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305 Posts
One of the countless reasons to carry a flashlight at all times!
Dark parking garage.
Today I left my office around Noon to get some lunch and when the elevator opened at one of the parking floors, it was pitch black. The maintenance guy had taken out the lights while fixing something else.
I wasn't parked on that level but the lady on the elevator with me was and the tone in her voice showed me that she was very nervous about walking to her car.
I stepped off the elevator and pulled out a mini-maglite from my pocket that I now carry since joining this group and turned it on and said I would be happy to escort her to her car. Now I have no idea why she trusted me over the boogie-man that might be lurking but she did and I am glad I give off that vibe.
We navigated the stairs to the cars and I had her walk down the middle of the road while I scanned both sides of cars and turning around to check "my six". Once we got to her car, I quickly illuminated the area around it to be sure we were safe and she got in a drove off. All the while, I had my right hand in my front pocket on the hilt of my 642. She, of course, had no idea what I had in there.
I then walked further down and found my car bathed in lights. Apparently only the top level was out.
I felt myself once again entering into a larger world than I had previously known.
I wasn't parked on that level but the lady on the elevator with me was and the tone in her voice showed me that she was very nervous about walking to her car.
I stepped off the elevator and pulled out a mini-maglite from my pocket that I now carry since joining this group and turned it on and said I would be happy to escort her to her car. Now I have no idea why she trusted me over the boogie-man that might be lurking but she did and I am glad I give off that vibe.
We navigated the stairs to the cars and I had her walk down the middle of the road while I scanned both sides of cars and turning around to check "my six". Once we got to her car, I quickly illuminated the area around it to be sure we were safe and she got in a drove off. All the while, I had my right hand in my front pocket on the hilt of my 642. She, of course, had no idea what I had in there.
I then walked further down and found my car bathed in lights. Apparently only the top level was out.
I felt myself once again entering into a larger world than I had previously known.
1 - 20 of 27 Posts
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2,242 Posts
XD9, if you get an opportunity you might bring up the subject of CCW if you ever encounter this woman again. She might be interested after being put into a situation like the one you described.
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25,596 Posts
Good job XD - it was certainly the chivalrous thing to do and could well be after the event she realizes that even more so.
I know one thing - those places without lights are dark! Like, black!! Certainly exemplifies our wisdom in having a flashlight at all times.
I do wish more of the fair sex would consider carry - they need it to minimize the chance of being a victim.
I know one thing - those places without lights are dark! Like, black!! Certainly exemplifies our wisdom in having a flashlight at all times.
I do wish more of the fair sex would consider carry - they need it to minimize the chance of being a victim.
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113 Posts
XD9
Too many times we pass up opportunities to help someone...you stepped up to the plate...Good job!
Too many times we pass up opportunities to help someone...you stepped up to the plate...Good job!
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1,644 Posts
Hmmm... given many of the other posts on this board, I'm suprised somebody hasn't chimed in with the standard "I wouldn't get involved". I mean, what if there had been a BG somewhere along the way? What if you had to draw your weapon or, God forbid, discharge it to protect this strange woman? She might be a mule for the local drug dealer or something and therefore deserve a roughing-up, just like the guy getting the crap kicked out of him in front of an apartment MIGHT have been a escaped convict or something. Much better to let someone get beat up, mugged or killed than risk getting involved yourself.
If you wanted to be chivalrous, you could have stood by with your cellphone, so that if you heard her scream you could call 911.
If you wanted to be chivalrous, you could have stood by with your cellphone, so that if you heard her scream you could call 911.
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270 Posts
XD, excellent job!!! I suggest you upgrade to a Surefire G2 though. 
Tanksoilder,
Funny!
Tanksoilder,
Funny!
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1,375 Posts
I agree that it was the right thing to do. As far as tank and the other naysayers, I say PFFT!!. If you are escorting her and are in your proper condition orange, then you are as aware of what she is doing as to what is going on around you. If she's a BG she will get the same treatment any one else would get under the same circumstances.
And just to show this isn't talk, I've done the same thing on several occasions, including driving an elderly lady over several floors of a parking structure to find the car she was in tears over misplacing.
And just to show this isn't talk, I've done the same thing on several occasions, including driving an elderly lady over several floors of a parking structure to find the car she was in tears over misplacing.
Joined
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3,117 Posts
Good job XD, glad you HAD that maglight and were enough of a gentleman to offer help.
Similar thing happened to my wife and me when the tornado hit downtown Nashville in '98. At the time we weren't carrying lights but we solved that problem with a sidetrip to Home Depot on the way home. I did have a mini-mag in my glovebox so when we got to the truck I used it to "escort" as many people as I could while my wife kept the motor running and the headlights on for the foot traffic.
We now have D-cell maglights and mini-mags in both vehicles, a mini each for personal use, D-cell maglights in every room of our apartment and I recently traded for a 6P Surefire that'll be part of my daily carry rig as soon as it arrives ... I HATE being caught unprepared!
