A recent thread about a shady Mid-Eastern fella' at an Arizona Wal-Mart got the poster praised, chastized and eveything in between. The "hinkines" factor was called into play.
Friday night, with Omaha still fresh in my mind, I was at Wal-Mart with my wife and two kids. While my wife (in condition snow-white) was comparing prices of napkins (for cryin' out loud), I noticed the following:
Three Mid-Eastern young men, all hands in jacket pockets, standing in the electronics department. One was looking around, dare I say "nervously", while the other two were, get this, singing along with the Christmas music. Yup, Chestnuts roasting....on an open fire.... with thick accents. My daughter was closer to them than I felt comfortable with, and my son was busy complaining about how long we'd been there.
I grabbed the napkins in my wife's hand, tossed them in the cart, callled my daughter over and said: "Go this way now". My wife huffed, figuring I was just looking to get home, but followed. I explained later. My daughter later informed us that they were arguing (and that they smelled - not like BO, but some "weird smell' as she put it).
No mall ninja stuff, I took a quick picture with my cell phone in their general direction without being obvious, then we just grabbed a few things in grocery, but I insisted; no more hanging around looking at sweaters, and left for our next stop (the young girls' department at Kohl's - (talk about hinkey - a 45 year old guy standing next to a rack full of teen girl's underwear-ewww).
OBVIOUSLY, it could have been nothing at all...Just looking for a gift, but how often does anyone advertise that they're going to cause trouble? I saw "Hinkeyness", plain and simple.
Anyhow, does anyone wish to tell me that I over/under reacted? Was I caught up in "blind mistrust and intolerance"? Did I do too little by not ducking from rack to rack to keep tabs on them? Or did I simply do what a guy with a family and a .45 under his sweater should have done? I think I know the answer. I have no regrets, nor does my wife. We've been in a brandishing situation before, and she generally trusts me.
What say all of you??
Friday night, with Omaha still fresh in my mind, I was at Wal-Mart with my wife and two kids. While my wife (in condition snow-white) was comparing prices of napkins (for cryin' out loud), I noticed the following:
Three Mid-Eastern young men, all hands in jacket pockets, standing in the electronics department. One was looking around, dare I say "nervously", while the other two were, get this, singing along with the Christmas music. Yup, Chestnuts roasting....on an open fire.... with thick accents. My daughter was closer to them than I felt comfortable with, and my son was busy complaining about how long we'd been there.
I grabbed the napkins in my wife's hand, tossed them in the cart, callled my daughter over and said: "Go this way now". My wife huffed, figuring I was just looking to get home, but followed. I explained later. My daughter later informed us that they were arguing (and that they smelled - not like BO, but some "weird smell' as she put it).
No mall ninja stuff, I took a quick picture with my cell phone in their general direction without being obvious, then we just grabbed a few things in grocery, but I insisted; no more hanging around looking at sweaters, and left for our next stop (the young girls' department at Kohl's - (talk about hinkey - a 45 year old guy standing next to a rack full of teen girl's underwear-ewww).
OBVIOUSLY, it could have been nothing at all...Just looking for a gift, but how often does anyone advertise that they're going to cause trouble? I saw "Hinkeyness", plain and simple.
Anyhow, does anyone wish to tell me that I over/under reacted? Was I caught up in "blind mistrust and intolerance"? Did I do too little by not ducking from rack to rack to keep tabs on them? Or did I simply do what a guy with a family and a .45 under his sweater should have done? I think I know the answer. I have no regrets, nor does my wife. We've been in a brandishing situation before, and she generally trusts me.
What say all of you??
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but am I normal? who is? We all act differently than each other. I watch the hands at all times, they give all away in a nervous potential terrorist.