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Panhandler at 5 am

3K views 24 replies 22 participants last post by  spensergig 
#1 ·
While driving to work at 5 am I was stopped at a red light at a major intersection with no one else really on the road in a rather shady part of town. All of a sudden a guy approaches my passanger side window and taps on it. I imedietly undo my seatbelt to give me access to my firearm and lock my doors and check traffic so if I have to run the light to flee I can safely. He asks for $ and gives me some story about being robbed. I reply that I don't and quickly leave when the light turns green.

The guy albeit not smart to be knocking on car windows at 5 am did do some things that I thought were rather smart. He approaced the passanger side, clearly showed both hands and talked loudly enough to be heard with the window rolled up. I'm glad nothing came of it but it was a definate wake up call for me.

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#2 ·
I'm always riding my wife about keeping her doors locked all the time. I'm still kicking myself in the rear for not noticing that her last car purchase didn't have automatic locking doors...

An unlocked door is the quickest way to become a trapped victim in your vehicle.
 
#3 ·
It's winter and Florida is flooded with the homeless and panhandlers this time of year. Due caution is always advisable.
 
#4 ·
Not many people are out selling Girl Scout Cookies at 5 A.M.:nono:
Stay armed...stay alert (you were)...stay safe!:yup:
 
#6 ·
Probably a good thing you didn't shoot him. ;)

I was getting gas yesterday when some guy came up babbling something about cleaning my windows. I shooed him away. He didn't seem to be a threat so I let him live. Then some girl came up with the same deal. Turned out it was "customer appreciation day" and the station was doing windows for free like back in the 1960's. LOL

Sent from my home computer using a real keyboard. :smile:
 
#8 ·
I hate people who approach my car. I always feel cornered, even though I'm driving a 2 ton wrecking device. Guess it just freaks me out being in a confined space. Glad it worked out ok. Sto k up on GS cookies while you can. Need to put a few boxes in my bunker.
 
#9 ·
I hate pan handlers. I had a guy approach me one time as I was entering my car and the first words out of his mouth actually were "hey man I'm not trying to rob you..." Then proceeded to say he was just released from prison and homeless, trying to stay away from crime and needing money. With my hand on my weapon I said "its a good thing you didn't try to rob me the first time or you wouldn't even have made it to prison". Then I drove off. Don't approach me at 10 at night with that story.
 
#22 ·
how did you know he went to prison for robbery? maybe he was just being on the cautious side to let you know he was not there to cause trouble and was just hungry? People go to prison all the time and lose everything when they were innocent at the start of it all. It could happen to anyone, unfortnately with how our justice system works.

Not saying I advocate giving handouts, but passing judgement just because someone has fallen on hard times isn't cool. IMO
 
#10 ·
Yeah bums are trouble. I avoid talking to them at all, because you never know what's going to provoke them into a chimpout, and I've heard reports of bums who will try to get you to strike them so they can sue you.

Years ago a bum punched me in the face as we passed walking down the street. I thought about tackling him, but remembered that street people carry a lot of HIV and hepatitis and you don't want physical contact with them where blood might be spilled, so I restrained myself. Less than a minute later I saw police on foot closing in on him. He had been punching and kicking everyone he passed.
 
#13 ·
Not scared at all. My issue was timing. 5 am is not when most people are panhandling. Middle of the day I would have thought nothing of it and offer to get the guy food or give him a waterbottle. But being the only car at the intersection at 5 am put me on edge a little.

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#14 ·
I really don't care for panhandlers myself, I have to run them off or call the cops to run them off quite often. I work in a C-Store. But, I was floored by one here recently, nice shiny SUV, lady comes in asking for some gas, told her I couldn't use my debit card during my shift, and I don't carry cash. Her reply was "it's ok, I'll find someone who will, that's my job, I'm a professional beggar and panhandler" Then I realized I've seen her before, in rags knocking on windows at the interstate exit ramp.
Needless to say, she was not allowed to stay and harass my customers for money.
 
#15 ·
There was a guy locally who used to sit at a busy intersection in a wheel chair. One night, while at the Waffle House, we noticed him completing a shift. He wheeled to the Waffle House parking lot, stood up, folded his wheel chair, and tossed it on the back of a new truck. Then drove off.

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#17 ·
I think that's JUST PLAIN DISGUSTING to portray oneself as a handicapped person pulling that kind of crap. If I were an employee of that WH the next time I was there on my shift I'd call a local tow outfit and have Mr Handicap's truck TOWED OFF.
 
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#16 ·
My ol grampa once told me "nothing good ever happens after 2am"...I have come to belive that in the years since. I wonder if the bum had a gun drawen on him before given the way he showed you his hands.
 
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#18 ·
I did not read all the replies so I apologize if I am off base, but IMO, there is no such thing as a panhandler at 5 AM in the morning. There are BGs out there in the hint of night who want what you have and may start with a "pardon me, can you spare" to a "give me all you got"; if you are lucky, their comments do not include the brandishing of a knife or a firearm. I have had my run in at, ironically, 5AM, as well. As a barista waiting to have the manager open a Starbucks in a shopping center with a 24 hours supermarket, a guy comes out of the shadows with several questions--once the questions start you should always realize, particularly at 5Am, that they are leading to the big kahuna demand. Questions included "are the newspapers still wrapped for sale?" and "do you have a cigarette and/or a light?" I immediately started walking to the supermarket and ended the scenario. No doubt in my mind where this was going. This happened about 4 years ago (pre Obama) and now that I CC and have an active interest in firearm defense and situational awareness, it, hopefully, will never happen again or if it does I can protect myself appropriately.
 
#21 ·
This sort of thing is like an every-other-day occurrence here in Houston. I've been approached like that by people asking for money, a cigarette, to use my cell phone. The weirdest request was from a guy who asked me for a ride "to his baby mama's house". I just laughed and said no way man.
 
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