Paw Paw Davis or T-Bone as I have called him has been my best friend for 20+ years. He has known me as an instructor the entire time but I never pushed him into nor did he ever show interest in having me train him until about two years ago when he took my CHL course Sua Sponte or of his own accord. Interestingly, he took it with the woman I’m about to tel y’all about in second.
T-Bone had an interesting encounter the other day. He and I share a house since his wife passed away couple years back and my engagement to my last lady friend also met its demise. Bein best friends we share expenses and whiskey, never run out of bullshit to talk, and just makes sense cause neither of us is rich or presently connected to a relationship other than short term. The whole “why haven’t you called? Where are you? Trip helps keep that crap at a distance and we each got a dog so……..hey who need the aggravation? Anywho..he has taken to his training very responsibly and since he lives in the same house as his instructor, he gets the added benefit of havin me there to ask and gather from….”
T-Bone and I have over the years ended many a bar fight some of which have reached legendary status (trust me the stories are always better the way he tells them) but we have never started any and he has never seen or heard me threaten to use my weapon. Until Thursday his personal experience had never put him in condition Orange or “get ready cause it looks like this is gonna get nasty real quicklike…..” He had slipped down to The House of Pies on Kirby in Houston to get a pie for my birthday and one to take to his sisters for the Turkey Day family dinner he was going to. Time frame is 07:00 am to 8:00 am and of course there was a line out the door and down the walk. As he tells it a lady in line commented to people that “there’s a cash line…” and people bailed to go get in it. Upon finding out that no such line existed people returned and most went to the back of the line except for the gentleman who had been in front of T-Bone. He slipped back in line in front of T-Bone who asked “what are you doin?” the fella replied “this is my spot” to which T-Bone replied “Nah , you got outa line and lost your place.” The gentleman made a short reply and basically asked what he was gonna do about it when behind him T-Bone heard John Q Dumbass chime in to the effect “Yeah! What are you gonna do about it….cause I won’t mind spending the night in jail.” J.Q Dumbass was in line with girlfriend whom T-Bone says wasn’t looking of like mind as her dumbass male companion and was mortified. Point here is the guy said it loud enough and with clear enough intent and inference to alert T-Bone that he was serious. Up went the flag in his mind and the accompanying physiological responses. What I am extremely proud of in regards to how T-Bone took his training and responsibility as a CHL holder carrying his weapon at the time was how his reply to J.Q. Dumbass was fantastically “ You won’t spend the night in jail, You’ll spend it in the hospital….” And he turned around as Dumbass deflated and backed down with no further “Gore” gas exiting his pie hole. All the while T-Bone is keeping an eye on him in the reflection in the window of the establishment, real good tactic and one all should use. He got the pies, came home gave me mine with a “happy Birthday” and recounted the story and how much it affected him Paramount in T-Bones after action assessment of his own actions is just how incredibly stupid “Dumbass” was about something that was none of his business and how the adrenalin rush had kicked in because he knew the guy wasn’t foolin. Over a place in line for a pie.
Today, two days later T. is still amazed at the guys stupidity and how the release of the adrenalin from his system (and I’m sure the carbs from the feast) put him in a lethargic fog all day yesterday. Adrenalin dump does that. I have told him over and over that he did the exactly correct thing and responded in the exactly appropriate manner. and I am proud of him for taking his training and using it and trusting it to get him safely out of what could have easily been real badddddddd. He will replay it over and over again for quite some time. That is part of the process. Eventually the realization will come to him that he was correct in being both scared and in a heightened state of alert/readiness. You see it takes a while to let your conscience accept that in that type of incident you don’t solicit the assault, “Dumbass” just jumps in and presents an assault. You are forced to deal with it and T-Bone did it just right or by the book. Non Violent conflict resolution.
Debbie is my best trainee proficient, intelligent, open minded and conscientious about her situational awareness (most times, she’ll know why I said that). She came to training because no matter what anyone in her family had told her she had an “incident” in the parking lot of a mall/retail place. She knew in her gut that she was targeted and being stalked by a predator. I always tell y’all “go with your gut”… if deep down inside something tells you that something just ain’t right……IT ISN’T! ! ! She was lucky enough to gain entry to her vehicle (which is a 2500 lb. weapon if needed) and unass herself from what could have been baddddddddddd. She has professed to me both before and after training and licensing that she didn’t like guns, didn’t like handguns, and had no use for guns……. Until then. She went from the ground up. Chose her own weapon and method of carry and aced the course. She takes instruction as well as anyone I’ve trained and better than some so much so that I’ve recommended that she become an instructor herself. She’s comfortable with right where she is for now so kudos to her.
T-Bone and Debbie were both LUCKY……cause it coulda been a lot worse. They are both very intelligent and went with their gut feelings and maintained their cool long enough to get away from what could have been a deadly encounter and as I say “GO WITH YOUR GUT”. They did.
TIS THE SEASON TO BE CAUTIOUS
………YOUR INSTRUCTOR Eddie
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