I was a sitting duck.

I was on a business trip. Flying, working, basically, no gun.
To make matters worse, I was near Detroit (Dearborn) and I was returning to the hotel after dark Sunday night. I pulled into the parking lot, saw a car to my right about 100', and as I got my stuff out of the trunk, the guy from the car got out and approached me. I must say, my spidy senses went on high.
He asked if I had a tire iron. "What?" "I have a flat, you have a Ford and so do I."
I fumbled around the rental car, told him it's a rental, and I couldn't find a tire iron, but I'll bet hotel security has one and he should check with them.

Now, nothing happened. He did go to the hotel, and he probably really did have a flat, although I couldn't see one.
I did know I wasn't going to hand him a tire iron while I was leaning into the trunk.
I missed my Seecamp at that moment.:icon_neutral:

Yikes. Maybe you could start bringing some other weapons with you? OC, knife/knives, etc in your checked luggage? We (wife, me &daughter) just got back from Daytona Beach,FL and I didn't have any firearms with me, but I put all my folders in a ziplock and put it in my checked luggage, so I had two (strong and weak side) and my wife had one with her, better than nothing.

You should have given him the tire iron.












Multiple times.













Around the head and neck.:twak:


Remember that interaction when you hop in your rental car and have a flat only to find out that you don't have a tire iron. Karma is a ..... well, you know.

Sounds like the old, "Give me a weapon so I can beat you over the head with it.".

While I understand the concern that it might have been a BG trying to get a weapon, usually they bring their own, or they come in numbers, or both, and they don't need to ask for a tire iron. Sure, it could have been a ploy, but it could also have been a guy with a flat tire.

I think the suggestion that they go talk to security (if not said with hostility) might have been a wise response. It gave the guy an option for getting help--like, security calling a wrecker for them, and it gave the OP a way to politely get out of the situation.

I wasn't there so I have no way to know how "bad" these guys appeared or if the OP's concerns were justified or over the top.

If not in business attire I might have been willing to lend a hand to a stranger.

I would be inclined to help, if I was not "neked".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Guns and more

I was on a business trip ... near Detroit ... returning to the hotel ... after dark ... as I got my stuff out of the trunk, the guy from the car got out and approached me.

---

Bad combination, right there. I don't even need to know what he asked you, at this point. I've had numerous such encounters, enough to know it's rare to have one be "benign." They're marking targets. Guess what? You're the target. You're being sized up. I'd say, it's a 90% chance of that being true. There are benefits to traveling light, selecting a non-standard car from a rental company if traveling, coming into the hotel via the non-typical route.

w/e happened to being nice to people? I remember one evening on my birthday in a nice town my ex-fiancee left my headlights on while we went to dinner. it was a well lit city street in a town center, on street parking. I approached several people for a jump start (I was holding the cables) and some people looked downright afraid, scurrying away to their vehicle while whisking me away. Now I am not an imposing figure, nor is my voice intimidating. I was polite and courteous. It was not until I gave my ex-fiancee the cables that the first person she asked agreed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctsketch

w/e happened to being nice to people? I remember one evening on my birthday in a nice town my ex-fiancee left my headlights on while we went to dinner. it was a well lit city street in a town center, on street parking. I approached several people for a jump start (I was holding the cables) and some people looked downright afraid, scurrying away to their vehicle while whisking me away. Now I am not an imposing figure, nor is my voice intimidating. I was polite and courteous. It was not until I gave my ex-fiancee the cables that the first person she asked agreed.

---

+1
Situational awareness is great... but it doesn't hurt to not be TOO paranoid. That said, I wasn't there so can't say it was anything different than an evil villain trying to take out the OP.

When we stop showing kindness to our fellow man...the criminals have won.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctsketch

w/e happened to being nice to people?

Now I am not an imposing figure, nor is my voice intimidating. I was polite and courteous.

---

Everyone's "wired" differently with respect to sensing the indicators of person in such situations.

My "profile" where I am always circumspect is: single male, relatively nervous behavior, nothing in hands to support the "story" I'm being fed, getting far too close far too quickly. When all of that occurs quickly, in a single engagement, it no longer matters what the ostensible "problem" the person has.

But if the demeanor is "honest" and other supporting facts seem to be there (ie, a car with cables in hand, a kid in that car, a pen/paper in hand for writing down the info being asked, etc), then I am often inclined to assist. Depends on the situation. After dark in a "lonely" parking lot in which someone obviously awaiting my arrival quickly approaches my rental vehicle as I'm getting out? Not likely.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctsketch

w/e happened to being nice to people?

---

It appears it went out with high button shoes. I sat on the side of the interstate at night broken down without a weapon in an antique car for hours and not a soul stopped. I was out in the middle of nowhere and I called a wrecker service I knew and they couldn't get gone for a while and I was an hour away. I did have the presence of mind to get out of the car and hide under the overpass in case anyone stopped I could assess the situation before revealing I was there. I also called 911 to inform them of who I was, where I was (mile marker, south bound, etc.), and what was going on just in case something happened there would at least be a reference point of place and time and why. The dispatcher said she would send a County patrol car by to check on me. About an hour into the wait, the patrol car showed up and he hung out there with me talking and looking at my car until the wrecker showed up. He was a nice fellow and I appreciated him stopping by. In that situation, it would have actually made me nervous if someone would have stopped. This was several years back during a time when I was not carrying...that doesn't happen anymore.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctsketch

w/e happened to being nice to people? I remember one evening on my birthday in a nice town my ex-fiancee left my headlights on while we went to dinner. it was a well lit city street in a town center, on street parking. I approached several people for a jump start (I was holding the cables) and some people looked downright afraid, scurrying away to their vehicle while whisking me away. Now I am not an imposing figure, nor is my voice intimidating. I was polite and courteous. It was not until I gave my ex-fiancee the cables that the first person she asked agreed.

---

it was replaced with this....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NC Bullseye

You should have given him the tire iron.

Multiple times.
Around the head and neck.:twak:

Remember that interaction when you hop in your rental car and have a flat only to find out that you don't have a tire iron. Karma is a ..... well, you know.

---

and makes one wonder who the criminals are and why society is such a wreck...

great idea recommending security by the way...i usually offer to call a wrecker service or police on my phone for them if they need help and there snt something i can do for them...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctsketch

When we stop showing kindness to our fellow man...the criminals have won.

---

Here here. Spot on.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ctsketch

When we stop showing kindness to our fellow man...the criminals have won.

---

Yes.

It's important to note, however, that failing to be circumspect such that a person is targeted and harmed also results in the criminals having won. The trick is to find a helpful middle ground, one that's still a safe method of doing things but one that also ends up helping the people who are actually in need. That involves circumspection, retention of one's security steps, a healthy dose of "people watching" skills, and knowing there are generally several ways in which help can be offered.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bladenbullet

great idea recommending security by the way...i usually offer to call a wrecker service or police on my phone for them if they need help and there snt something i can do for them...

---

Yup. It's that helpful middle ground. Doing the work, fixing the car, giving the unknown person a ride ... all of these are directly useful. But calling for help and sticking around until help arrives also ends up with the same thing: the person's "car" problem fixed, the person safe until help arrives. And yet it also results in all parties remaining safe, instead of forcing via guilt trip the relaxing of all security precautions by the assisting party, something that need not occur.