what happened at the Shopping Center

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first of all, Congrats on handling the situation properly and not confronting/escalating/or most importantly brandishing. Smart move on your part to just make your way right back into the store.

Second this sounds like a similar situation I happened to be placed in last year. Me and my girlfriend went down to a local supermarket that is open 24 hours. There is usually 1 or 2 workers on and the place is dead other than them. It was about 1am and we casually walked around and noticed another girl shopping and another man. We grabbed what we came there for and strolled around and grabbed some stuff we didn't:rolleyes:. We went to check out and the girl we had seen earlier came and confronted me and my girlfriend. She explained that the man had been following her around and staring at her and she was scared to walk to her car alone. I DID NOT have a firearm on me, because I had just turned 21 and did not apply for it yet. I always carry a pretty heavy duty folding knife in a back pocket so took it out(where no one could see) and held it in my hand inside of my front sweatshirt pocket when i noticed the man standing outside. This is one time i actually made my girlfriend carry the bags:o as we walked out in case something did arise I would have both my hands free. The man looked at the girl as she walked with us and turned away and went to his car. Luckily the girl was parked near us so I stood between her car and ours until she was in safely and drove off with us following. Don't know what the man wanted but I felt good to be there to comfort someone.
 
Seriously people...I am almost laughing at how you straight guys cannot recognize a simply "cruising" and somehow allow your testosterone levels to turn it into a life threatening situation. I, and a couple Pink Pistol members that have e-mailed me, recognized it right off the bat and all are getting a good laugh out of this thread. :D
 
Seriously people...I am almost laughing at how you straight guys cannot recognize a simply "cruising"
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Damn PBP, what ever happened to telling someone you're interested...instead of silently following someone like a stalker? :confused:

I would rather someone tell me, than walk 2 feet behind me saying nothing, wouldn't you?:confused:
 
you straight guys cannot recognize a simply "cruising"
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What would be the reaction if a straight guy followed a girl around a store like that? No one doubted the other story of the young woman was a dangerous situation. I realize that society put a lot of pressure on homosexuals to remain underground in the past and in most places that pressure lingers, but if the behavior is entirely unacceptable for a straight man, why would it be acceptable for a gay man?
I just lived in Columbus Ohio for 4 years and had a lot of exposures to gay men both on Campus and in the Short North. For a while there was a cashier at a store I frequented that was quite flirtatious. Never really bothered me, just took it as a compliment. If someone was following me around as described I would react in a similar fashion as #20 fan.

I think the situation was handled very well. Probably was a "cruizing" the guy probably bolted b/c there were previous complaints and the police knew him.
 
If it is a case of "cruising" which I doubt seriously since I saw the guy, his eyes, actions and the way he carried himself, but if it was then at your next pinks pillow talk you might want to discuss alternate methods:rolleyes:
 
The MO is all wrong for an attack. He was in a public place, kept making himself visible, and followed closely while in populated areas.
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Correct, these perps tend to be stealthy little suckers. However there certainly do exhist BG's who are just new or not good at taking people by surprise for whatever sisister plan they might want to cook up.

You did nicely in maintaining a visual on him. Making verbal contact might also be a nice helper. Instead of mere eye contact or something of the sort, a little, "How you doin man" right at the exit could also affirm to him that you are indeed aware of him being there.

When eye contact is made to be aware of our surroundings, we see everyone and they see us. But a 1 or 2-second glimpse exchanged between 2 people could deter many, the ones who get that extra "spidey-sense" feeling going might require a tinge more of letting them know you acknowledge their presence.

Something as simple as a greeting, asking for the time, remarking the weather etc just helps a bit more.

Nicely done though!
 
I think you did ok up till the walking out of the store. I don't think I would have done that. Not even for the very short time it took. I have had similar situations happen(I no longer shop for long in the tool section of Sears) and I chose to react in the store as there was more witnesses and better oppurtunity for help. What I did was maintain a reasonably safe distance and in a bold but not shouting voice asked "What do you want?". All three times the suspect was visibly shaken and at that same time I cooled off knowing it was simply some sad man looking for a date(Hey I guess I am cute). I sure wish someone would alert these idiots that their behavior is very close to mimicing an impending attack and MANY out there will not react very favorably to it.
 
