I have the pleasure of working a gun counter in a sporting goods/hardware store. Of course this means I deal with large amount of people on a daily basis. Today however, I had to deal with a customer who did not like our store's policy's well. When I informed the customer of our policy about dry firing pellet rifles(which is a "dry fire you buy it" policy) he was upset. It is totally fair to be unhappy after you break this policy, but unfortunately the sign disappeared and one rifle(Only one rifle out of the 8 on the rack) was missing its trigger lock. I asked the customer to not do it again, and I would fix the unsafe rifle and make a sign to replace the other one.
Here is where the fun starts. After I started to walk away with said rifle, the customer began to cuss at my female coworker about his opinion of the policy and how he is not liable because he didn't know. When I turned around, he started yelling at me, and making other customers unhappy with his very colorful vocabulary. This is when I politely told him "Sir, I do not appreciate your yelling. This is a private establishment, and we have the right to refuse service. You know where the door is, I would appreciate it if you would use it." He the said some more nice things and walked toward the door.
I then walked the rifle to the shop where we work on guns to place a trigger safety on it, and decided I wanted a coke from the machine near the front of the store. When I was walked up to the front of the store, the customer reappeared and told me how I am not allowed to treat him that way, and flashed some lapel pins at me to include a purple heart. My response was "Buddy, I am a Senior Airman. I don't care who you are, if you don't show me respect, or my coworkers, I am sure not going to treat you like a brother." And pointed toward the door. It is also important to know that his man was not clean shaven, had shaggy hair, and appeared to be no older than 18. He then bowed up to me and informed me "You know I can mess you up."
Mind you, this is all happening inside the store where customers are begin to turn to watch.
Realizing this escalated to him wanting to physically fight, I knew I needed to de-escalate this. I did not say anything more before I walked to the front of the store and grabbed a coke out of the cooler, and he followed very close as to get a reaction out of me. I turned, opened my coke, took a sip, and said "Sir, the door hasn't moved. I am sure I do not need a reminder of where it is."
With my calm and collected response to his immature actions, he stormed out of the store.
I thought about my firearm as soon as he threatened me, but I was never afraid of my life nor my well being. I was afraid of a physical altercation in my workplace, and the potential for it to further an upset person as to maybe win over my firearm if it became apparent I had one during the struggle.
I think as concealed carriers, we have an obligation to use our words to best de-escalate a situation from the need for lethal force if at all possible. My blood pressure was high, and I come from a place where two guys in a disagreement are told to fight it out and forget it. But now that I carry as of recently, I don't think that it is the best course of action. Thankfully, I have been in a few situation already in my military career where I figured de-escalting a fight was better than the consequences of fighting. This I think translated well into carrying your firearm.
Thanks for reading my story, please tell me what you thought and how you may have done things differently. I also want to hear about yalls confrontations that went well and why you handled them the way you did.
Here is where the fun starts. After I started to walk away with said rifle, the customer began to cuss at my female coworker about his opinion of the policy and how he is not liable because he didn't know. When I turned around, he started yelling at me, and making other customers unhappy with his very colorful vocabulary. This is when I politely told him "Sir, I do not appreciate your yelling. This is a private establishment, and we have the right to refuse service. You know where the door is, I would appreciate it if you would use it." He the said some more nice things and walked toward the door.
I then walked the rifle to the shop where we work on guns to place a trigger safety on it, and decided I wanted a coke from the machine near the front of the store. When I was walked up to the front of the store, the customer reappeared and told me how I am not allowed to treat him that way, and flashed some lapel pins at me to include a purple heart. My response was "Buddy, I am a Senior Airman. I don't care who you are, if you don't show me respect, or my coworkers, I am sure not going to treat you like a brother." And pointed toward the door. It is also important to know that his man was not clean shaven, had shaggy hair, and appeared to be no older than 18. He then bowed up to me and informed me "You know I can mess you up."
Mind you, this is all happening inside the store where customers are begin to turn to watch.
Realizing this escalated to him wanting to physically fight, I knew I needed to de-escalate this. I did not say anything more before I walked to the front of the store and grabbed a coke out of the cooler, and he followed very close as to get a reaction out of me. I turned, opened my coke, took a sip, and said "Sir, the door hasn't moved. I am sure I do not need a reminder of where it is."
With my calm and collected response to his immature actions, he stormed out of the store.
I thought about my firearm as soon as he threatened me, but I was never afraid of my life nor my well being. I was afraid of a physical altercation in my workplace, and the potential for it to further an upset person as to maybe win over my firearm if it became apparent I had one during the struggle.
I think as concealed carriers, we have an obligation to use our words to best de-escalate a situation from the need for lethal force if at all possible. My blood pressure was high, and I come from a place where two guys in a disagreement are told to fight it out and forget it. But now that I carry as of recently, I don't think that it is the best course of action. Thankfully, I have been in a few situation already in my military career where I figured de-escalting a fight was better than the consequences of fighting. This I think translated well into carrying your firearm.
Thanks for reading my story, please tell me what you thought and how you may have done things differently. I also want to hear about yalls confrontations that went well and why you handled them the way you did.
