Rant time.

WTF is going through some peoples heads?  Yesterday night around midnight myself and a friend are walking up fairmount out to broad in the northern liberties section to catch the night owl.  Obviously i'm keeping a close eye out.  I see someone walking the opposite direction as us about a half a block down,  He's looking at us, hands in his pockets.

We naturally cross the street, as we get closer he crosses the street coming straight for us and i go deep orange, thumb hooks under my shirt right on the collapsable baton in my waistband, ready to put a dent in this fucker's skull the size of the grand canyon.

"hey, can i bum a cigarette"

"NO!"

He walks away.

What a fucktard.  Crossing the street means i don't want to talk to you and i don't want you to talk to me.  I especially don't want you to make a b-line for me with your hands in your pockets and start talking with the classic prelude to a stick-up.  People are totally fucking oblivious.

did you do a quick tactical roll out or just a stealthy walk?

Just walking at a brisk pace.

I get that all the time.  The thing I hate the most is when you get some drug addict come up to you and ask for money because their car ran out of gas and they have no money for gas.  I almost always say no but sometimes I'll say let me give you a ride to the gas station and I'll buy you gas and then drop you off at your car.  Of course they always say just give me the money and I'll get it myself or come up with some lame excuse of why they don't want me to drive them to get gas.

these guys have no clue they're one furvative movement from death.

I never give change to anyone who desn't offer a service.  Those guys that offer to wash your windshield?  No thanks but here's some change anyway because your working for it in at least some capacity.  Stand on a street corner and sell oranges.  Just do something.

Quoted: these guys have no clue they're one furvative movement from death. I never give change to anyone who desn't offer a service.  Those guys that offer to wash your windshield?  No thanks but here's some change anyway because your working for it in at least some capacity.  Stand on a street corner and sell oranges.  Just do something.

I usally give the winsheild washers money NOT to wash my winsheild

soda, what do you think about that place I IM'd you about?

It's a little far away for my liking.

I had something similar happen to me as what happened to Clubsoda. I was doing some computer work at night in Scranton over the summer, and man that town has a lot of crazy people there at night.  One time I was walking back to my hotel a crazy person that was talking to himself starts yelling at me across the street.  I think to myself “great what the hell does he want?”  Sure enough he walks over and tries to bum a cig off me, but I though for sure he was gonna stick me and steal my computer bag.  Not more than 2 days latter 2 kids, probably 15-17, yell at me across the street, then run over to me.  Once again I think to myself, “crap they want to mess with me too.”  

Fortunately I was close enough to my hotel to shuffle inside before they approached me.  I like the baton idea, because I think where I work would be opposed to me packing my .45 in my computer bag all day.  But I agree clubsoda, what’s with people.  You don’t yell at someone at 3 or 4 in the morning, and then run across the street to approach them.  Moral of the story: Scranton has a lot of weirdoes that roam around in the wee hours of the morning, and don’t act like a crazy person looking to score drug money late at night.

the nice thing about the baton is popping it out is like racking a shotgun.  Very intimidating.  also, if you draw it in a case of mistaken intent, you can't get in trouble like you would drawing your gun, (not that anyone would ever find out on an otherwise empty street at that time of night).

A guy my roommate works with got brained by some crackhead with a steel pipe at penns landing this week.  His girlfriend took a hit in the temple and now has equilibrium issues that are most likely permanent.  All it takes is not paying attention for that split second or not knowing how or having the proper tools to defend yourself and your life can take a dramatic turn for the worse.

What were you doing with only a baton?  Where was your pistol?

I am 20.  My gun was at home.  I wasn't happy about it either.

I was carrying black powder revolvers when I was 15.  And that was in the city, too!  I used to ride the subway to Market East station with a big-ass blackpowder revolver in my pants every Sunday morning so I could get a Cinnabon.  All this and I was 15.  

Concealed means concealed.

I've definately thought about carrying illegally, but given that it's an insta-felony in this state i'm not gonna risk it.  If it was a minor misdemenor or summary offense i'd be all over it.

The really amusing part of the law is I think you can carry an arm fully exposed, it just can’t be concealed.  So I think in PA you can walk down the street with a rifle slung around your shoulder.  But it would probably freak some people out.  

in most of the state you can, but not in philly.  Also not while in a car.