I do not want to come off as racist but I am mentioning race in this story only to better describe the situation. I guess we are all a little racist, but I try hard not to be but sometimes it is hard to be completely politically correct so I am just going to tell it like it is. I am 51 year old white guy from Plainfield and found myself outside my normal circumstance.
Last night I had the job of not drinking so I could be the driver for a bunch of drinking age, college kids, one of them my daughter, who went downtown Indy to celebrate the New Year. I do go downtown Indy fairly often, but never to pick up kids at 2:30 in the morning. I was more than happy to provide this service and proud of the kids for not wanting to drive.
I started out from Plainfield on I-70 and allowed myself some extra time because the roads looked like they could get slick. I was expecting to see a lot of police but did not see any. There was hardly any traffic at all. As I reached downtown, I decided to get off on Meridian Street when I saw a car stopped on the bridge/exit ramp with his flashers on. A young black male had his arm out the driver's window as if he was flagging me down. I pulled my .38 J frame revolver out of my left front pocket where I routinely carry it CC and tucked it under my left leg where it would be handy. I rolled down my passenger window as I pulled up next to him and asked if everything was OK. He was holding a gallon gas can and said that he had run out of gas. Now I have seen the old ran out of gas, need money routine before but the kid was polite and respectful and he did have a car to go along with the gas can so I told the kid to hop in and we would go get some gas. I figured if I did not help this kid, nobody would, and if he tried something***, well you know.
As it turned out, this kid was sober and not a threat, and had no bad intentions. He was just a kid who made the mistake of letting his car run out of gas. We wound up on south Meridian Street where we eventually found a gas station which was a Village Pantry convince store. The kid said he did not have any cash but he did have a credit card so I did not offer to buy his gas, otherwise I would have. I could tell it was a classy place as he went up to talk to the attendant through bullet proof glass and sliding tray. It took him a while and I figured he was having trouble with his card so I got out of the car and was going to offer to pay. The girl at the station knew the kid from high school and she ultimately loaned him the money to buy his gas. About that time another young black male showed up on foot just hanging around. It turned out he knew the kid I was helping out also. I was thinking all along that I was a lot more brave in this unfamiliar situation because I was armed and situationally aware. The kid got his gas and I returned him to his car when the again thanked me as we said goodby. As he got out, I noticed for the first time that he was the typical "pants on the ground", with hoodie and all the things that would make me stereotype him.
My point in telling this uneventful story is that I wold have never helped this kid if I had not been armed. I hear a lot of stories about guns being used for defense, but in this case, simply being armed allowed me step outside my comport zone and help someone who needed it. The kid never knew I had a gun and could have killed him in an instant if he would have tried to pull a knife on me or something. As it turned out, everything I assumed about the kid was wrong and I was glad I was at the right place and time to help him out.
That's my story, boring, but true.
Last night I had the job of not drinking so I could be the driver for a bunch of drinking age, college kids, one of them my daughter, who went downtown Indy to celebrate the New Year. I do go downtown Indy fairly often, but never to pick up kids at 2:30 in the morning. I was more than happy to provide this service and proud of the kids for not wanting to drive.
I started out from Plainfield on I-70 and allowed myself some extra time because the roads looked like they could get slick. I was expecting to see a lot of police but did not see any. There was hardly any traffic at all. As I reached downtown, I decided to get off on Meridian Street when I saw a car stopped on the bridge/exit ramp with his flashers on. A young black male had his arm out the driver's window as if he was flagging me down. I pulled my .38 J frame revolver out of my left front pocket where I routinely carry it CC and tucked it under my left leg where it would be handy. I rolled down my passenger window as I pulled up next to him and asked if everything was OK. He was holding a gallon gas can and said that he had run out of gas. Now I have seen the old ran out of gas, need money routine before but the kid was polite and respectful and he did have a car to go along with the gas can so I told the kid to hop in and we would go get some gas. I figured if I did not help this kid, nobody would, and if he tried something***, well you know.
As it turned out, this kid was sober and not a threat, and had no bad intentions. He was just a kid who made the mistake of letting his car run out of gas. We wound up on south Meridian Street where we eventually found a gas station which was a Village Pantry convince store. The kid said he did not have any cash but he did have a credit card so I did not offer to buy his gas, otherwise I would have. I could tell it was a classy place as he went up to talk to the attendant through bullet proof glass and sliding tray. It took him a while and I figured he was having trouble with his card so I got out of the car and was going to offer to pay. The girl at the station knew the kid from high school and she ultimately loaned him the money to buy his gas. About that time another young black male showed up on foot just hanging around. It turned out he knew the kid I was helping out also. I was thinking all along that I was a lot more brave in this unfamiliar situation because I was armed and situationally aware. The kid got his gas and I returned him to his car when the again thanked me as we said goodby. As he got out, I noticed for the first time that he was the typical "pants on the ground", with hoodie and all the things that would make me stereotype him.
My point in telling this uneventful story is that I wold have never helped this kid if I had not been armed. I hear a lot of stories about guns being used for defense, but in this case, simply being armed allowed me step outside my comport zone and help someone who needed it. The kid never knew I had a gun and could have killed him in an instant if he would have tried to pull a knife on me or something. As it turned out, everything I assumed about the kid was wrong and I was glad I was at the right place and time to help him out.
That's my story, boring, but true.