Jack
Similar thing happened to my wife and me when the tornado hit downtown Nashville in '98. At the time we weren't carrying lights but we solved that problem with a sidetrip to Home Depot on the way home. I did have a mini-mag in my glovebox so when we got to the truck I used it to "escort" as many people as I could while my wife kept the motor running and the headlights on for the foot traffic.
We now have D-cell maglights and mini-mags in both vehicles, a mini each for personal use, D-cell maglights in every room of our apartment and I recently traded for a 6P Surefire that'll be part of my daily carry rig as soon as it arrives ... I HATE being caught unprepared!
Jack
Joined
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50,362 Posts
Important:
Tank Soldier ~ :nono:
Yep, that's right...Why protect your wife because she might just be sneaking around behind your back and having a tryst with a kingpin drug dealer?
Why protect your Grandfather because "unbeknownst to the family" he might have secretly been a "Mafia Hit Man" 40 years ago?
Maybe grandpa deserves to die.
Let's please get back to reality here.
There are many forum members who are not Tank Soldiers or Marines.
You're in the military & I'm sure you know that some soldiers would not jump up and single handedly run out and "take out" a machine gun nest & some would.
Yet all are soldiers. Some are different/better/braver soldiers than others? I guess.
There are many forum members who (age wise) are in their 50s & 60s & older.
There are many forum members who are businessmen & quiet Family oriented persons who have decided carry a firearm solely for their own personal protection.
They carry a firearm for the purpose of hopefully being able to protect themselves and their loved ones from harm or a deadly threat to their immediate person.
They carry a firearm in order to take some measure of responsibility for their own personal health and well being. They do not consider themselves to be defenders of society against all evildoers.
You can agree with that philosophy or...you can disagree with it but, that is the reason WHY they decided to carry.
If I was cruising down the street I probably would not (or could not) run out and break up a gang fight where 5 members of the Bloods were beating up on a Crip. I personally would not run out and help the Crip because he was misunderstood and was born into a single parent household & his Mother was a Crack Head so he was forced to join a gang & now he was getting beat up.
I would very likely get involved in a situation where a purse snatcher pushed an old woman down to the ground and was kicking her because she refuses to let go of her purse.
I personally would need to evaluate the exact situation.
There are some people who are just not willing or are unable to physically interject themselves into a situation where they are already outnumbered by youthful unknown strangers who are already being extremely violent against another unknown stranger.
They are not qualified or able to play Captain America or Spiderman...which has nothing at all to do with their personal qualifications to carry a firearm for their own personal protection.
That is NOT THE SAME SCENARIO as them being willing to offer some small measure of security and comfort to a fearful person needing to get to their vehicle in a darkened parking lot.
If (while escorting a person to their car) a Concealed Carry Person was attacked in the parking lot...then He/She WOULD be a situation that they WERE THEN personally involved in that situation - and they would then be required to react.
They would be in an unavoidable circumstance.
Every situation is different.
You cannot forever fault people for how they THINK they might react in a fictitious situation where they do not know all of the facts surrounding the incident.
They might just act totally differently depending on the situation.
You can CERTAINLY feel free Disagree with whatever decision they have decided to post but, obsessing on their "guesswork answers" to the point where you are bringing your perceived unresolved baggage from one forum thread...into every other successive forum thread is getting slightly old.
I've said this before & I'll say it again. Many States offer a License To Carry a firearm only for the purpose of SELF protection.
Some States provide that License To Carry coupled with a First & Required Obligation to retreat...if at all possible.
Please don't expect forum members to be able predict the future and state exactly how they might or might not act in any imaginary situation.
They can only guess as to how they might...or might not react.
This is the reason why I just do not like most hypothetical, fantasy, forum topics.
There are never enough facts given to exactly create or recreate the scenario.
Most are downright impossible to definitively answer.
Every "What Would You Do???" "SCENARIO" type forum topic needs to be taken slightly lightly & with two grains of salt because one unmentioned changed fact or different "real life" action would/could completely alter the stated reaction.
In the vast majority of actual situations I think that MOST good, responsible, citizens will do what they believe is the right and correct thing that they are able to do....in the time of need.
They will "step up to the plate" & hopefully do what needs to be done.
That was proven on 9/11 & it's proven "time & time again" in every catastrophe and Natural Disaster.
Many people WHO THOUGHT that they COULD NEVER be heroes or (were just not that type) sometimes end up performing VERY HEROIC acts.
Many people who THINK that they are hero types end up cowering over in some corner or running away.
Like some New Orleans Cops who WERE Cops.
Tank Soldier ~ :nono:
Yep, that's right...Why protect your wife
because she might just be sneaking around behind your back and having a tryst with a kingpin drug dealer?Why protect your Grandfather because "unbeknownst to the family" he might have secretly been a "Mafia Hit Man" 40 years ago?
