Went to Condition Yellow at a resturant

[Jeff F]

I also wonder if this guy is going to be in the news someday. There is obviously something amiss there.

I doubt it, hes more then likely harmless. I used to live out that way around Silicon Valley and seen some pretty weird behavior from people around there. I don't know if they licked silicon wafers as kids or its something in the water. I will tell you that when the wife and I go to California for a visit with friends or relatives or for my wifes Stanford check ups I go into a higher state of alert then when I'm back in my own town. To the point it wears me out.

 

[Loosedhorse]

I actually went to "condition red" this morning.

Interesting case.

I think we'd all agree that since you had your knife out, you were higher than "usual" Yellow. But you had no identified threat, so I'm not sure you could have been in Red.

Interesting to think what the "trigger to fight" would have been:
IF
I do find someone in here
-AND
--I don't know him
--AND
--I can't see his hands
---OR I can and they have a weapon
--AND
--His actions or words convince me he's a threat
--AND
--He approaches within knife distance
--AND
--I can't safely retreat
-OR
-He rushes me so that I do not have time to gauge details, but must assume I'm under deadly attack
THEN I stab him.

Sounds like an OODA loop nightmare.

 

[MedWheeler]

I didn't read all the responses. My take in Condition Yellow has always been this:
The person in Condition Yellow has at least a working knowledge that the world carries dangerous elements, and that there are certain things he can do to mitigate those hazards. Regarding protection from crime, he practices "situational awareness" techniques, being cognizant of other people around him. Some examples: Table selection in a restaurant is based on ability to see comers and goers, and proximity to exits. When in line on a convenient store or bank (or other place), she observes anyone else entering, particularly if they come close by, and makes eye contact with them if possible, assessing their actions and demeanor when possible. He walks with confidence, not preoccupied with wireless devices or cellphone conversations. He parks in lots far either very close to the door, or far enough away from it to avoid being surrounded by other vehicles that can conceal an attacker.
She carries the means she would want to have for protection as often as possible, including any weapons she believes she'd want to have, and is aware of the limits of her weapons and training. He doesn't go anywhere with his weapon he would not go without it. Doors and windows (both home and vehicle) are secured as applicable.
These, along with other tactics, are carried in the "back of the mind", in a way in which it is always there, but not to the point of paranoia or inability to live a "normal" life.

 

[Cosmoline]

Appearances can be deceiving! In this case you described a man who apparently suffers from OCD. If he actually did threaten you (very very unlikely) you could eliminate him as a threat by tossing a bunch of silverware on the ground.

Every city has strange people and mentally ill, but except for very rare cases involving particular kinds of insanity, they are the least likely to pose a threat to you. I'd even suggest that focusing on the guy covering his tray with napkins distracts you from sources of real threat. Drunks, common criminals and the like.

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

I thought we're always supposed to be in condition yellow.

Yes. Live at Yellow, die at White.

If someone is acting that erratic, goto Orange and tell Management. When he says it's normal behavior, you have the option to return to Yellow or stay at Orange (and probably not enjoy your meal).

DVC

 

[Owen Sparks]

I think we'd all agree that since you had your knife out, you were higher than "usual" Yellow. But you had no identified threat, so I'm not sure you could have been in Red.

I assigned "Condition Red" to my condition because once I had my knife out and was concealed behind the door, I was poised to stab whoever entered the room. I was in a locked house and the two other people who have keys were out of town. One home in bed after a dental procedure and the other in the hospital. This only lasted a few seconds before I re-assessed the situation but at the time I was in full ambush mode waiting for a target to appear.

 

[9mmepiphany]

Everyday around lunch time he would sit down near the psych building (ironic, eh), take out the water and surround himself with the jars, sit cross legged and have his lunch

Going back to the guy, kinda makes me wonder what hell he must have gone through.

The bottles are a form of threat detection, the surface will ripple (remember that there is no wind influence) when a threat is near. When indoors, lit candles are used for the same thing. The flames will lean away from the threat...so it gives direction also.

I know this is beyond the ken of many people, but it has it's roots in many ancient cultures...or you could just refer to it as The Force

 

[Loosedhorse]

I was poised to stab whoever entered the room.

Fair enough: if you felt you had established a "free-fire zone," so to speak (an area from which all innocents had been excluded, and within which you were therefore prepared to use deadly force on anyone found, without the need for further identification of or actions by that person), then that certainly counts as Condition Red.

Free-fire zones have hazards, but they are obvious, so no reason to dwell. But they are a valid concept.

 

[rondog]

Well, California IS the "land of fruits and nuts". You certainly encountered one of the nuts!

 

[Kevin Rohrer]

Many folks using the color codes have added "Black" to describe the condition of being actively in a fight.

When I went to Gunsite the first time in 1985, his Wednesday afternoon lecture on the color code included "Black" as being actively involved in a confrontation. When I went back in 1987, he had eliminated "Black" and simplified it to the 4-colors we now know.

White: HUA
Yellow: Relaxed alert
Orange: Potential threat exists
Red: Threat identified and in view; prepared to deal with it

 

[Ringolevio]

An amateur sociologist's theory...

