I'm getting into my car, closing the door at a strip mall. For some reason that's when panhandlers like to approach. He says: "hey man" as he approaches.Decision point 1. Being the polite and good person that I am I stop closing the door, open it, get out, stand up and make eye contact and give him my attention. I also stereotype him as non-threatening because panhandlers tend to be very polite around here and quickly take "no" for an answer - this alone is likely a mistake. Should I have just completed closing the door, quickly start the engine and start pulling away instead? He's a stranger I owe him nothing. Did civility force me to take a less safe course of action? Could ignoring him piss him off and provoke conflict? I had no intention of giving him anything but I felt like I shouldn't ignore him.He keeps approaching and as he approaches he says something like: "could you please give me some money for food?" I shake my head he mumbles something and passes by REAL CLOSE.Once he passed me I realized that I let him get too close. It all happened really quickly and he closed the distance to the point where he could easily attack with hands or a knife. Luckily, he just passed me.Decision Point 2. Once I got out and stood up should I have done something to stop him from approaching too close to me? Like extend my hand and say something like: "stay back back man" and put a hand in my pocket to be ready to draw just in case? Again, civility, politeness and fear of being too paranoid/overreacting prevented me from doing this. Should I have done this? via /r/CCW http://ift.tt/2fp4wrY
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