dangerousdon
Well-Known Member
First of all...I don't post much here. And I have been on and off the forum for several years. I pop my head up every now and then to make a comment (mostly a stupid one) and then taper off into the ether. This weekend, I had an experience that reinforced my belief in carrying...concealed or otherwise.
My family (me, wife, and six month old daughter) were in the drive through at a fast food restaurant in a "decent" part of Baton Rouge. We were out shopping and decided to get a couple of drinks. We had waited longer than you probably should just for drinks. We were at a drive through window and in front of us was another vehicle with just the driver at another drive through window. All of a sudden, the driver in front of us opens his car door, starts shouting expletives at someone in the restaurant, and then commenced to attempt to crawl through drive through window. I went ahead and pulled out my pistol. I looked at my wife (who was driving) and told her the drinks are not important and let's go. Meanwhile, the driver ahead of us is pushed out the window and is still yelling expletives, and then a worker appears in the window and is yelling back and then spits on the driver. By this time we are trying to drive away, but the car in front of us speeds around the corner of the drive through, gets out of the vehicle, opens his trunk, and then pulls out what I believe to have been a handgun, and went into the fast food place. By this time we are out of the parking lot. To be completely honest, I believe I saw him pull out a handgun. But...I will admit it could have been something else. But his actions and body language, in addition to what I thought I saw, all suggested that he had a gun.
Here is part two of the story...
Once we were out of the parking lot, I called 911. I explained to the dispatcher what I witnessed. He told me to stay on the line and he would put me through to the police (huh?). The phone rang twice and then I was hung up on. I called back immediately, and got a different person. Explained the same thing. Was told to stay on the line while she puts me through to the police. Dispatch from the PD answered and I explained the whole thing over...again. This person asked a couple of questions and then thanked me for calling and then promptly hung up. No indication that they would do anything or send someone to check up on things...just an okay and thanks.
Okay, since I didn't see anything in the news, maybe there wasn't a gun...honestly...I don't know. I do know that guy was angry and he grabbed something and ran into the fast food place, all the while, other employees and customers were running out. That being said...this is what I learned.
Even though nothing happened to my family and we were able to make a swift exit, you never know what could have happened. The guy might have turned our way and decided that he didn't like something. As we were leaving his attention might have come to us. Who knows...but what I do know is that I was prepared to take action if the need did arise.
The other thing that I learned...is that the police can't always be there to protect you (okay I always knew this, but thought that this was a good example to say such again). Also, you can't always depend on the police to come to your aid...and if they did...it might be too late.
Just some thoughts on an unpleasant incident that had the potential to turn really bad. Not trying to disparage anyone, anything, or anyplace. Just some observations.
My family (me, wife, and six month old daughter) were in the drive through at a fast food restaurant in a "decent" part of Baton Rouge. We were out shopping and decided to get a couple of drinks. We had waited longer than you probably should just for drinks. We were at a drive through window and in front of us was another vehicle with just the driver at another drive through window. All of a sudden, the driver in front of us opens his car door, starts shouting expletives at someone in the restaurant, and then commenced to attempt to crawl through drive through window. I went ahead and pulled out my pistol. I looked at my wife (who was driving) and told her the drinks are not important and let's go. Meanwhile, the driver ahead of us is pushed out the window and is still yelling expletives, and then a worker appears in the window and is yelling back and then spits on the driver. By this time we are trying to drive away, but the car in front of us speeds around the corner of the drive through, gets out of the vehicle, opens his trunk, and then pulls out what I believe to have been a handgun, and went into the fast food place. By this time we are out of the parking lot. To be completely honest, I believe I saw him pull out a handgun. But...I will admit it could have been something else. But his actions and body language, in addition to what I thought I saw, all suggested that he had a gun.
Here is part two of the story...
Once we were out of the parking lot, I called 911. I explained to the dispatcher what I witnessed. He told me to stay on the line and he would put me through to the police (huh?). The phone rang twice and then I was hung up on. I called back immediately, and got a different person. Explained the same thing. Was told to stay on the line while she puts me through to the police. Dispatch from the PD answered and I explained the whole thing over...again. This person asked a couple of questions and then thanked me for calling and then promptly hung up. No indication that they would do anything or send someone to check up on things...just an okay and thanks.
Okay, since I didn't see anything in the news, maybe there wasn't a gun...honestly...I don't know. I do know that guy was angry and he grabbed something and ran into the fast food place, all the while, other employees and customers were running out. That being said...this is what I learned.
Even though nothing happened to my family and we were able to make a swift exit, you never know what could have happened. The guy might have turned our way and decided that he didn't like something. As we were leaving his attention might have come to us. Who knows...but what I do know is that I was prepared to take action if the need did arise.
The other thing that I learned...is that the police can't always be there to protect you (okay I always knew this, but thought that this was a good example to say such again). Also, you can't always depend on the police to come to your aid...and if they did...it might be too late.
Just some thoughts on an unpleasant incident that had the potential to turn really bad. Not trying to disparage anyone, anything, or anyplace. Just some observations.