Just before dinner yesterday, my wife said wanted to go over to the ATM. I didn't want to go. She said "I'll go. I stay very alert, and where we go now, there are no hiding places for people to lurk in".
Nope. Have to have two sets of eyes. So we went today.
The lot had few parked cars. She got out to work the machine. I stayed in the car--alert.
A young man entering the lot in a faded silver minivan noticed her standing by the machine and immediately turned without slowing, approaching us the wrong way in a one way lane. He turned and stopped crossways in some empty parking spaces a shot distance away and started watching her intently.
I was not possible for her to disengage from the machine immediately.
Uh-oh.
I unfastened my harness, cleared my jacket on this first cool day of the season, and opened the driver door slightly. The person of interest was to my right and ahead of us, about 25 yards away.
He evidently noticed my actions--possibly noticing my presence for the first time--and he immediately drove away--fast.
Was he even remotely aware that I had also unholstered and placed my gun on the passenger seat? Dunno.
I asked her if she had noticed the car coming the wrong way. No.
I asked if she had seen it stop in a possibly suspicious location. No.
I asked if she was aware that a man in the car was watching her at the machine. No.
That's why we always want two sets of eyes. Not two people concentrating on an ATM and on a cell phone, but two sets of open eyes.
This occurred in a very low-crime area, at an ATM in a lot that is among the least conducive to violent crime of any that I know of.
In about an hour, I'm going to open a beer.
Stay safe, my friends.
Nope. Have to have two sets of eyes. So we went today.
The lot had few parked cars. She got out to work the machine. I stayed in the car--alert.
A young man entering the lot in a faded silver minivan noticed her standing by the machine and immediately turned without slowing, approaching us the wrong way in a one way lane. He turned and stopped crossways in some empty parking spaces a shot distance away and started watching her intently.
I was not possible for her to disengage from the machine immediately.
Uh-oh.
I unfastened my harness, cleared my jacket on this first cool day of the season, and opened the driver door slightly. The person of interest was to my right and ahead of us, about 25 yards away.
He evidently noticed my actions--possibly noticing my presence for the first time--and he immediately drove away--fast.
Was he even remotely aware that I had also unholstered and placed my gun on the passenger seat? Dunno.
I asked her if she had noticed the car coming the wrong way. No.
I asked if she had seen it stop in a possibly suspicious location. No.
I asked if she was aware that a man in the car was watching her at the machine. No.
That's why we always want two sets of eyes. Not two people concentrating on an ATM and on a cell phone, but two sets of open eyes.
This occurred in a very low-crime area, at an ATM in a lot that is among the least conducive to violent crime of any that I know of.
In about an hour, I'm going to open a beer.
Stay safe, my friends.