Strange day. Paranoia??

[bentol888]

It was 6:47 this morning and I had just arrived to work (accounting), parking as I usually did in the multi floor garage. I am typically one of the first people to arrive so I found it odd that a car pulled in a few spots down from me. Red, two-door coupe with tinted windows. As I stepped out of my car (with my Glock IWB strong-side) I immediately checked my 1,4,8, and 11 o'clock and slowly began to walk towards the building entrance making sure to give direct eye-contact and clear my throat very loud to make sure the shady character in the red sedan knew that I knew that they were there. As the door opened to said sedan, a woman, 5'10 dressed in a pinstripe skirt and white blouse stepped out of her car. The strange detail that upped my alert to orange-red was the fact that she was carrying a messenger bag that was clearly made for a man. As I got closer (she had parked between my car and the entrance) she looked at me and said, "Good morning", to which I held out my hand as to let her know not to approach any closer and said "GOOD MORNING!" politely but loud and firm enough that she knew that I wasn't going to be a victim. Her smile faded and she looked somewhat confused. As I continued to the entrance (about 20 yards from where I park), I could hear her high-heeled footsteps behind me. This made me extremely nervous so I pulled out my cell phone (left side pant pocket) and pretended that I was receiving a phone call, "YES DETECTIVE?" I said loudly, stopped walking and veered to the left without ever dropping my SA until the woman passed me. As she passed, she was looking straight ahead towards the entrance of the building as I never stopped looking right at her intently with my right hand resting slightly on the butt of my Glock 26 holding my breath. After she was about 20 feet ahead (at this point she was walking with urgency), I exhaled a sigh of relief and continued on.
After the entire morning at my desk replaying the encounter over and over again at work, I began to think about the WRONG things I did in that situation:

1) I should have never exited the car before checking my surroundings and waiting for the person in the red car to exit first, making careful detailed notes on description, facial features, and other key distinguishable traits the shady person may have had

2) NEVER should I have let the shady character get into my 6 o'clock. I should have immediately turned around confidently and continued to make contact until said person passed making sure she knew that I was gathering information that I may need for the authorities.

When i got home that evening, I went straight to the garage and practiced my draw and SHOUT techniques as well as my roll and aim drills and made myself a promise that I would never ever be caught off-guard again.

Thoughts about how I should have handled it?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Yoda]

High heels unlikely to be worn by BG.

Was she good looking?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[P95]

I am always on alert....but not paranoid....You my friend seem to anxious to try out your knowledge on defensive carry. Glad it all worked out on the safe side for you.

[Rock and Glock]

Darned accountants are always in the office early.

I wouldn't expect a pin-stripe skirt, high heels and white blouse on a perp at 6:45 AM, and a lot of executive women carry man bags. Having said that, you analyzed it pretty well. Next time stay in your car.

You probably freaked her out a bit. Relax a bit too. DFW is full of freaks, but not many dressed like you described. She's probably in accounting too, or tax.

[Sig35seven]

Do you always get this nervous around women? Just kidding.

Women can be very tricky to read. "Good morning" is usually an indication that they're up to no good. Watch out for those fast walkers that appear to be late...it's a cover-up for something much more sinister especially carrying a mans messenger bag. My only advice would be next time pull out your cell phone and say, in a commanding voice..."Good morning Mr. President we got the garage area under full surveillance as of right now". That should spoil her devious plan.

[claude clay]

have a talk with yourself re prepared vs paranoid

you sound new to CCW and have done a fair amount of background work.
now you need to intregate the written word with the world in real time.

try to let your SA catch up to your ability to deal with information by moving a bit slower and in a delibrate fashion.

stay well...

[mprp]

I'm thinking a little bit on the excited side maybe. I can see having SA up a bit but going home and practicing draw and shout, roll and aim drills just because someone said good morning to you just seems a bit over the top to me. I think I'd be more inclined to practice my people skills instead.

Relax and enjoy life a bit.

[glockman10mm]

Yeah, you really screwed up. Your paranoia caused you to miss out on a score with a hot woman.
I have seen woman that I would let victimize me.:)

[PEF]

I'd say cut back on the caffeine and up your dosage of clozapine.

[rammerjammer]

Paranoia plain and simple.

Calm down and realize that danger does not lurk around every corner.

[RKM]

What? Can't judge a book by it's cover, but when was the last time a well dressed woman in high heels assaulted a grown man, (other than possibly domestic violence)? I don't think you had any reason at ALL to be even the slightest bit worried about her. Do you ever go out in public?

[Rock and Glock]

Two words: Fatal Attraction

Just relax a bit, and realize a lot of teasing goes on around here. You did fine, even for an accountant. I am an accountant too, BTW.

Anyway, welcome to the Forum! Enjoy!

[tessa]

This must be a joke. If not I'm so glad you don't live in Colorado.

[gasmitty]

"That woman" was actually an FBI agent in their white-collar crimes division, specializing in forensic accounting. The first email she sent out this morning went like this: "You wouldn't believe what happened to me this morning. I made sure to get to the building where I had my appointment plenty early so no one could say I was interrupting them. At 6:48, just as I was getting ready to get out of my car, this other guy pulls up and parks just past me. When I stepped out of my car, I saw him look all around him, which made me pretty suspicious. Then he tried to make eye contact, but I refused to do the same, and that's when he really gave me the stink-eye. He was dressed professionally, but so was Gotti's accountant when we took him down, remember? I kept one hand real close to the flap on my courier bag in case I needed to grab my Glock. Then when I was walking toward the door, he whips out his cell phone and makes like he's talking to a cop. Seems awfully fishy to me... so I want you to run his plate number, and let me know if anything turns up..."

Yep, my imagination is just as active as the OP's!

[RayBar]

You need a vacation.