Ever Have the Hair on the Back of your Neck Stand on End?

[Special_K]

That exactly what happened to me last night.
So here is the story. I had just got back from a student activity and this girl asked me to walk her back to her dorm. I figure it isn't a big deal because she lives on the other end of campus and it's dark out. The 1.5 block trip back to her dorm went with out problems.

Then, after dropping her off and turning around I see this guy coming out of a building with a trench coat on and it looks as if he is reaching for something. About now is when the hairs started to raise. I had a small 3.5" folding knife in my pocket but for some reason I was still nervous when I walked past the guy. When I did end up getting past him I sped up walking and got into the closest well lit building which was just ahead.


I guess it wasn't traumatic or anything but I was wondering if anyone else has had the "hairs" stand on end?

 

[ihopewewin]

I had something similar happen. I was walking into a walmart and had my glasses off because they were bent and hurt my face. A guy was walking straight towards me when he took something out of his pocket. I couldn't tell exactly what it was because i'm blind without my glasses. I cringed as he walked past me but nothing happend so it was prob. just his car keys. The only reason why I got startled in the first place because the guy was stressed very "gangster". Plus my neighbor got sliced with a box cutter from his wrist to his elbow at the same walmart. Just missed the vein he was lucky not sure why I still go back, damn those low prices!:banghead:

 

[Odd Job]

Yes, sir, I've had that one. It's a kind of spider sense. The unattenuated versions of this spider sense can actually cause an unpleasant electrical sensation in the perineal region. The sensation can be duplicated by peering over the edge of a tall building with no hand rail to hold onto.

Johannesburg: several occasions, mostly in and around vehicles.

 

[chipperi]

The freekiest one I had ever had was awhile back I was about 17, had just started dating my now wife, and driving. We stopped at a 7-11 for some junk food and something just wasn't right, a shotty looking guy had walked in and everything just seemed wrong, Why? i have no idea. I told my wife we have to go and go now leaving our stuff were it lay.

It turns out minutes after we left the place was robbed at gunpoint.

My wife says I have a sixth sense as I can tell as soon as I see someone if they are any good or not. Usually I am pretty accurate.

 

[BridgeWalker]

Yes.

I used to be an Orthodox Jew. I spent a couple semesters in Jerusalem. During one of those, I was doing a research project on crusader castles, which are mostly in areas not friendly to women dressed the way I dressed. I generally had to go alone, becuase none of my schoolmates were interested in going to those places.

I had some hair-raising moments. Lots of them.

I had enough close calls that summer to last me a lifetime.

But, a few days ago I had a hair-rasing experience again. Went to ther corner store to get some fountain pops. A guy and a woman entered together and I got that feeling. She walked up to the counter and engaged the manager in conversation. He kept his hand near his waist under a sweatshirt while walking the perimeter of the store. When I went up to the register to pay, the manager looked very distressed and distracted and told me very specifically to leave through one door and not the other. I have no idea what was up. I wanted to leave right away, but went up to pay in case there was any kind of alert he wanted to pass on. I have no idea what was happening, but it felt very strange and yes, hair-raising.

 

[ceetee]

Here's a whole thread on this. It's scary sometimes.

This was my experience, back in '06:

I'm not sure where to post this, but I figured this forum may be best. As I type this, I'm sitting in my den with my bud, Max. A half hour ago, I heard a car door slam, and for some reason, that sound sort of echoed inside me. Max felt it, too, because he raised his head up and let out an odd, suspicious woof...

I live in an area where all the lots are one to one and a half acres. Not rural, but not quite suburban, either. A nice mix. Even allowing for the distance, it's not uncommon to hear neighbors car doors slam shut, especially on a still night. For some reason, though, I just got an odd feeling... like we were being watched. I was particularly glad for my CCW license when I took Max out to sniff the bushes and tour the yard looking for "his spot".

Does anybody else get that odd feeling sometimes, or is it just me? If you do, do you listen to it? Or do you just ignore it?

 

[Soap]

Yes. Aren't primal instincts great?

 

[1 old 0311]

Pay attention to that hair. It WILL save your butt some day.

