I will make myself heard!

[Jumbo Jet]

Last Sunday at the country church that I attend, a young man in a RED Dodge CTD came flying past as church was letting out. Old ladies (80+ years old) were pulling out on the road and children were practically playing in the road.



I followed him up the country paved road where he had to be exceeding 60 mph. I was doing 45 and he was rapidly leaving me. When we got to the divided highway (55 mph limit), I could see him weaving in and out of traffic. He went about two miles and pulled into a service station to fuel the truck. I pulled in, got out, I TRIED TO BY-PASS THE CUSSING FILTER chatted about the HO 6 speed, and then asked him politely to be more considerate and slow down when he went past the church as it was turning out. He replied that he was driving the speed limit. His face told a whole lot more.



Speed limit doesn't matter when the situation is too severe to warrant the speed limit. Children and old ladies just couldn't get in his way to go fill up the truck - (his father-in-law's). He heard me though! My wife and daughter thought I was nuts. I don't care.



Saturday, two teenagers in a Lexus go flying past me, barely missing me and the Toyota they swerved between. Had to be doing 70-75 in a 45. Swerved in and out of traffic the next half mile and then cut off a car as they pulled into a service station from the inside lane of a four lane highway. I safely made my way into the station and confronted them.



The driver said he had an emergency and was headed to the hospital. He had to stop and use the pay phone first. He profusely apologized and I politely asked him to try and not endanger the lives of other people on the highway. He heard me!



I'm 53 years old, done a lot, seen a lot, and am going to let myself be heard!

 

[Whitmore]

Give em heck Jumbo, I always do just like you, stand up for whats right and maybe someone will respect your views and possibly save a life or two

 

[WDaniels]

I applaud you for having the candor to confront these morons who think nothing but themselfs. But..... I would hate to have a nice upstanding individual of the community gunned down because one of those morons has a gun and no morals or values akin to our own. Please be careful! Maybe just get their plate number, call the police and file a formal complaint that way. Let the police handle the crazies, they are equipped to do so.

WD

 

[DRR-24V]

Jumbo Jet...Be Careful !

I know how you feel but consider this. In the early 70s a motorist on I-5 near Newhall, CA. got into an incident with 2 men in another vehicle. He flipped one of them off and one of them pointed a pistol at him. He wisely called the CHP and reported it. CHP Officers Gore and Frago stopped the vehicle in front of Js restraunt in Valencia in front of many customers. These two ex-cons were Shootists, pure and simple. They had over 15 loaded weapons in the vehicle. In 15 seconds they killed both officers in sight of the Restraunt Patrons. Back Up CHP Officers Pence and Allen were sliding to a stop behind the first patrol car when they came under fire. They returned fire from behind the car doors but these guys were able to hit their exposed ankles and shins, dropping them and finishing Officer Pence off. Officer Allen with a broken right forearm and shinbone crawled to the back of the Patrol car to reload when one suspect shot him in the face with the CHP shotgun. The suspects fled on foot, one was killed and the other still comes up for parole every year in CA. I am writing this from memory as I was working Graveyard that night in another area. We lost four trained, armed Officers in a heartbeat that night. How would an unarmed citizen have faired? I am still enraged after 29 years.

 

[Champane Flight]

Tact.

If you ask someone politely. Most of the time they will respond politely.



I had a guy when I was driving truck come up to me and start screaming in my face. I had taken a right turn into a station to deliver and had to swing out then come across both lanes to make the turn. He was coming up fast on the right and I cut him off. I told him politely that it is the only way a truck (semi) can make the turn and turn signal should have given plenty of warning. He still didn't believe me until the police arrived (station owner called them) and drug him away.



I also had a little old man come up to me when I was a kid and tell me politely to slow down around his house (was young, fast, and foolish) . I apoligized and slowed down. But, be careful, if they get irrate, leave, and call police.

 

[PRout]

Politeness works for reasonable people only.



Anything can happen anytime. We have to be hard on troublemakers & wreckless idiots, before they kill someone.

 

[klenger]

I had to report a reckless driver to FedEx last week. He was driving in and out of traffic on the interstate like a teenager in a Neon.

 

[Champane Flight]

Disgression.

I would not ever try politeness in So Cal . However in most rural areas it still works. Mainly because of the shotgun in the gun rack or the pistol on my hip. Come to think of it, maybe thats the reason so many people are nice to me?

 

[PRout]

Champagne, Now were talkin'. I knew we would agree on something.



My last post was a little personal. Didnt mean to make it that way, but wasnt able to get back & edit it at the time I just tried editing it & messed the whole thing up so deleted it.



Anyways, I just get frusterated when people want to lay down on their backs & let thugs run over them. Thats why the coward thugs do it, 'cause they can. But apparently, there gonna think twice when they see some "iron" within reach.

 

[redramnc]

As Louis L'Amour once pointed out - An armed society is a polite society.



However, he didn't live to see the days of the gangbangers and drug posse's who do not value their own existence enough to consider that they could be the next one to go down permanently.



If you have no reason to live and nobody to miss you if you are gone then life takes on a different meaning, I suppose.



When you can wake up in your bed, in your house, and watch your wife sleeping, get up and go look in the fridge that has food in it and power to run it, then go outside and climb into a nice truck, you have reasons to value life. Sure, it may make you back off instead of confronting someone, but that only means you are considering more than yourself and your emotions at that moment.



Does that make you less of a man - NO. It means that you are choosing your battles wisely. That relevation generally only comes with the wisdom of experience. Young punks usually don't have a clue that the best revenge is living well. Some may figure it out eventually but I fear many will not. Those are the ones I carry concealed for.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

DRR-24V,



Your story sounds familiar. If I remember right, Law Enforcement throughout the country re-wrote the policy on how to approach a Suspicious vehicle once stopped.

 

[DRR-24V]

Yep It Sure Did !!

Enforcement Tactics was totally revised after this. I'll grant you mistakes were made. We practiced reloading revolvers with one hand after that. It is tricky. Everything was just stacked against our guy's that night. Simple mistakes turned fatal. One good thing did happen that night. A Truckdriver witnessed the one subject execute the Officer at the rear of the patrol car and run back to his vehicle. The truckdriver ran to the Officer, picked up his revolver and creased the bad guy in the head. The guy made for him and with the gun empty he fled down the driveway into the third unit who disarmed and arrested him till everything was straightened out. We thank God he was not shot down in those circumstances. I have a soft spot for Truckers to this day.