Damn PBP, what ever happened to telling someone you're interested...instead of silently following someone like a stalker?
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Hehe...so naive. You guys are almost cute. :D
What would be the reaction if a straight guy followed a girl around a store like that?
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When two men are involved it is a completely different story. All that male attitude and testosterone can make the "courtship" quite aggressive and can easily be confused as a potential threat.
If it is a case of "cruising" which I doubt seriously since I saw the guy, his eyes, actions and the way he carried himself, but if it was then at your next pinks pillow talk you might want to discuss alternate methods
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Sorry, we cannot do much about it. It is not a practice engaged in by most gay men. It is one practiced mostly by closeted gay men who have to resort to anonymous public encounters...and the rare few with weird "public" fetishes. Straight people also do it but, like I said above, when two men are involved it becomes much more overt than if a woman was in the equation. An unwilling victim could very easily start to feel threatened. I still say you were in no danger of attack...at least not the type of which you are thinking. :)

All in all, this is a very good example of how it is possible to completely misread a situation and how important it is to keep a level head at all times. :)
 
Hehe...so naive.
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Not naive, just playing it safe. I would still rather have someone TELL me they're interested, instead of saying nothing and following me around.

People can't read minds, at least nobody I know. ;)
 
It doesn't matter...

...so naive...
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Never second-guess your instincts.

You guys are almost cute.
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If this was a mating ritual of the WideStance tribe, I'd urge its members to adopt a different technique.

I am almost laughing...
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I'm sure Darwin would have something to say about an animal whose sexual 'strut' mimicks an enemy predator.

...getting a good laugh out of this thread...
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Well, as long as you're entertained.
:barf:
 
I'm sure Darwin would have something to say about an animal whose sexual 'strut' mimicks an enemy predator.
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Sexual pursuit has always been a predatory action. Not being able to separate a true threat from a benign one is a real dangerous weakness. One that could get you put away for a very long time.
 
Playboypenguin said:
Hehe...so naive.
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I think there may be another explanation. Could be the dude was mentally disabled? Or just plain weird? I have been followed on occasion and when I have made it clear that I don't appreciate it - it's just been a wierdo. Harmless? Maybe, maybe not. Gay guys following me? I don't think so.

But the bottom line here is that some people are just plain strange.
 
why he would be following a heavy (not fat!) grayheaded old fart twice his age for some kind of sexual thrill is beyond me.
Bottom line, I was there, I saw him, his actions and got the vibe from him. I choose to believe his intent was to bop me in the head, steal my money steal my car and worse of all steal my 12er!
 
Bottom line, I was there, I saw him, his actions and got the vibe from him.
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You saw someone follow you. Everything beyond that is in your head...just like it is in any situation where a person has to draw conclusions from a limited amount of data. The fact that he was in a public place, followed you into a populated area, then made himself visible and noticeable completely goes against the "vibe" you were getting. If he wanted to bop someone in the head why would he follow someone from their car INTO a store and not wait to follow someone leaving the store to their car???
 
Aren't you doing the same thing without being there? How do you know what the guy was thinking? Just curious...
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Read the rest of the post that quote was from. I used experience and factual data he supplied to come to a conclusion. The story he tells does not support a possible attack in any way.
 
I've read all the posts, I just wanna know how you know the guy was even gay.

He could have just been a straight weirdo. You just assumed he was gay as far as I can tell. He may have been for all I know, but I never assumed to know his preference.:confused:
 
I've read all the posts, I just wanna know how you know the guy was even gay.

He could have just been a straight weirdo. You just assumed he was gay as far as I can tell. He may have been for all I know, but I never assumed to know his preference.
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Like I have already said...experience (not just mine but a few others as well) combined with the information provided does not support an "attack" theory. It more likely supports a "cruising" theory. If you would like to point out something in my hypothesis that is faulty feel free to do so.
 
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