 

[SJG26]

"that prickly feeling-----that's them"

Sorry---6th Sense was on last night!!

 

[RoadkingLarry]

Many years ago (late '80s) I was moonlighting at a Stop&Rob on the edge of the projects in Groton CT. About 3:00AM a couple of intoxicated appearing men came in to the store and just kinda shuffled around looking the place over. I had "that feeling". After a minute or two one of them came up and asked to use the phone which was behind the counter. It was policy to hand them the receiver and dial the number for them and pay for the call, 2 bits at the time. He insisted that he needed to come behind the counter and dial it himself. I refused and he walked away toward the back of the store muttering something about me being a cracker or some such. I continued to work and with my back to them, allowed my vest to ride up and flash my revolver,(I had Ct permit) I could see them in the mirror behind the counter, they saw the gun pointed at me and made a hasty exit.

May not be the best thing to have done and I would not likely do the same today but to this day I think it kept me from getting robbed and probably hurt. Two nights later a different store was robbed by two guys that beat the living crap out of the clerk who complied with all their demands.

 

[JackCrow]

Yes and I won't elaborate except to say that I never ignore that feeling no matter how irrational it may seem at the time.

 

[Pax Jordana]

Yes, see my sig.

The battery in my car clicky was dying so I am darned sure I had the car locked as I pulled in. The folks were away on vacation. I'd disrobed and was about to jump in the shower when the car alarm starts going off. I came outside to turn it off (remember: battery) and was feeling rather embarrassed and hoping my neighbor didn't wake up - but as soon as I killed the alarm I just froze.

Normally I don't fancy myself a very imaginative person, but something really got my hackles up. Of course, stink-o-dog decides that car alarms mean playtime and proceeds to body-slam the back door open and go rooting around the yard. He didn't seem to notice whatever it was, so to this day I'm still about 50/50 whether or not there was someone around.

Couldn't shake off that feeling for the rest of the night. Nothing's quite so comforting as a shotgun handy by the bed..

 

[CNYCacher]

Yes, once while geocaching at night in the woods by myself. I was about 1/4 mile from my truck walking along a well-defined trail. It was winter so no foliage. There was slight moonlight, enough to stay on the trail with no flashlight. I had a Surefire Nitrolon and an LED headlamp which were both off.
I got that feeling suddenly and froze in my tracks. I got all tingly even though I hadn't heard, smelled or seen anything. Something inside me said "Go no further. Turn around and go back to the truck." I listened, checking my 6 every few steps.
No clue what it was. That wasn't my first solo nighttime outing, and it wasn't the last, never had that happen before or since.

 

[earthworm]

& you ignore that feeling at your peril!

Read Gavin DeBecker's 'The Gift of Fear' :required reading for any student of self-defense armed or unarmed despite Mr.DeBecker's anti-gun position.

 

[Stretchman]

+1 "The Gift of Fear."

 

[FieroCDSP]

I don't have an interesting story like those above, but I can say that there have been numerous times when my instincts kick in regarding people I see. In retail, you see a lot of people. There's no way around it. Some of them simply click in my mind to keep an eye on.

Instincts require some level of awareness, which a lot of people have simply forgotten. When you actualy start looking for things which stick out from the norm, you see so much more.

 

[1911 guy]

Trust your gut. You've got nothing to lose by being careful. The worst that can happen is you'll offend someone you'll never see again anyway.

 

[Kentak]

Yes. Once while canoe camping in Canada and I woke up in the middle of the night to hear something very large rummaging around outside the tent.

K

 

[wolf_from_wv]

I was walking in the local Wildlife management area a couple months ago looking for tracks and just trying to get a feel for the area. As I was walking out a ridge to (probably) the end of the gas roads, I got the same "time to head back to the truck feeling"... That feeling swept over me - I felt like someone/thing was watching me. So, I reached down, unholstered my .45 and chambered a round, letting the slide return as loudly as it could. About 1/4 of the way back, I happened across 3 deer who seemed to be concentrating more on the woods to my left that they were on me. About 1/2 way back, my grip on the .45 relaxed... The feeling didn't fully go away until I was in the truck heading down the road. A couple months before that, a bear was trapped and relocated maybe 3 miles from where I was at. I need to figure out a more secure way (instead of pants pockets) to carry the 2 extra magazines I had with me...

