Oleg Volk
Moderator Emeritus
Went to an exotic pet store with my Location Lighting class yesterday. I got there first and was inside talking to the owner. Two women and one man from my class were outside. When I looked out, some local feral was talking to them. The guy looked to be about 40 but very worn. Either drunk or playing at it. Near as I could tell, he wanted a handout. The two women (23-25yo) were too polite to retreat, so he was close to them. My third student was in the background; he could take care of himself if need be.
I got a look at the feral from about 30ft to his left, came up to the side of the students and shined my Surefire flashlight (recently bought at runt's advice and just that day transferred to runt's old baton holder for quick access) at his face, saying "They can't help you now, please move along." I did it to make it harder to see me as I was getting ready to present.
He did not like the light. After a few seconds, I turned it off. He muttered something about us being unpatriotic and him not meaning any harm. "Please move along." After he got about 25ft away from us, I said "Thank you" in a loud and polite tone.
In retrospect, i should have kept a car between him and me. Instead, I got close trying to put myself between him and the two students (they had their backs to a car and couldn't get out fast). It worked out ok.
I mentioned to the students that he may have been distracting them for #2 to come up behind. They said: "Yes, there was another guy with him but he left." Hmmm... I explained that there was no over threat (both hands visible) but that standing at closer than normal distance, not more than 8ft and trying to close it, was a bad sign.
An interesting event in view of an earlier discussion I had with one of the students present about the use of flashlights. She was concerned about ferals hanging around 8th Ave. where the local pro photo lab is located. Night film drop-off can get exciting.
I got a look at the feral from about 30ft to his left, came up to the side of the students and shined my Surefire flashlight (recently bought at runt's advice and just that day transferred to runt's old baton holder for quick access) at his face, saying "They can't help you now, please move along." I did it to make it harder to see me as I was getting ready to present.
He did not like the light. After a few seconds, I turned it off. He muttered something about us being unpatriotic and him not meaning any harm. "Please move along." After he got about 25ft away from us, I said "Thank you" in a loud and polite tone.
In retrospect, i should have kept a car between him and me. Instead, I got close trying to put myself between him and the two students (they had their backs to a car and couldn't get out fast). It worked out ok.
I mentioned to the students that he may have been distracting them for #2 to come up behind. They said: "Yes, there was another guy with him but he left." Hmmm... I explained that there was no over threat (both hands visible) but that standing at closer than normal distance, not more than 8ft and trying to close it, was a bad sign.
An interesting event in view of an earlier discussion I had with one of the students present about the use of flashlights. She was concerned about ferals hanging around 8th Ave. where the local pro photo lab is located. Night film drop-off can get exciting.
