Encounter

Over the past year I've read countless stories about ordinary people running into bad situations. The other night my life almost changed. I just thank the Lord almighty above that I have taken the time to learn how to handle my weapon properly and how to maintain so form of reasonable composure.

By nature I am a night owl. I stay up late surfing the web or on this particular night, watching the Ducks win their first Stanley cup. At 1:15 am I was still awake, so as I do every night. I walked out onto my driveway, which is at the back of my home and opens into an alley. I have what I call a "guard's walk" (I did security for 8 years), so my hands are at the small of my back, coincidentally where I also had my PT1911 tucked that night. To my left are hedges which stand over 6 feet tall and in front is my big red gardening shed. At that moment something caught my attention and a voice said pssst, hey! Honestly, all I could see was darkness and a shiny object. I instinctively drew my weapon and pointed into the darkness. I said get the "F" out of there. A young, white, male teen appeared, sweating and nervous. I said calm but stern, "What the hell are you doing on my property at 1:15 in the morning". He stated that his drunk mother had come home and he was scared. At this time I noticed that the object in his hand was a cell phone. I lowered my weapon, but still kept it in hand while keeping a good eye on the kid. I told him "boy, do you know that you almost got shot". He said "I know". I said, "you need to go right now". After a quick moment of babel from the teen, he quickly walked (not ran, if you could believe it) away while making a call on his cell.

I waited until he was far out of my sight. I then got a flashlight and investigated the area incase he dropped a weapon or drugs. I went in my house, told my wife and went to sleep (if you can call it sleep). I did ponder the though of calling the police at the time, but felt that it would have been a waste for their time. I hope I didn't make a mistake (what's done is done). I'm just glad that I didn't have to end some foolish kid's life over his stupidity and a cell phone. I't would have been bad for him and worse for me.

Lesson learned, This is not a video game or a movie. Take great caution when confronted. There is no pause button or extra lives in the real world.

Peace my friends,

Mike