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I noticed that keeping my hand on the gun (ready to draw, but not drawn) helps me show my sweetest smile to the other person in situations exactly like that. Most usually the other person smiles back and is gone.
When I was in high school I went to a summer camp at West Point. The other attendees were all high achieving high school students. There was one guy who had the meanest resting face I had ever seen. People even talked about him behind his back to me about how mean he looked. His lip was raised in a permanent sneer. He was white. He was as sweet as apple pie when you talked to him. Really a very nice guy.
You can't judge anything by how someone looked at you. He may have been making eye contact to be sure you didn't roll into him since you had alot of space in front of you. You don't know anything about that guy, the day he was having or what someone said to him 10 seconds before you saw him. Let it go.
BTW, I make eye contact with drivers all the time because with cell phones and texting unless you do you have no idea if they are going to run you down. I'm sure with the sun in my eyes sometimes I look really angry and mean, especially if it is hot out.
So true! I have known many like him. They have been completely misjudged.
For you, OP, I hope that's the case. That should give you some peace about the whole situation.
Obama has destroyed all of the racial progress made since the 60s. I too have noticed more racial tension than ever.
"If I had a son, he'd look like that man walking in front of you." Seriously OP, you have no way of knowing what that man was thinking. Maybe he just had a bad day. Maybe he got in a fight with his girlfriend. Maybe he just lost his job. You're jumping to conclusions, and none of them have any basis in fact.
How do you know that person was not simply really crazy? There are a lot of crazy people in big cities. Don't white people on this forum condemn black folks for assuming race was the cause of something? The reverse of that should also apply. Now, if threw racial epithets at you and the old lady, fair enough.
Mick
As I read the OP's post my first thought was that it just sounds like a crazy man walking in front of her care. I've had that happen a number of times in a big city.
I hate old people, and people in cars, and people walking around. I'd say I hate most people, until they give me a reason to not hate them, which seldom happens. I never really thought about it, but maybe you're onto something.
I have to say I've noticed, or been made aware of, how nice most African American people are to whites. I say this because they go out of their way to open a door for you or to let you go first, or to give you plenty of room passing in a hallway, etc. If there is any question AT ALL of who is first or ahead in line, they will defer. And I have to say I feel guilty because they're a stranger to me - I don't expect them to treat me any differently or any better. And I know they aren't ALL doing it because they are ALL more polite! Of course they're doing it because they've been taught they need to take these extra measures and defer to whites....and that makes me really sad. I don't know how to react...I don't want to dance around and say "you first", "no you", etc. but ....?
So yes - as in all human relations there is a spectrum and sometimes we experience the extremes....both are illuminating.
As others have stated, you don't know what he was thinking. You may not look your age, or he may not have considered it and thought you were an undercover cop or you wouldn't be there.
And just a suggestion, if you find yourself lost in a high crime area again, you don't stop at a red light. Go around the car stopped in front of you, stop at the light to check traffic with the green, and go through the red light. A cop advised this a few years back. Stopping can result in a car jack, a smash and grab, or any number of crimes against you.
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Seriously OP, you have no way of knowing what that man was thinking. Maybe he just had a bad day. Maybe he got in a fight with his girlfriend. Maybe he just lost his job. You're jumping to conclusions, and none of them have any basis in fact.