office as promised. The office door is protected by another door made of iron bars. The iron bar door is normally padlocked. Because I was there, the maid placed the padlock in its normal spot, but unlocked, so I could leave if needed.

I quickly identified the computer problem and fixed it. There was nothing more to do except wait for my friend to arrive. I went to the iron door to look outside, mostly because the maid was cute. It was also interesting to see the various tenants pass by. Some of them looked rather shady.

I saw the maintenance man talking to someone. He noticed me and seemed surprised to see someone in the office. I nodded a hello because we met on a previous visit. The maintenance man looked at me strangely, as if he didn't recognize me, and began walking toward me.

He approached the door, looked at me suspiciously, and said, "Mr. C doesn't allow anyone in the office when he's gone."

At first I thought he was joking, but realized that he simply did not remember me.

"I know," I replied. "I have permission. I'm working on his computer."

The maintenance man paused, looked at me again, and said, "Do I know you?"

"Yes," I answered. "You, Mr. C, and I had a few beers the last time I was here."

"That's right!" he exclaimed. "I remember." He was still looking at me suspiciously. He seemed to remember me, but was still unsure about me. Maybe I was a bad guy trying to fool him. He gazed at my waist; probably to see if was armed.

He pretended to be friendly but was clearly overly friendly. "Open this door," he said, "And let me give my friend a hug." He wasn't the hugging type. I think he wanted to pat me down.

He fumbled for the padlock and tried to slide it out of the iron bar door, but was having trouble. It takes a little patience to snake the hand perfectly between the bars and lift the padlock. He was in a rush and failed to do it correctly. I moved close to the door to offer assistance. The padlock was easier to handle from inside of the office.

When I got close to the door, he quickly reached through the iron bars with his right arm and pretended to hug me. His arm slipped around my waist. As it did, I turned a little so that he would have a longer reach to locate my right-side kidney-carry position. It worked perfectly. His hands went past the mag pouches on my left, but not go far enough reach my gun. His fake hug found nothing but the empty small of my back.

He backed away from the door, smiled, and said, "It's good to see you again. Mr. C will be back soon."

Satisfied that I was unarmed and harmless, he returned to his work. When Mr. C finally got to the office, I told him the experience, and we both laughed about it. Nothing would have happened if the maintenance man discovered my gun. I just don't want him to know. Mr. C knows and that's good enough.

[tfrazier]

Okay, this story just seems bizarre to me and I might be totally missing the point; but, is it normal where you live for people who have only met once to hug each other???

[ELB]

I think the subtext to Littlegun's story is that the "hug" was unusually "friendly" and an obvious ploy to pat LittleGun down.

Me, I would not have permitted the hug. For a couple reasons, chief among them I don't know that the maintenance man isn't trying to trick me so he can get close and subdue me. Either for nefarious reasons or because he doesn't remember the previous reason and he is going to "capture" the "burglar."

[tfrazier]

I gathered that, and maybe it's because I'm not a "hugger", but my answer to maint man would've been, "no thanks"; especially not on the first date (or any other date)!

I don't see why anyone else would submit to a hug under the circumstances, either...but then I have been know to be a little old fashioned and less than gregarious at times.

[DoubleJ]

I prefer a good ol' handshake, anyway!

[tfrazier]

I prefer a good ol' handshake, anyway!

Dude, there's a little flu bug going around! Which reminds me, everyone steer clear of Flintknapper...he's always up to his armpits in feral swine!

[ClarkLZeuss]

While it's easy to say "I would have refused the hug" you really gotta be one of those people that's perfectly comfortable with social awkwardness. And most of us, if we're honest, give into requests like this because we don't want to be the first person to be "rude." We don't want to rock the boat. One of my roommates in college did an experiment on this very subject once at a party: the first guy he met, he shook his hand and didn't let go for the entire time (nearly 5 minutes!) while talking to him in a very warm and friendly way. Even though the other guy politely tried to pull away, he couldn't muster the courage to just yank his hand out. Then, for his grand finale, my roommate finally released the handshake, started to walk away, but then turned back and asked him, "What was your name again?" once again with an outstretched hand. Well, the guy fell for it, and was subjected to another torturous five minutes of uninterrupted male to male touch!

[bryang]

I prefer a good ol' handshake, anyway!

Hey, I'm with ya'll on this one. I think I would have been backing away. I guess I am old fashon, too, but where I grew up, men didn't hug men.

-geo

[LittleGun]

It is not unusual for people I know to hug after a first meeting. It is a gesture of respect. Enough respect can be established after a single meeting. It has to be a good first meeting.

I'm not a hugger myself, but I allow it demonstrate respect. I respect the maintenance man because he does good work and handles his job seriously. We met several times before, not just once. But it had been a long time since my last visit. That's why he did not immediatly recognize me.

The hug was a ploy to check me out. He didn't really think I was a burglar. He was just being nosey.

The point of the story is that carrying can lead to interesting situations, some of them amusing.

[TexasComputerDude]

I only hug ladies and my grandpa (rip)

[ELB]

I am glad it turned out amusingly, but I wonder -- if he didn't think you were a burglar, or otherwise up to no good, why did he feel it necessary to check you out?

Oh, and I would not find it awkward at all to tell someone to keep back or don't hug me, especially if it is a maintenance guy in a basically business/work environment. At a party, or meeting someone's huggy grandmother, I wouldn't push them off, but some guy I saw once a long time ago in what is basically a work/business atmosphere -- nope. There is a difference between being polite and civil, and being friendly -- and I think respect is shown when one does not presume on a relationship.