Maybe grandpa deserves to die.
Let's please get back to reality here.
There are many forum members who are not Tank Soldiers or Marines.
You're in the military & I'm sure you know that some soldiers would not jump up and single handedly run out and "take out" a machine gun nest & some would.
Yet all are soldiers. Some are different/better/braver soldiers than others? I guess.
There are many forum members who (age wise) are in their 50s & 60s & older.
There are many forum members who are businessmen & quiet Family oriented persons who have decided carry a firearm solely for their own personal protection.
They carry a firearm for the purpose of hopefully being able to protect themselves and their loved ones from harm or a deadly threat to their immediate person.
They carry a firearm in order to take some measure of responsibility for their own personal health and well being. They do not consider themselves to be defenders of society against all evildoers.
You can agree with that philosophy or...you can disagree with it but, that is the reason WHY they decided to carry.
If I was cruising down the street I probably would not (or could not) run out and break up a gang fight where 5 members of the Bloods were beating up on a Crip. I personally would not run out and help the Crip because he was misunderstood and was born into a single parent household & his Mother was a Crack Head so he was forced to join a gang & now he was getting beat up.
I would very likely get involved in a situation where a purse snatcher pushed an old woman down to the ground and was kicking her because she refuses to let go of her purse.
I personally would need to evaluate the exact situation.
There are some people who are just not willing or are unable to physically interject themselves into a situation where they are already outnumbered by youthful unknown strangers who are already being extremely violent against another unknown stranger.
They are not qualified or able to play Captain America or Spiderman...which has nothing at all to do with their personal qualifications to carry a firearm for their own personal protection.
That is NOT THE SAME SCENARIO as them being willing to offer some small measure of security and comfort to a fearful person needing to get to their vehicle in a darkened parking lot.
If (while escorting a person to their car) a Concealed Carry Person was attacked in the parking lot...then He/She WOULD be a situation that they WERE THEN personally involved in that situation - and they would then be required to react.
They would be in an unavoidable circumstance.
Every situation is different.
You cannot forever fault people for how they THINK they might react in a fictitious situation where they do not know all of the facts surrounding the incident.
They might just act totally differently depending on the situation.
You can CERTAINLY feel free Disagree with whatever decision they have decided to post but, obsessing on their "guesswork answers" to the point where you are bringing your perceived unresolved baggage from one forum thread...into every other successive forum thread is getting slightly old.
I've said this before & I'll say it again. Many States offer a License To Carry a firearm only for the purpose of SELF protection.
Some States provide that License To Carry coupled with a First & Required Obligation to retreat...if at all possible.
Please don't expect forum members to be able predict the future and state exactly how they might or might not act in any imaginary situation.
They can only guess as to how they might...or might not react.
This is the reason why I just do not like most hypothetical, fantasy, forum topics.
There are never enough facts given to exactly create or recreate the scenario.
Most are downright impossible to definitively answer.
Every "What Would You Do???" "SCENARIO" type forum topic needs to be taken slightly lightly & with two grains of salt because one unmentioned changed fact or different "real life" action would/could completely alter the stated reaction.
In the vast majority of actual situations I think that MOST good, responsible, citizens will do what they believe is the right and correct thing that they are able to do....in the time of need.
They will "step up to the plate" & hopefully do what needs to be done.
That was proven on 9/11 & it's proven "time & time again" in every catastrophe and Natural Disaster.
Many people WHO THOUGHT that they COULD NEVER be heroes or (were just not that type) sometimes end up performing VERY HEROIC acts.
Many people who THINK that they are hero types end up cowering over in some corner or running away.
Like some New Orleans Cops who WERE Cops.
QKShooter, Hey your puter screwed up. It's printing everything in BOLD type. OBTW you are IMO at least 50% right.--- I personally am not out to save the world. I tried to do that about 35 years ago and found out that it can't be saved. I would react differently to the same set of conditions that someone else would. We are all different,with different attitudes,mindsets,training,and expierance. I do not expect to be right all the time. I do however want to be right enough to remain out of jail and feel that I have in some way helped my fellow man(or woman). This is just one respectable opinion. I'm sure there are others.---------
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50,362 Posts
Rssz
Well, at least I'm slowly getting back to the "good old days" of you not agreeing with me at all. I'm down to 50% now :rofl:
Whoops!...Did I accidentally hit the BOLD key up there?
Addition: I just don't want the "beef and the bones" from one previous thread to be constantly "dragged on over" into every future different forum thread.
That is not going to be "put up with" for too much longer.
Well, at least I'm slowly getting back to the "good old days" of you not agreeing with me at all. I'm down to 50% now :rofl:
Whoops!...Did I accidentally hit the BOLD key up there?
Addition: I just don't want the "beef and the bones" from one previous thread to be constantly "dragged on over" into every future different forum thread.
That is not going to be "put up with" for too much longer.
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