I gave this some thought today and I'm very bothered by it. IMO this could have turned into a very serious situation and I was too complacent to see it until today.
I was in a hardware store (the one that sell's a lot of cheap tools) last night and I'm looking at crescent wrenches when an man about 60yo walks over to me and says "you know these things are absolute junk"!! I said oh, yeah? He begins to tell me how "they make cars so tight now days you cant get a wrench in there". I agreed and got that "there is something off with this guy feeling" so I politely said have a nice day and walked away. He then grabs the pack of wrench's off the wall and gets louder and says "yeah, complete junk I tell ya and repeats himself once again about how tight cars are". Moments later he re appears behind me and is holding a pitch fork and says "hey, how much do you think this weighs"? I replied I'm not sure and he lifts it up and says hold it and tell me. I said oh, I don't know maybe 10lbs. He took the pitchfork back from me and says "do you think I could fend of a vicious dog with this"? I said sure, I guess! The man then begins jabbing the pitchfork at the ground as if he's attacking something and says "yeah, I think that would work. I mean feel how heavy that thing is and sharp too"! He says "how big a dog do you think I could use this on"? I said sir, I'm not really sure and attempted to walk away. He then says "man these things are pointy" and shows me the points and says "feel those. yeah, those are sharp huh"? I said oh, yeah, really sharp and he follows me and says "yeah, I bet if a big dog came after me I could take this and jamb it right down in its back with these sharp points and then twist it and push and break its back"! The whole time he is making the motion with the pitchfork inside the store.
I kind of blew it off as just some crazy guy messing with people or a little out there and then it dawned on me. What if he attacked me and my friend with the pitch fork? What if he attacked customers with the pitch fork? Shortly after he bugged me with his nonsense he was asked by the manager if he needed help in which he declined. He then found another customer and began talking mumbo jumbo to him also but no pitchfork this time. I paid for my stuff and left the store. I am really bothered by it today that it took me almost a day to realize that I put myself in harms way and never had a clue! I thought it was some harmless old man just looking for someone to talk to. Thinking back on it most of the day today I wish I hadn't of been so close to him or allowed him to get close to me with the pitchfork, wish I had contacted a manager sooner or maybe the local P.D. I also thought to myself how could I have prevented it if he would have used it against someone? No firearms allowed on school property so I was disarmed that day. Never take anything for granted guys!!
I was in a hardware store (the one that sell's a lot of cheap tools) last night and I'm looking at crescent wrenches when an man about 60yo walks over to me and says "you know these things are absolute junk"!! I said oh, yeah? He begins to tell me how "they make cars so tight now days you cant get a wrench in there". I agreed and got that "there is something off with this guy feeling" so I politely said have a nice day and walked away. He then grabs the pack of wrench's off the wall and gets louder and says "yeah, complete junk I tell ya and repeats himself once again about how tight cars are". Moments later he re appears behind me and is holding a pitch fork and says "hey, how much do you think this weighs"? I replied I'm not sure and he lifts it up and says hold it and tell me. I said oh, I don't know maybe 10lbs. He took the pitchfork back from me and says "do you think I could fend of a vicious dog with this"? I said sure, I guess! The man then begins jabbing the pitchfork at the ground as if he's attacking something and says "yeah, I think that would work. I mean feel how heavy that thing is and sharp too"! He says "how big a dog do you think I could use this on"? I said sir, I'm not really sure and attempted to walk away. He then says "man these things are pointy" and shows me the points and says "feel those. yeah, those are sharp huh"? I said oh, yeah, really sharp and he follows me and says "yeah, I bet if a big dog came after me I could take this and jamb it right down in its back with these sharp points and then twist it and push and break its back"! The whole time he is making the motion with the pitchfork inside the store.
I kind of blew it off as just some crazy guy messing with people or a little out there and then it dawned on me. What if he attacked me and my friend with the pitch fork? What if he attacked customers with the pitch fork? Shortly after he bugged me with his nonsense he was asked by the manager if he needed help in which he declined. He then found another customer and began talking mumbo jumbo to him also but no pitchfork this time. I paid for my stuff and left the store. I am really bothered by it today that it took me almost a day to realize that I put myself in harms way and never had a clue! I thought it was some harmless old man just looking for someone to talk to. Thinking back on it most of the day today I wish I hadn't of been so close to him or allowed him to get close to me with the pitchfork, wish I had contacted a manager sooner or maybe the local P.D. I also thought to myself how could I have prevented it if he would have used it against someone? No firearms allowed on school property so I was disarmed that day. Never take anything for granted guys!!