sturmruger
Member
I want to thank all of the THR members, and Oleg for starting this great place to hang out online. It has helped me learn to be alert and aware of my surroundings. Before THR I hung out on TFL, but it got shut down a month or two after I joined so I wasn’t there very long. I had a run in tonight with a scumbag. We were never were within 50 yards of each other, and we didn’t speak a word, but it happened he knew it and I knew it.
My wife and I were over at my parents house tonight for dinner. My parents live in NE Minneapolis. It is a nice neighborhood that unfortunately borders some seemly sections of town. We left my parents right around 10:45 to go find a gas station before we made the 40-minute trip back to River Falls, WI. I recently signed up for a Speedpass device. It is a small device that you place on your keychain that allows you to buy gas without any sort of plastic or paper currency. You simply wave it at the pump and start pumping gas. I got it in the mail on Fri and have been dying to try it out. I remembered from my searches online that there was a Mobile station with Speedpass on East Hennepin just east of 35W a block or two. Since this station is just two minutes from my parents I thought it would be a good place to fill up. As I was driving down Hennepin looking for the Mobil station I accidentally drove right by it. It is a small gas station that is not up to par with modern standards. It looks like an old service stations you would find in a small town. The lights were all out and there were several parked cars sitting next to the station. The only way I knew I could get gas was one of the pumps was all lit up. I pulled in turned off the car and hopped out to pump the gas. I waved the keychain at the pump, and it lit up like a Christmas tree indicating I could start pumping gas.
While I was taking care of the mechanics of getting gas I started intently observing my surroundings. Ever since I drove up I had an uneasy feeling. I didn’t know if it was because of the lack of lighting around the station, or the fact that the area is a little rougher then I am used to. At first I thought that the two guys across the street were the cause of my discomfort. They were messing around with stuff, one grabbed a tire iron the other one had something in his hands, but eventually they started working on a car and ignored me completely. While the gas was filling up I handed the keys back to my wife and told her to start the car. It was then that I noticed about a block away was a dark shape walking very quickly towards us.
My first instinct was to think that it was just a person out running or walking for exercise as they were moving rather quickly. As the shape got closer I could see that the figure was dressed in some clothes that were obviously too baggy to be running or jogging. Gas pump said 8 out 16 gallons were now in the car. I scanned the rest of the area and then glanced back behind me to check out the guy that was in a hurry. I noticed he was no longer in such a hurry, but he was still walking my way. At this point my alarm started to go off. I started thinking about all of the possible scenarios and what I could do to proactively assert myself. I decided to physically move away from the gas pump and move to the rear of the car where I could make it obvious that I was watching him. I also put my hand on my holstered Steyr S40 that was covered up by a sweatshirt.
As I started to make it obvious that I am looking at him his body language began to change. He was no longer confidently walking towards me. He stopped turned around like he was going to walk away, then turned back so he was facing me and continues on towards me. Then he stops again looks at me some more then turns around and starts to walk the other way really fast. At this point the gas is done. I whip out the gas pump hose, slam it back into the pump run around to the other side of the car and get the hell out of dodge. It felt good to be back in rural WI after a situation like that.
Maybe I scared the crap out of some good law abiding person I guess I will never know. It is the second time that my internal alarm has gone off like that. The last time was in Vegas when my wife and I were walking on a less then great portion of the strip and we had two little shadows that kept following us. I reacted the same way; I didn’t act scared or worried. I tried to be as obvious as possible that I had noticed their presence and acted confidently enough to make them think I had a plan. In Vegas I was unarmed the other night on Hennepin I was armed. It is amazing how much more secure I felt with my trusty S40 on my hip.
I don’t know if anyone will learn anything from this, but it has made me even more committed to staying aware and always being able to protect my wife and I. Josey was 2,000,001 , I guess I am Defensive use of a firearm # 2,000,002.
My wife and I were over at my parents house tonight for dinner. My parents live in NE Minneapolis. It is a nice neighborhood that unfortunately borders some seemly sections of town. We left my parents right around 10:45 to go find a gas station before we made the 40-minute trip back to River Falls, WI. I recently signed up for a Speedpass device. It is a small device that you place on your keychain that allows you to buy gas without any sort of plastic or paper currency. You simply wave it at the pump and start pumping gas. I got it in the mail on Fri and have been dying to try it out. I remembered from my searches online that there was a Mobile station with Speedpass on East Hennepin just east of 35W a block or two. Since this station is just two minutes from my parents I thought it would be a good place to fill up. As I was driving down Hennepin looking for the Mobil station I accidentally drove right by it. It is a small gas station that is not up to par with modern standards. It looks like an old service stations you would find in a small town. The lights were all out and there were several parked cars sitting next to the station. The only way I knew I could get gas was one of the pumps was all lit up. I pulled in turned off the car and hopped out to pump the gas. I waved the keychain at the pump, and it lit up like a Christmas tree indicating I could start pumping gas.
While I was taking care of the mechanics of getting gas I started intently observing my surroundings. Ever since I drove up I had an uneasy feeling. I didn’t know if it was because of the lack of lighting around the station, or the fact that the area is a little rougher then I am used to. At first I thought that the two guys across the street were the cause of my discomfort. They were messing around with stuff, one grabbed a tire iron the other one had something in his hands, but eventually they started working on a car and ignored me completely. While the gas was filling up I handed the keys back to my wife and told her to start the car. It was then that I noticed about a block away was a dark shape walking very quickly towards us.
My first instinct was to think that it was just a person out running or walking for exercise as they were moving rather quickly. As the shape got closer I could see that the figure was dressed in some clothes that were obviously too baggy to be running or jogging. Gas pump said 8 out 16 gallons were now in the car. I scanned the rest of the area and then glanced back behind me to check out the guy that was in a hurry. I noticed he was no longer in such a hurry, but he was still walking my way. At this point my alarm started to go off. I started thinking about all of the possible scenarios and what I could do to proactively assert myself. I decided to physically move away from the gas pump and move to the rear of the car where I could make it obvious that I was watching him. I also put my hand on my holstered Steyr S40 that was covered up by a sweatshirt.
As I started to make it obvious that I am looking at him his body language began to change. He was no longer confidently walking towards me. He stopped turned around like he was going to walk away, then turned back so he was facing me and continues on towards me. Then he stops again looks at me some more then turns around and starts to walk the other way really fast. At this point the gas is done. I whip out the gas pump hose, slam it back into the pump run around to the other side of the car and get the hell out of dodge. It felt good to be back in rural WI after a situation like that.
Maybe I scared the crap out of some good law abiding person I guess I will never know. It is the second time that my internal alarm has gone off like that. The last time was in Vegas when my wife and I were walking on a less then great portion of the strip and we had two little shadows that kept following us. I reacted the same way; I didn’t act scared or worried. I tried to be as obvious as possible that I had noticed their presence and acted confidently enough to make them think I had a plan. In Vegas I was unarmed the other night on Hennepin I was armed. It is amazing how much more secure I felt with my trusty S40 on my hip.
I don’t know if anyone will learn anything from this, but it has made me even more committed to staying aware and always being able to protect my wife and I. Josey was 2,000,001 , I guess I am Defensive use of a firearm # 2,000,002.