I found 2 extra gas cans last night and decided that it would not hurt to add 10 more gallons to the supplies. South Floridians are officially driving in the polite/aggressive mode which means they will cut ou off, but won’t shoot/machete you outright.
Kidding aside, there is palpable anxiety which leads to people making dumb decisions like playing chicken with a shopping cart and cutting off the gas station line.
The black car had tried to cut in front of the truck whose owner went mad max and would not let him. The whole pack behind closed ranks to keep the interloper out and he was not happy at all which is why I started taking pictures.
Then something smart happened: the moment the line moved, the guy in the white car allowed the black car to go in effectively defusing any situation that may have risen in the contest of genitalia.
And that was the move to make.
Your number one philosophy for personal security should be a life long commitment to avoidance, deterrence, and de-escalation.
Avoidance: The act of avoiding or keeping away from (Three Stupid Rule.) If you can safely retreat from the encounter, by all means do so. For instance, if you are out for a walk and feel threatened or intimidated by an occupant of a car, you should retreat in the opposite direction that the car is traveling.
Deterrence: The act of discouraging someone from taking hostile action against you by being aware of them and their possible intent.
De-escalation: The act of decreasing in intensity. To not let your ego or emotions get the best of you, to refrain from escalating the problem into more than it already is. As a CCW you may need to back down from non-life threatening, argumentative encounters in order to not allow things to spiral out of control.
When these things do not work, then and only then may you need to show or use the gun. Just because we are carrying does not mean that we need to use the gun. You want to do whatever is reasonably possible to avoid using the gun. But when your well researched, well thought out “line in the sand” has been crossed you need to act without hesitation.Roger Phillips.
BRAVO!!!! People should memorize this!!! Sadly., those who most need it, will probably not even pay attention. Years ago, one of my best friends was in a bank drive-thru line and a guy came in the wrong way and tried to force his way in the line, almost hitting my friend’s car. My friend, Tim, pulled up and yelled out the window, Hey – wait your turn, man! The azzhole pulled a pistol waved it out the window, yelling I’ll KILL you, you SOB! Tim always carried a Sig in those days and he could have carried on, but as he told me,
“I started thinking, do I want to get in a shootout at a bank and kill this guy, because of THIS? That is insane!”. So he backed up and waved the guy in. Such things can go from bad to much worse if the Good Guy is not thinking with his brain instead of his testosterone.
…and then park your car behind his, ask the guy in front of the jerk to park his car, and tell the bank manager the guy just threatened his customers with a gun; also, get the plates in case he walks before the cops get there.
While I tend to generally agree with deescalation etc, a part of me also thinks that the more you let an ass get away with crap like this, the worse they become. (Remembering the senior citizen with the broken taillight who wound up getting tased and arrested, for instance.)
Just out of curiosity, how did the gas station ration purchases? Higher prices, limits on purchases, or some combination of the two? I’m assuming that the station did something, because otherwise it likely would have run out of fuel to sell before you arrived.
No rationing. But once the Governor declares state of emergency, you can be nailed for gauging if you suddenly raise prices.
This is why I love having a diesel vehicle.
I didn’t have to wait in any lines to fill up the car. I just went to the station that was already out of gasoline. 🙂
They still had plenty of diesel, just like the last time a storm was affecting the area.
what do you drive?
Currently, it’s my pop’s 2015 VW golf sportwagon.
Not as good on the mpg as an earlier diesel VW, but not too bad at 32+ mpg city.
RATUS – Awesome – I always wanted a Golf and especially the hiesel model. Happy for you – with any decent care, iut should last you a LOT of miles!!! Good luck and stay safe
Waited until the crazies went to bed and was able to find gas nearby to top off my car.
Went into Wallyworld to see if they had some D cells (which they did) and it was mostly deserted… for a Walmart.
Weird thing was they had more than 2 cashiers open. 😮
Mind blown! 😀
If there were more than two open, that is BAD mojo, and probably signifies TEOTWAWKI!!!
Looking like you’re off the hook by this morning’s forecast.
Just tell yourself putting up the shutters and doing the usual stuff is a good practice run. Mine are going up once I finish my coffee.
My brother is still in the cone and we’re about a third of the width of the cone off the centerline. If it follows that path, the eyewall stays offshore, and that’s where all the hell lives. If it twitches, Cat IV here.
Most of the intensity models have it down to cat III by then. Only problem is intensity models are even more wrong than path models.
Saw the new predictions. Holding the shutters for 24 in case it moves farther North. And trust me, I have all the frigging practice I need for the suckers, even have them grouped by opening and which side goes up so there is no guessing. I have a dolly to move them, a low powered drill with wingnut attachment to secure them and even a guy pre-hired to give me a hand installing the darned things. 🙂