"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
Beware of my temper, and the dog that I've found...
I agree. When he approached I was in that “v” created by the vehicle and it’s open door. No place for me to go except forward. He was close too, basically being at the rear bumper of the car and I was at rear passenger door.
The two thoughts I really consciously had were “get some space” and “protect the kid.” That probably led to the decision to offer a little money if he would move further away. I do think that made for a good test of intentions. Since he willingly gave me the space, I decided he probably wasn’t looking to rob or harm me. It helped that he wasn’t hiding his hands any of the time.
Once he was on the curb, I could see him in my peripheral vision while I finished getting the kiddo fastened in. Once I had the doors locked, I knew she was safe, which freed me up to focus completely on the guy.
I think you did fine, you cannot keep it 100% especially while raising kids. I got twins and man getting those two strapped in alone is a chore.
I park far away from the door of stores so that gives me space from the typical traffic lanes that people move through and typically gives me space.
Strapping in kids is kind of like falling a tree. You gotta work through your process and focus on the cuts and the wedging but always be looking up checking the top and for movement.
I think you did great. My only thought on improvement is you might have closed the door on your daughter right away, properly belted in or not. I had a situation couple years ago. My wife, daughter, and grandkids were in daughters car. I met them for lunch. Coming out of the restaurant I was getting in my truck 40 feet away as a homeless(?) guy approached my wife as they were loading the grandkids. My door was still open, and I had my hand on my carry pistol, and watched the guy walk away. Ever since, I have thought I should have been over there talking to that guy myself. We can't be perfect but we can learn from our shortfalls as you and I are doing.
Thanks to everyone for the suggestions and thoughts. It seems like I was/am being harder on myself for not seeing the dude coming than I should have been. A lot of that probably stems from the fact that I had a kid with me and the outcome could have been much worse.
Getting a kid into or out of a car seat and not getting task focused is hard as hell. I normally do a pretty good job of not getting task focused, but that job right there is tough. Like one other poster mentioned, I’ll be very happy when she can buckle herself in.
You get completely into the car, too.
Let's say the kid's seat is in the rear passenger side.
You get in through the rear drivers side, close the door, lock it.
You sit in the car while getting the kid all situated.
When done, check surroundings, get out and move to the front.
Obviously this problem is exacerbated with smaller cars, multiple kids/seats, etc.
Minivans are good for this but modern one with automatic sliding doors are slow to close and will auto open at resistance for obviously safety reasons. Makes a quick close under duress difficult, unless you leave them in manual mode all the time.
--Josh
“Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.” - Tacitus.