It’s dark, and I’m tired. Dance class was long and exhausting, and I need to pick up food. The local Shaw’s in Raynham tends towards decent prices and selection, so I stop for a few minutes.
I leave the store with my bags in my left hand, my car key in my right. Just as I’m about to unlock my car, I make one last check around the parking lot. I’ve been checking perimeters before unlocking my car for seven years. Tonight, someone is approaching.
He’s perhaps 40 feet away, cleanly dressed, walking steadily with a black messenger bag under one arm. I watch him approach, and when he’s about 15 feet away, I put my hand out.
“Sir! Please STOP NOW!”
I’m backing away around my car in order to keep distance. There’s a line around me, if he crosses that line, I will hit him. Cross the line, wake up in the hospital. I bump into a shopping cart, but I have plenty of space.
He stops.
He’s a Japanese panhandler, selling cheap jewelry. He barely speaks English, but is very respectful. When I decline his offers, he bids me goodnight and leaves.
Mistake #1: Not remembering the shopping cart (tunnel vision).
I am very happy with how this played out. My heart rate didn’t even climb much. I was in perfect control of the entire situation, ready to apply force if he came within striking range. It was very much like the old training; watching, quiet, ready. Waiting for him to come to me.
My brother’s comment? “At 10 o’clock at night, you don’t have to say ‘please.’”