I don't know why but my mind goes blank for a moment when I do common stuff with my iPhone. I know how to open my garage with the app but when I do it, I have to stare at it for a moment and try to remember which app does it and where it's at and how to use it. Some sort of mental block for me. That is why I NEVER change the position of the apps on the screen. It takes months for me to get to where I know the app positions again.
Earlier this week, Tuesday just before noon, I was mowing a friend's lawn. He is a local pastor and while he's moved up to a larger church, his rectory is on his old unused church's property. There is a parking lot and while he is not overbearing about it, he's learned long ago that he cannot allow people to park there or they will take advantage of him and not only block him and his family, fill up the lot, use his dumpster, leave litter everywhere or get hurt on the pavement that is in disrepair (a flood caused it to heave and washed out much of it).
While I was there a car pulled in and parked right in the middle of the lot. Not in a space, just where it would block me from turning my trailer to get out. A extremely thin black fellow got out and disappeared. I, being instructed to inform people that they cannot park there, went up to the car and there was a young white girl, probably 17 or 18, in the driver seat. I told her that she can't park there and she said she was waiting for someone. I just said OK, but in the future no parking here. I noticed the car had a Georgia plate from Dekalb county.
I finish up the mowing and load the mower on the trailer to get the trimmer. The thin black fellow comes back and I watch to see what they do. The girl locks the door and he can't open it. She starts to back the car away from him so he pulls out a mid-sized GLOCK (probably a 19) and points it at her. She brakes and allows him to open the door. He yells at her and gets in. I drop the trimmer and pull out my phone but, as mentioned above, I can't figure what I'm doing. I'm trying to get the camera opened. I get a really blurry photo of the plate. It turns out unreadable. I also dial 911 and tell them what happened and the direction they left.
While I was farting around with my stupid phone, I did not get any details into my brain. They asked what he was wearing. I had no recollection. I did not get the license number. A black guy and a white girl in a silver Jeep with Dekalb county plates in Pennsylvania. Apparently, out of state plates are usually rentals. So basically, I gave them nothing.
In that moment, I didn't think to memorize details. Feels like failure.
Posts: 45756 | Location: Pennsyltucky | Registered: December 05, 2001
Not failure just human nature. Most people if they're not used to a pressure situation will do the same thing and forget stuff or just freeze. You made a call to law enforcement and that's better than nothing.
I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not.
Posts: 3652 | Location: The armpit of Ohio | Registered: August 18, 2013
Most phones have a shortcut to the camera from the lockscreen. On my android, you can double-click the power button. See if you can find out what your shortcut is, or how to create one you'll remember.
Sounds like a drug deal or a pimp/pros situation.
I'm gonna vote for the funniest frog with the loudest croak on the highest log.
Posts: 10686 | Location: Marietta, GA | Registered: February 10, 2009
A trick I taught my self years ago. If I see a suspius vehicle, I memorize the first three or last three digits on the plate, and car color. Try it and practice.
Don't. drink & drive, don't even putt.
Posts: 1631 | Location: | Registered: March 28, 2007
You did not fail in any way and you should be commended for taking the appropriate actions which you did. Thanks for being a caretaker for your pastor and your community.
Delaunay county, and most of the Atlanta area is a shithole now. Next time the wife and I head to Elijay/Blueridge I need to find a route that avoids the metro area completely, even if it adds a day.
No need to beat yourself up. I think you did more than most people would.
"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
Posts: 20312 | Location: The Free State of Arizona - Ditat Deus | Registered: March 24, 2011
No, you did not fail. That is outside the realm of normal everyday occurrences so for you to have reacted differently or faster is unrealistic. Don't beat yourself up bro.
Had you done nothing at all, then you would have failed. You did what you could, you did your best. In moments of stress, all kinds of things go sideways. You reported a crime and gave a description of the vehicle and the occupants as best you could. Had you not done that, it's likely that nobody would be looking for them at all, and that would have been failing your community.
______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”
Originally posted by Mars_Attacks: Those people from Atlanta will just kill you and drive away.
It's an outright plague here. You turn on the morning news for Mayor Rock Bottoms' Body Count.
The best thing you did was stay clear.
I'm not entirely certain they were actually from Georgia. The police seem to think it was a rental. However, it most likely was a drug deal. We're right at the center point between cleveland and pittsburgh and we get a lot of dealing. A lot of arrests from detroit natives as well. I don't get the news anymore so I'm a bit in the dark concerning the current situation.
Regardless, I've been thinking about it a lot and I'm determined to notice details in the future. I'm also going to start wearing my pistol. I'm going to have to find a way to conceal it from the old ladies and soft fellows on the route. I do go into people's yards that may not appreciate it. Maybe I'll just carry on the bad side of town.
Posts: 45756 | Location: Pennsyltucky | Registered: December 05, 2001
Originally posted by BOATTRASH1: Delaunay county, and most of the Atlanta area is a shithole now. Next time the wife and I head to Elijay/Blueridge I need to find a route that avoids the metro area completely, even if it adds a day.
DEKALB COUNTY! Dang it Ed, check twice before posting!
On most cell phones if it is locked/inactive, you can hold the phone, like you are using it for a call and roll it over and back 3 times in succession and it activates the camera. It is a quick way to get it on without fumbling with the buttons. I think it works on Iphone, and I know it works on an Android as I have one.
Posts: 877 | Location: Alabama | Registered: January 05, 2005
Super easy with an iphone: From the lock screen, swipe left and it brings up the camera, with no need to unlock the phone.
______________________________________________ “There are plenty of good reasons for fighting, but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too.”