Strykervet:

Sounds like the guy in the restaurant is just OCD. Maybe something else too, I'm not a doctor. I've seen a guy walking down the street in Capitol Hill Seattle that was carrying his grocery bags, looked normal, he was at least 6'4" and built, and he looked EXTREMELY ANGRY! He kept yelling about FBI and CIA trailing him, every other word would offend adults with baby ears, and all in all, he looked VERY dangerous. But he wasn't. He was just a guy with a mental illness dealing with it and living his life.

The behavior you describe sounds like Tourette's Syndrome. 'Interesting that you mention Seattle, because I've encountered more Tourette's sufferers (and assorted other crazies) in Seattle (particularly in Capitol Hill and the U District) than anywhere else, even California.

While California is known as "the fruit and nut state", I'd bet that the NW has more crazies per capita. I think a case can be made that they actually gravitate there. In fact, I believe the reason there are statistically more suicides in the NW is not that the rainy, dreary weather is depressing; rather it's that depressed people tend to migrate there.

Face it, there are countless Americans whose lives stink and who think, "If I can just get to sunny California, I'll be driving a convertible, surfing every day, dating movie stars and picking oranges off the trees".

Then, when they get out there and their life still stinks, there's nowhere to go but north, so Portland and Seattle serve as the terminus point for all the misfits, maladjusted types and outright loonies.

And many of them, unlike the Tourette's sufferers (who seem to project great hostility but tend to be quite non-threatening), actually are fueled by hostility and resentment and can be a threat. Why do you suppose Seattle and Portland are such meccas for the radical anarchist-types currently throwing group tantrums?

 

[DagoRed]

Here is what I want you to learn from this whole thing:

Never eat in a buffet style restaurant after lunch service is well and truely over". The food is typically whats left from lunch, it's getting stale, and if not kept at the right temps, you are at an increased risk of getting a food borne illness.

Only eat well after main meal time if you know they are keeping the temps right, and putting out fresh food.

 

[ball3006]

Hey, it is California. Nothing new there with weird behavor. You were right to be concerned though....chris3

 

[Isaac-1]

Ok, I just had one of those condition ???? moments, laying here in bed at 3 am, I woke up a bit ago, could not get back to sleep so I decided to browse the gun forums online until I could get back to sleep. First a bit about my house, it is a non-traditional layout, built about 100 years ago as a boarding house, the utility room and pantry is connected to my bed room, and the kitchen is on the other side of it. So while laying here reading about if this guy was at condition Yellow or Orange something just went BANG (not loud enough for a gun shot, but not something falling over either) in the next room, within a fraction of a second my hand was on the bedside gun, I sat the notebook computer down then listened and heard no other noise, went to investigate, it turns out a can of sweet peas in the pantry exploded, spewing them everywhere. I guess it was bad, bacteria of something growing in the can and it built up pressure until something had to give (seam blew out) , strange thing though it did not stink, just smelled like sweet peas. Oh, also I checked the use by date on the can it was marked March 2012, so it was not like these had been sitting there for years, well maybe a couple, but not sitting there for decades.

 

[jon_in_wv]

I went to a movie with my daughter when she was about 7 or 8. It was a weekday matinee and there was no one else in the theater. An elderly couple walked in and sat in the seats directly behind us which is creepy in itself because the theater was totally empty. Then the old lady taps me on the shoulder and say, "your daughter is sooooo pretty". The whole movie I felt creeped out. I expected to feel the sting of a hypodermic needle in my neck then to wake up and fine them and my daughter gone. I'm sure they were harmless but they were certainly pros at being creepy.

 

[Deltaboy1984]

I went to a movie with my daughter when she was about 7 or 8. It was a weekday matinee and there was no one else in the theater. An elderly couple walked in and sat in the seats directly behind us which is creepy in itself because the theater was totally empty. Then the old lady taps me on the shoulder and say, "your daughter is sooooo pretty". The whole movie I felt creeped out. I expected to feel the sting of a hypodermic needle in my neck then to wake up and fine them and my daughter gone. I'm sure they were harmless but they were certainly pros at being creepy.

You meet a sweet old couple that is all. Older people grew up in a different time and don't see compilmenting your childs appearance as creepy or out of bounds.
As for the orginal poster I ate and kept an eye on him and would have also moved my family to another part of the Diner near the door. IMO I generally always set by an exit in every eating place I go too.

 

[dev_null]

Hell, the guy was probably some millionaire Silicon Valley CEO.

 

[scaatylobo]

+1 @ bullfrog

I would have either been LONG gone or at very least MOVED to the farthest point in that place.

I believe that a confrontation avoided,is a win.

I am retired LEO and would have been armed,BUT that dont mean I want a confrontation.

ANY CONFRONTATION is a check in the loss column.

And I really doubt that even alone I could have enjoyed my meal under that duress.

And if my wife or others were with me [ likely ] then its a no brainer = we are GONE.

Glad you were ok.

 

[Tim Burke]

Great points, Ken. When I go to Orange, I start looking for a way to be someplace else.

 

[ChCx2744]

Yellow? That should be all the time. I think the only time I'm ever in condition white is when I'm sleeping...Hell, I'm usually in condition orange when I'm sitting on the throne that makes all men equal.