Interesting Afternoon

For Christmas I receive a couple gift cards and I convinced my mom to take me to a big town 30 miles away to get a couple things with the gift cards. So we went to a couple stores, and got all gift card buying out of the way, and then it was time to stop at Goodwill and Consignment stores and check to see if we could find anything. I got a pelican case for 2.38, a new outer shell (Bright orange, very nice) I also got a couple little candle lanters, and a new backpack.

So we left the store and I looked in a car by the enterance and saw a 1-1 1/2 year old girl in the back seat of the car alone. I mentioned it to my mom and she went inside to mention it to the cashieres because she was worried about the girl, but they were very busy so she came out and waited by that car as I waited in our car, with the door open and my feet out, ready should somthing happen. Well somthing did happen!

This man comes out and goes to get in the drivers side of the car, and my mom is on the passengers side.

She then says "Sir, I almost reported you, you shouldn't have left your child in the car" (Out of worry for the kid, one window was down and someone could have taken the kid in an instant)

He then replies "Get the F*** out of here, mind your own F****** buisness, I just went in for a second, can't I just leave her in the car alone for a second?"

"No sir, you shouldn't, someone could have taken her or somthing like that"

"Get the F*** out of her, go ahead, report me, I don't care"

Then he gets in his car and I come and pull mom back to our car. Then he proceeds to role down his window and yell out at her, swearing random things. I yell back at him by that time because he's starting to get out of the car.

"Leave her the F*** alone, or shut the F*** up" somthing along those lines, trying to get his attention off her and onto me. By this time he is right in my face, telling me to get in my car. I tell him that we are on our way to our car, and that he needs to get in his, I was surprised at how calmly I said it.

Then he comes up real close to me and I stare him in the eye. Mom then puts her hand on his chest and tells him "Sir, please back away" So then I pull mom back behind me, and tell her to go get in, and he starts to get back in his car yelling at us, cussin and such. I get his plates and write them down then, and then get in.

So we get in and I tell mom to lock the door and we wait for a second to see if he goes so he doesn't ram us on the way out. About that time someone who had watched from the side backs up in their truck so he can't drive off behind us. We drive off, and I tell her to pull into a Target that we wern't planning to stop at, just to see if he was following us or not. Well she didn't and we kept going to the next store on our list, so I get inside the doors and then sit and look outside, making sure we wern't followed. The rest of the day I was on the edge, ultra aware, ready for anything it seemed.

This whole argument took place in under 3 minutes, and while it was happening, instinct took over, I didn't think about any of the skills I had learned, or anything like that, I wasn't even preparing for an attack besides clenching my fists and readying myself to knee or kick him in the groin. It was all kind of dream like, even just 5 hours later parts are hard to remember, it happened so fast. It was really a wake up call to me of how I need to be aware, and ready for anything, and ready to fight.

I just wanted to get some advice on this, did I do the right thing? Should I have done somthing differently? We didn't call the cops, as he was with the kid already, so he wouldn't have gotten in trouble for child endangerment, and that was what we were worried about in the first place.

Mom promissed me she would no longer confront people, just call the cops if somthing wasn't done soon. It was amazing how my instincts re-acted, and I didn't really think about it at all.

Thanks for listening and the advice

~SK

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-Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

-Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

Well, the guy was in the wrong for leaving his kid in his car, and he shouldn't have reacted that way. But, after your mom confronted him and he started cussing like a sailor, you should have left it at that and moved on. Shooting profanities back at him was not the way to go. I realize instinct was kicking in and you wanted to protect your mother, but you escalated the argument by engaging. Also, your mom should not have placed her hand on his chest. That could be taken by him as a threatening gesture and he could have punched, stabbed, or shot her. You were right to stand your ground when he got in your face. But don't throw the first blow. If he touches you, you have the right to defend yourself. You're lucky he backed off after that. He probably realized it wasn't worth it to injure either of you. You might not be so lucky in the next encounter. Be cautious. He knew you weren't scared, so he didn't bother attacking you.

If it had been me, after reporting it to the cashier and seeing that he was going back to his car, I would have gotten in my car and left.

But if I were inserted into the situation of him coming to confront me and I was packing a gun, I would have pulled it on him and told him to get back in his car. If you carry a self-defense weapon, know how to use it.

Whatever you do, don't pull a knife on a attacker. Unless you have been extensively trained, it is too easy for him to take it from you and injure you. You have a much better chance of escaping by using your hands. Groin kick, eye poke, nose jab...all good self-defense techniques. If he grabs you around the throat, jerk his pinky fingers back toward his body(away from you).

It's best to avoid physical confrontation to begin with, but if it does happen and you are attacked, show no mercy. There are no rules.

We sure learned our lesson! She promissed me that she would never do that again, and instead we would take pictures of the incident, call the cops, and then watch to make sure the child was ok.

Reason I cussed at him was my mom had her back turned and he was right behind her, wasn't sure what would happen there, instinct really took over, I couldn't think at all, just react, kinda scary.

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-Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

-Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

It's easy to be a Monday morning quarterback, and I don't know a lot of the details, such as how much time elapsed from the time you first saw the girl until the father - assuming that's who he was - came back to the car. But I think that I would have called 911 right away. There's no telling how long the child was alone in the car, or why the parent's judgement was so faulty. I'm 100% certain the police would agree it was the right thing to do, and the child would not be released back to the father's custody until Children's Aid investigated.

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"The monkeys are throwing stuff at me again."
-Survivorman in Costa Rica

He came out in under 10 seconds, my mom went in to talk to the clerk and tell them, then she saw that they were busy and stepped out, 5-10 seconds later he comes out and goes to get in.

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-Till shade is gone, till water is gone, into the Shadow with teeth bared, screaming defiance with the last breath, to spit in Sightblinder's eye on the Last Day.

-Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming, "Wow, what a ride!!!"

I totally understand defending your mom no one should talk to a woman like that, I think you did the right thing, trying to get him mad at you and not your mom I mean if he treats women like that he could have hurt her, but yeah getting the police involved would have been the right thing to do. take pictures and license plate, and report them. make sure you have good evidence. but kudos for sticking up for your mom. Cool

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I would have called the police first, before even going into the store (where they're too busy to deal with it this time of year). No one should leave a child that age alone in the car, it wouldn't take anything for something bad to happen to the child.

I'll admit there have been times when I've been tempted to just "run in real quick" when I have Ayla and I'm off running errands. But I've never done that and never will. Ever.

You reaction was pretty normal for a guy I think, especially the need to protect your mother. I think what Bush said was spot on.

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