that's like a source of income for him. So he probably won't stop but
perhaps he'll move to a location where you & he won't meet. He
probably saw and and thought you might be a soft touch because of the
mobility cart. That's probably why the elderly women were approached.
Hopefully you won't see him again....
Larry
On 6/22/2014 5:54 PM, WILTON wrote:
Nope, not a Sondy Tale, but local and contemporary.
PAN HANDLING AT SAM'S
By Wilton Strickland
During the last three or four months I've been approached or
confronted by panhandlers in the parking lot of the local Sam's Club
Store three times. Yesterday at about 3 PM, I had finished my
shopping there, stowed my electric mobility scooter in the trunk of
the '87 Mercedes 300D and hobbled slowly and carefully to the driver's
door. While getting in the car, I noticed an open, cross-hatched area
in front of it that could serve well as a way to go forward out of my
parking space through the line of parked cars in front of me if I were
impeded by traffic or pedestrians when backing out of my space in the
normal manner. I got in, secured the seat belt, started the car,
punched the flasher switch and started easing backward out of the
space. Meanwhile, the area behind me quickly became congested with
pedestrians and a couple of cars. As I looked back forward and
shifted the gear lever into DRIVE, a black male 25 to 30 years old was
coming toward me in front of the car, blocking my way forward and
motioning to speak to me.
I quickly thought, "He's gonna ask for money," but I also
thought, "Maybe he's trying to tell me about a problem with the car -
leaking coolant or a flat tire on the right front."
As he approached the driver's window, I eased it about half
down. With his face up very close into the opening, he also stuck a
hand, significantly bigger and stronger than mine, through the window.
Remembering my auto immune system problem, I thought, "I don't
want to shake his hand; I have no idea where that hand has been."
Because of Mama's Southern raisin', though, I didn't want to seem
rude, so I took his hand for what I thought would be a typical quick
and firm greeting. After the usual second or two, I released, but he
would not release my hand. I tried to withdraw my hand three or four
times, but he held on with a very firm grip on my smaller hand.
Meanwhile, he was saying, "Today's my birthday, can ya let me
have a coupla dollars?"
I replied, "Congratulations; happy birthday; 'had a birthday a
few days ago, myself, but nobody gave me anything. I'm sorry, but I
don't have any money to give ya." He continued, "Aw, come on, Man,
surely you can spare a coupla dollars." Meanwhile, he still
had a firm grip on my right hand as I said, "Please, I need to go;
please let me go." I eased pressure on the brake so the car would
roll a bit just slightly at idle. "I'm sorry, I don't have any money
for you."
I tried again to withdraw my hand from his firm grip. To me,
this had already become a possible case of unlawful restraint - a
felony. Again, I released pressure on the brake to let the car roll
ever so slightly as a silent warning, "If you continue to restrain me,
I may just drag you with the car."
I also kept thinking, though, "I don't want to hurt 'im. If I
drive forward, I may run over his toes with the left rear wheel."
He finally said, "I'm gonna turn your hand loose."
I replied, "Good; you should do that."
He finally released my hand, and I immediately bumped the
window up just slightly (maybe ΒΌ" or less) to make him withdraw his
face and head from the half-open window. I then noticed that three
pedestrians were now immediately by the right, front fender and were
going to pass across in front of the car, so now I could not go
forward. I put my hand on the gear shift lever to go to REVERSE, but
I realized I couldn't back up because the left, front corner of the
car would sweep to the left as I backed to the right and possibly
catch 'im under the left front wheel.
Meanwhile, he had removed his hand and face from the window,
but he was standing very close to the car with his hands and arms
lying up on top of the car. He was so close that I was still afraid I
would run over his toes going forward. I quickly put the window full
up, and said again, firmly, "Let me go. Get out of the way. I hafta
go. Step back; I'm going, now."
I released the brake and applied a little bit of power; he
moved back far enough that I thought the left rear wheel could clear
his toes, and I kept rolling slowly forward and departed.
The more I thought about the encounter overnight, the madder I
got. Early this afternoon, I went back to Sam's and related the
encounter to the manager. When I described the assailant, the manager
immediately said that two elderly women had had an encounter with the
same guy after I left. Police went to the scene and warned 'im to
cease his panhandling in the Sam's parking lot. We'll see.
Wilton
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