Flechette
Member
- Joined
- Oct 7, 2011
- Messages
- 481
Sounds pretty ridiculous, right? Well it happened to me a couple of weeks ago.
So I was on business travel and got into town late. I found a motel that was open (the previous three were booked due to the convention). This one wasn't great and it was across town but I only needed a place to sleep until the next morning.
I go into the office...a 10 x10 room with a glass entry door and a glass door to the main lobby, which has a security slide so only people with motel keys could open that door. The clerk was in an office behind plexiglass that you could slide credit cards and identification under to get a room.
A maid comes in from the lobby to go outside. She is an about 5'0" Hispanic woman. At the same time a large, angry guy comes in from the other door to the outside. He is about 6'0", about ~50 years old, muscular with a crew cut. He has a 7" KBAR on his right hip and is madder than hell at the maid. I suspect he was an ex-Marine because of his appearance and the fact that he had hand-written "USMC" on the knife sheath. He had a light jacket and it was possible he had a firearm as well as the knife.
He was screaming something about a camera, accusing the maid of stealing it. He kept saying that it was a $5,000 camera and was very upset. His face was reddened. The maid denied knowing about it and backed into the security door. The guy was in front of the entrance door to the outside world, effectively blocking the only way to escape. I was at the counter. The room was quite literally 10 x 10. I am not making this up. Two guys could not have laid down head to foot in that room.
I nodded at the clerk behind the glass and she read my mind, calling the police. I turned sideways with my right side to the clerk's counter and quietly unsnapped my holster on a Sig P230...a 380 ACP pistol that I carry everywhere. I suddenly wished I had opted to carry my .357 that morning.
The angry man kept accusing the maid of stealing the camera and she just kept repeating "No. No". I could tell that it was frustrating him. So I said something. I said a simple "What's up?" and he promptly said, "Shut the f up". I did not want to escalate the situation but I thought a simple statement reminding him that he was not alone might delay any violent reaction. I know that it could also have caused him to lose control. It was a calculated guess to buy time.
I made the decision that if he drew the knife I would shoot. I would not be able to use the sights at all since due to the close quarters extending the gun to arms length would be inviting him to take it. A hip shot isn't known for accuracy so I was worried that I could not down him with one shot of 380 ACP. He was so close that if he survived for more than a few seconds he would be able to stick that KBAR right through me. The Sig did have a grip laser which would have helped.
He kept yelling at the maid, the maid kept saying "no" and I just kept looking at him. Eventually he turned around and shoved the exit door (smacked it) open and left. The maid quickly turned around and swiped her card to open the security door and left. I turned around and the clerk was gone. I was alone in my cage.
The clerk eventually came back and gave me a card. I hung out in the lobby on the other side of the security door until the police arrived and then went to my room.
Later on that evening the clerk called me (she knew my room number, of course) to tell me that the cops found the guy's camera in the guy's car. She also thanked me for hanging around in the lobby.
So everything turned out ok but it still bothers me. I don't normally walk into a 10 x10 cage with no way out, especially at night on the wrong side of town. In that regard, I feel like an idiot. On the other hand, how was I supposed to get a room if I didn't go in to see the clerk?
I carry the Sig .380 religiously under the theory that carrying a gun that is carryable is better than a large unwieldily gun that stays in your safe. However, given the situation of that night I wonder if this is a good theory. I know that all handguns are fairly ineffective weapons in the regard of immediately dropping someone; that would most likely take a rifle. But I don't think that many people would be walking around with a rifle all day long. That would be awkward to say the least.
So what are your thoughts? What did I do right/wrong? That night could have easily gone sideways and I keep thinking about how I could of handled it better.
BTW, I am getting sick of business trips.
So I was on business travel and got into town late. I found a motel that was open (the previous three were booked due to the convention). This one wasn't great and it was across town but I only needed a place to sleep until the next morning.
I go into the office...a 10 x10 room with a glass entry door and a glass door to the main lobby, which has a security slide so only people with motel keys could open that door. The clerk was in an office behind plexiglass that you could slide credit cards and identification under to get a room.
A maid comes in from the lobby to go outside. She is an about 5'0" Hispanic woman. At the same time a large, angry guy comes in from the other door to the outside. He is about 6'0", about ~50 years old, muscular with a crew cut. He has a 7" KBAR on his right hip and is madder than hell at the maid. I suspect he was an ex-Marine because of his appearance and the fact that he had hand-written "USMC" on the knife sheath. He had a light jacket and it was possible he had a firearm as well as the knife.
He was screaming something about a camera, accusing the maid of stealing it. He kept saying that it was a $5,000 camera and was very upset. His face was reddened. The maid denied knowing about it and backed into the security door. The guy was in front of the entrance door to the outside world, effectively blocking the only way to escape. I was at the counter. The room was quite literally 10 x 10. I am not making this up. Two guys could not have laid down head to foot in that room.
I nodded at the clerk behind the glass and she read my mind, calling the police. I turned sideways with my right side to the clerk's counter and quietly unsnapped my holster on a Sig P230...a 380 ACP pistol that I carry everywhere. I suddenly wished I had opted to carry my .357 that morning.
The angry man kept accusing the maid of stealing the camera and she just kept repeating "No. No". I could tell that it was frustrating him. So I said something. I said a simple "What's up?" and he promptly said, "Shut the f up". I did not want to escalate the situation but I thought a simple statement reminding him that he was not alone might delay any violent reaction. I know that it could also have caused him to lose control. It was a calculated guess to buy time.
I made the decision that if he drew the knife I would shoot. I would not be able to use the sights at all since due to the close quarters extending the gun to arms length would be inviting him to take it. A hip shot isn't known for accuracy so I was worried that I could not down him with one shot of 380 ACP. He was so close that if he survived for more than a few seconds he would be able to stick that KBAR right through me. The Sig did have a grip laser which would have helped.
He kept yelling at the maid, the maid kept saying "no" and I just kept looking at him. Eventually he turned around and shoved the exit door (smacked it) open and left. The maid quickly turned around and swiped her card to open the security door and left. I turned around and the clerk was gone. I was alone in my cage.
The clerk eventually came back and gave me a card. I hung out in the lobby on the other side of the security door until the police arrived and then went to my room.
Later on that evening the clerk called me (she knew my room number, of course) to tell me that the cops found the guy's camera in the guy's car. She also thanked me for hanging around in the lobby.
So everything turned out ok but it still bothers me. I don't normally walk into a 10 x10 cage with no way out, especially at night on the wrong side of town. In that regard, I feel like an idiot. On the other hand, how was I supposed to get a room if I didn't go in to see the clerk?
I carry the Sig .380 religiously under the theory that carrying a gun that is carryable is better than a large unwieldily gun that stays in your safe. However, given the situation of that night I wonder if this is a good theory. I know that all handguns are fairly ineffective weapons in the regard of immediately dropping someone; that would most likely take a rifle. But I don't think that many people would be walking around with a rifle all day long. That would be awkward to say the least.
So what are your thoughts? What did I do right/wrong? That night could have easily gone sideways and I keep thinking about how I could of handled it better.
BTW, I am getting sick of business trips.