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Situational awareness. Last night I went to the grocery store and parked under a light for visibility. I took note what lane I was in, in case I should have to run to the vehicle. Upon exiting the store, I scanned the parking lot for anything/anyone that could cause alarm. As I was putting my groceries into the trunk, I noticed two males with hoodies, mid 20's, coming my way. Condition orange went into effect. I OBSERVED. Though the parking lot had ample room, they walked as close as you possibly could against the side of my vehicle coming towards me. Condition Red... I ORIENTED. I reached under my jacket and put my hand onto the grips of my gun, ready to pull it out in an instant, I DECIDED. They passed me by and kept going. I went back to condition YELLOW and my "OODA LOOP" reset. (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act). THIS TIME....all was safe. Next time? And would this one had been had I not been observing?

Good reminder. Thanks for sharing.

I would have walked away toward the store
and prayed that they wouldn't follow me

...Texas law is written so that we're not required to run for our safety when threatened...or stop doing anything we're lawfully doing...I'll bet he prayed not to miss if they didn't break off and leave him alone...

Given that they were that close, suppose at that last instant they had suddenly, violently THROWN themselves at you. Could you have dealt with it, even with one hand on your firearm? If not, how could you have prepared for that "what if"? Good questions.

Sometimes, not always, but sometimes all it takes is for them to see you seeing them coming and not acting afraid. It can mean that you are not going to be an easy target and they should move along and look for someone else.

wgoforth wrote:Situational awareness. Last night I went to the grocery store and parked under a light for visibility. I took note what lane I was in, in case I should have to run to the vehicle. Upon exiting the store, I scanned the parking lot for anything/anyone that could cause alarm. As I was putting my groceries into the trunk, I noticed two males with hoodies, mid 20's, coming my way. Condition orange went into effect. I OBSERVED. Though the parking lot had ample room, they walked as close as you possibly could against the side of my vehicle coming towards me. Condition Red... I ORIENTED. I reached under my jacket and put my hand onto the grips of my gun, ready to pull it out in an instant, I DECIDED. They passed me by and kept going. I went back to condition YELLOW and my "OODA LOOP" reset. (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act). THIS TIME....all was safe. Next time? And would this one had been had I not been observing?

Entirely possible that once they saw your body language, they "called the knock it off", as fighter pilots say. And perhaps went on to find a slightly softer target. Good looking out, and thanks for the reminder.

My guess is it was really nothing... BUT we need to always practice the color codes of awareness, because you don't know till too late! Practice often, it becomes an automatic practice.

Thanks for sharing. It's a good reminder.

C-dub wrote:Sometimes, not always, but sometimes all it takes is for them to see you seeing them coming and not acting afraid. It can mean that you are not going to be an easy target and they should move along and look for someone else.

this is exactly what i was thinking. the rules of nature also apply to humans that are "on the hunt", so to speak. given that our bodies are made up mostly of water, it's not surprising that people tend to take the path of least resistance. criminals usually will look for soft or easy targets. the right body language can prevent you being a victim, and can probably be more effective than any other means of self-defense because it acts as a deterrent.

Sounds like you may want to start looking for another grocery store perhaps in a different part of town ....

...that's the major point of situational awareness...it's ANYTIME, ANYWHERE... if you were going out to rob...wouldn't you go to the "better" parts of town, where more goodies live??? crime is an equal opportunity kinda thing...the only people who "feel safe here" have this soft white stuff all over their bodies...and travel in flocks...and the wolves know how to spot them...wgoforth just showed a coupla young wolves he wasn't one of those...the same scenario happened to my first wife on a Sunday in the "best" part of town...except, that, as she walked to her car alone just before dark with a bag of groceries, she had a young wolf at each side of her car by the door...smiling, with their bibs on and freshly washed paws...but when dinner reached in her purse and showed them her Colt Detective Special...they lost their appetites...wgoforth's may be their grandkids...this happened in '76...

speedsix wrote:...that's the major point of situational awareness...it's ANYTIME, ANYWHERE... if you were going out to rob...wouldn't you go to the "better" parts of town, where more goodies live??? crime is an equal opportunity kinda thing...the only people who "feel safe here" have this soft white stuff all over their bodies...and travel in flocks...and the wolves know how to spot them...wgoforth just showed a coupla young wolves he wasn't one of those...the same scenario happened to my first wife on a Sunday in the "best" part of town...except, that, as she walked to her car alone just before dark with a bag of groceries, she had a young wolf at each side of her car by the door...smiling, with their bibs on and freshly washed paws...but when dinner reached in her purse and showed them her Colt Detective Special...they lost their appetites...wgoforth's may be their grandkids...this happened in '76...

Effective communication is all about how you talk to people. You need to know what they care about.

BG's aren't deterred by laws, rules, morals, compassion, or the prospects of arrest or imprisonment, but they care deeply about the immediate prospect of more holes in their bodies than they were made with.

Was at Academy this weekend and saw these two cars parked on the edge of the lot. One man was semi dragging carrying another into a vehicle. I was reaching for my phone to call 911 when saw a woman in the second car open the truck and dragged out a wheelchair.

houstonsailor wrote:Sounds like you may want to start looking for another grocery store perhaps in a different part of town ....

This is Brownwood....we only have ONE part of town! And this the only Kroger Store, and it on one of the main drags.