Have you ever been in a situation where you felt that you were in severe danger but couldn't be sure?
Reading Yohio's car repair story caused me to remember an incident that happened to me when I was first back from my mission. I was traveling back to Oregon after a quick trip to Provo to visit an old pre-mission girlfriend. I pulled into a rest stop off of I-80, somewhere in that most godforsaken of states Nevada. I can't remember where it was but I remember that it wasn't very visible from the 80 itself. As I pulled in I noted that there was only one car in the parking lot besides mine. There were two pretty good sized white trash guys looking under the hood of that car. I didn't think much of it until one of them noticed me pulling in and said something to the other guy which caused him to look at me for a moment too.
I parked away from them and by the time I got out of the car one of them was gone. I had the feeling I should get out of there but dismissed it. I headed for the John and was halfway between there and my car when the missing guy emerged from behind the bathroom and headed toward me. It caught me off guard a little and I slowed up and considered heading back to my car. Maybe I'd pretend I'd forgotten something. I turned my head around to see the other guy had now moved behind me was also approaching. I was pretty sure at this point that something less than good was going to happen to me. I threw up one of those silent prayers and planned my first two punches (weird habit I have when I feel threatened). I still remember also planning to huck my keys out into the sagebrush so that they at least wouldn't get my car. I had a still slightly cool for a college student Nissan 280ZX and wasn't going to let them get it. That makes me laugh now that I even cared about that.
So there's no escape at this point and I decide just to head to the bathroom and pretend they aren't alarming me. The guy in front of me steps directly into my path at the entrance to the bathroom and the guy behind me has caught up. At this point I'm fairly certain I'm in for at least a robbery and probably an ass kicking to boot. Or worse. I step sideways to create a little space and the guy behind moves right up to me. The guy in front says "Dude, we've been here for 2 days now and we need help. Do you think you could help us out?" My first thought was no way anyone is stuck at a rest stop in 1991 for 2 days. State Police patrol those places and someone would have helped. I don't buy the story but I'm listening. He says, "we just need a little money to get this thing fixed". Again, this makes no sense.
At this point I know the story is bull but I also know that they've asked instead of taken even if their method was meant to intimidate. I still had a very strong feeling that I was in trouble here and I decided to tell them I only had 5 bucks but if it would help they could have it. They accepted it and the spokesman said "thanks man, what comes around goes around". That was that. They walked back to their car and I whizzed in peace. To this day I don't know if I was ever really in any danger at all. Did they have a change of heart because I was friendly or were they just 2 guys trying to creatively panhandle? But I've never had such a feeling of impending peril before or since.
Reading Yohio's car repair story caused me to remember an incident that happened to me when I was first back from my mission. I was traveling back to Oregon after a quick trip to Provo to visit an old pre-mission girlfriend. I pulled into a rest stop off of I-80, somewhere in that most godforsaken of states Nevada. I can't remember where it was but I remember that it wasn't very visible from the 80 itself. As I pulled in I noted that there was only one car in the parking lot besides mine. There were two pretty good sized white trash guys looking under the hood of that car. I didn't think much of it until one of them noticed me pulling in and said something to the other guy which caused him to look at me for a moment too.
I parked away from them and by the time I got out of the car one of them was gone. I had the feeling I should get out of there but dismissed it. I headed for the John and was halfway between there and my car when the missing guy emerged from behind the bathroom and headed toward me. It caught me off guard a little and I slowed up and considered heading back to my car. Maybe I'd pretend I'd forgotten something. I turned my head around to see the other guy had now moved behind me was also approaching. I was pretty sure at this point that something less than good was going to happen to me. I threw up one of those silent prayers and planned my first two punches (weird habit I have when I feel threatened). I still remember also planning to huck my keys out into the sagebrush so that they at least wouldn't get my car. I had a still slightly cool for a college student Nissan 280ZX and wasn't going to let them get it. That makes me laugh now that I even cared about that.
So there's no escape at this point and I decide just to head to the bathroom and pretend they aren't alarming me. The guy in front of me steps directly into my path at the entrance to the bathroom and the guy behind me has caught up. At this point I'm fairly certain I'm in for at least a robbery and probably an ass kicking to boot. Or worse. I step sideways to create a little space and the guy behind moves right up to me. The guy in front says "Dude, we've been here for 2 days now and we need help. Do you think you could help us out?" My first thought was no way anyone is stuck at a rest stop in 1991 for 2 days. State Police patrol those places and someone would have helped. I don't buy the story but I'm listening. He says, "we just need a little money to get this thing fixed". Again, this makes no sense.
At this point I know the story is bull but I also know that they've asked instead of taken even if their method was meant to intimidate. I still had a very strong feeling that I was in trouble here and I decided to tell them I only had 5 bucks but if it would help they could have it. They accepted it and the spokesman said "thanks man, what comes around goes around". That was that. They walked back to their car and I whizzed in peace. To this day I don't know if I was ever really in any danger at all. Did they have a change of heart because I was friendly or were they just 2 guys trying to creatively panhandle? But I've never had such a feeling of impending peril before or since.
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