====================

I was thinking about this after I typed it... I had failed to connect the Police helicopter(s) that fly over this area at night with their infrared...

 

[Phelptwan]

Yep...

Me and a few friends (and my girlfriend) were hanging out near the Ice Cream shop in Traverse City when one of the cities more violent homeless person (completely drunk) came up to have a conversation with us. He kept on grabbing one of the girls we were with shirt. My strong side was facing away from him and I had my folder out and ready the whole time though. Luckily he just walked off after we asked him to leave.

 

[Noxx]

I've had that sensation many times, mostly on the job, as I've spent a lot of years working in pretty hairy industrial environments. Without digressing into stories, I'll just say it's one of those primal things you should heed well and quickly.

 

[ilbob]

Nothing recent, but when I was in school I lived in an apartment in Chicago. Not the greatest of neighborhoods, but not real bad, at least in 1979.

I worked nights and on my way out to my car that night I got this real creepy feeling. Hard to describe. I look around real carefully, get in my car and go to work.

Next day I find out that about the time I was leaving the building, the building's former security guard (my neightbor)was in the elevator and a gang banger was trying to rob him. The gang banger got the worst of it (neighbor was retired army 30 years MP and even at 70 some years old, not someone I would tangle with). Neighbor had a butcher knife up his sleeve and somehow it ended up in the gang banger's gut. He bled for a while in the lobby till someone found him and called for help. Unsolved crime.

 

[enfield303]

Oh yeah. I was Catfishing at a local park-type area fairly late one night a couple years ago. I had my Taurus 9mm in my tackle box. as the evening progressed, i kept getting this creepy feeling. later, i heard voices and a LOT of movement. i got out the Taurus, made sure things were set to go bang, and turned off the lantern. a pretty good sized group passed my spot about 10 minutes later. i left about 15 minutes behind them. i mentioned the encounter to a buddy of mine who is a local LEO, and he told me that there have been reports of people cooking Meth out there in the past. and no, i didn't catch a damn thing.

 

[PhrankKastle]

Yes, about 7 years ago I had just moved into a new apartment complex one of the "affordable" complexes in the area and as I got home from work about 130am the only parking was at the far back of the complex by the woods, I saw 2 20 somethings on the sidewalk across the street and something just didn't seem right about why they'd be hanging out here, that deep down in the gut feeling that something just wasn't right, as I was looking at them in the rearview, I just caught a glimpse of a guy standing behind a tree about 15 feet ahead to the left of my car in the wooded area. After a few minutes I got out of the car and the 2 "gents" started to cross the street towards my car, so I positioned myself with with my back to the car so I could see both tree man and the other 2 and my right hand went inside my jacket to the P228 I carried at the time and the taller of the 2 asked for a light, told him I don't smoke at that time the 2nd guy tapped him on the shoulder and they stopped and he asked if there was a problem I told him I had no problem but if they were friends with the guy in the trees the 3 of them might be better served if they continued walking along, when I said that tree man started to walk away and tall vocal guy had a noticeable expression change and both walked to join treeman. I got inside and called the police and reported what had happened and they said they'd been having alot of break ins and would keep an extra eye out, a couple of weeks later I saw in the paper that they caught 2 guys breaking into some cars in the complex next to mine and talking guy was one of the 2 pictures in the paper, I still don't know if my job hours changed there schedule or if they were looking to upgrade from car breakins to robbery or what that night, but I am thankful for that gut feeling as I have no doubt that it kept me out of danger that night.

 

[808_guy]

Once it happened to me for no discernable reason at all. I was out, in a totally dark and wooded area, while on solo patrol and I just sensed something bad was about to happen. I actually drew my weapon and carried it at the low ready until I returned to a lighted area and my vehicle.

To this day I do not know what caused that, as the rest of the night was totally uneventful, but like others have said, never ignore that feeling. Ever. It's far batter to laugh at yourself later than to be dead.