please critique me

It's hard in some situations to tell how you are going to act/react unless you are there. I know this better than anybody. I am obviously on your side here because you are not the BG. Those guys were probably nothing more than a bunch of bottom-feeders. God knows, I live around enough of those pathetic wastes of life here in Alexandria. They are always out on the street from about 8 PM to 3 AM with their loud ghetto-babes "hooting" and "screeching" trying to attract attention. More times than not they WANT you to start trouble with them. I deal with this crap everyday of the week. I hate it.

The situation is done & over. You came out on-top. Good for you. The only thing that I would be wary of in your situation is provoking someone who is obviously wanting you to say something to them so that they can pounce. They don't listen to the cops, so it is doubtful that they would listen to anyone else. Some people are always looking for a fight.

Be safe....

JR
 
Everything sounds good to me - except that 2 feet is too close. Even if you weigh 250 and your hero weighed 105 - it is too close. He could have stuck you with a knife or pulled some other surprize on you at that distance.

But, you took what was one of several calculated risks by letting him do so - and it paid off for you in the end. You could have sprayed him before that, and risked his friends saying - swearing in court - that "that's not how it all happened". Or you could have retreated at the risk of creating some some distance between you and your SO which I personally would have rejected at all costs.
 
You are watching too many Charles Bronson movies, what you did is vigilantism. Its your life, if you can live with the consequences and not harm innocent civilians, thats on you. That gun you carry is to protect you when danger comes after you, not when you provoke it, which you clearly did. If you want to fight crime, become a LEO and do it the right way.
 
please tell me why you see me as a vigilante

You are watching too many Charles Bronson movies, what you did is vigilantism. Its your life, if you can live with the consequences and not harm innocent civilians, thats on you. That gun you carry is to protect you when danger comes after you, not when you provoke it, which you clearly did. If you want to fight crime, become a LEO and do it the right way.
Click to expand...

PythonGuy,

Please explain how you 1) define what I did as vigilantism, and 2) how you feel I provoked the incident. I am seriously and earnestly requesting information in order to review what happened and see what I might need to do better/differently in the future.

However, there are "exceptions" I need to let you know exist in the equation. They are that I believe that the castle doctrine extends to my ability to enter and/or leave my dwelling in peace, that permitting bad behavior only invites more bad behavior, and that if someone wants to take exception to anything I say to the point of a direct threat against my life I will believe them fully and respond based on that belief.

That being said, please explain to this confused person how you come to see me as a vigilante and an imitaror of Charles Bronson in any of his "Death Wish #x" movies. If you can convince me, or at least make me look closer at the possibility, I will benefit from your words.

stay safe.

skidmark
 
You are watching too many Charles Bronson movies, what you did is vigilantism.
Click to expand...

Now, c'mon. That's downright silly. All he did was ask a bunch of hooligans to take their illegal drinking elsewhere. And skidmark is right - if he tolerates little insults, he'll find far greater ones will follow. skidmark didn't look for trouble; trouble came a-knockin'.

skidmark, FWIW, again, aside from letting "our hero" close to two feet, I give ya an A. Your neighborhood is a better place with you in it. With that in mind, stay safe!

God bless.
 
Skidmark (horrible nick by the way :) is not a cop, but he can carry a gun. If his life is threathened he can protect himself, to go around and tell punks they should get rid of their drinks crosses the line. HE should have called the cops, he got lucky this time, but they all know him now and if he wins a battle and loses the war is it worth it? Is his life worth it? If it is to him, cool, he's a big boy and can take care of himself, I just think he is looking for trouble. Now if they broke into his house with him there armed and he defended himself, that is a different story. You Dirty Harry's do what you want, common sense should be your guide. One poster said it perfectly, he should do what he would do if he were NOT carrying a gun, thats excellent logic.
 
well, excuuuuuse me.

If his life is threathened he can protect himself, to go around and tell punks they should get rid of their drinks crosses the line.
Click to expand...

I'll give you some slack and agree, for the sake of discussion, that telling young thugs they ought to behave like civilized individuals when they dispose of their empty beverage containers may be risky. But as you also said, I'm a big boy and can decide to live with the consequences of my own behavior.

I am so flabbergasted I can't even begin to work out a connection from "telling punks they should get rid of their drinks" to "vigilantism."

Not to mention you have misread my post - I never told them to get rid of their drinks. I asked them to dispose of their empties, when they got to be empties, somewhere besides on the lawn or in the parking lot.

I guess my REAL crime was that I asked them to be something they were and may never be - members of society. I should have understood that any indication on my part of disagreement or non-support for their non-conforming behavior is morally, logically, legally and tactically inappropriate, and should have retreated and waited until they were through hanging about in front of my front door before even thinking about going into my home.

I guess the problem is that of all the nationalities that make up my family history, I just never had any relatives that were French. (My apologies to most of the folks who live in France, but you are the stereotype of the day for spineless collaborators.) Or maybe the problem is that I have learned, through many courses taken at the College of Hard Knocks, that whatever level of wrong you tolerate only supports the next level of wrong being done (give them an inch, they'll take a mile).

How about this as an alternate scenario: I come home & see the same scence at the beginning. I ask them to step away from in front of my door and properly dispose of their bottles when they get finished drinking. They step away, although in varying levels of volume muttering and cussiong about that #^(*&$$#@@!$ honky old fat man telling them what to do. Nobody threatens anybody with physical violence, nobody assaults anybody with fists or bottles, and the whole thing is over. As I see it, my behavior has not changed at all. The only change is their response to me.

PythonGuy, I wonder why I am expending energy & bandwidth trying to explain this to you.

stay safe.

skidmark

Skidmark (horrible nick by the way
Click to expand...
This from someone whose nickname is PythonGuy? What's that saying about the pot & the kettle?
 
If that was vigilantism then I suppose the punks were performing a public service by drinking on the street and not drinking and driving.

OTOH, I wouldn't have confronted 6 punks in that authoritive manner as it would be likely to provoke them. Did you expect them to give you a yes sir and comply knowing that 6 punks carry pack mentality and make them act more hostile than if they were alone?

I give you an A for attitude, and a B for execution. You could have handled it better. Now you have to watch your 6 moreso than usual.
 
Sorry, forgot you are a hero, carry on, I'll stick to the gun portion of the forums. Go watch your six, or whatever else it is you gunslingers do. :D
 
Last edited:
I tried to edit my posts on this, I don't mean to get on Skid personally, because I believe he is a sincere, honest person. I do believe pulling a gun is the absolute last resort when your life is in imminent danger, not to be used for anything less. But thats just my opinion and has no more weight then skid's or others on here. If a Mod can edit my previous posts on this thread please do so. Skid, I hope you stay safe and well.
 
Last edited:
spacemanspiff,

where did I say he did, I am giving an opinion on why I made my previous posts. Skid knows what I am talking about. Read twice and post not. :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top