Something I haven't seen anyone else having mentioned: he might well have been under some kind of chemical influence, which would have impaired his judgement of appropriate behavior, and made him potentially nine million times more dangerous.
Some thoughts, from someone who used to live on some very dangerous turf in Oakland: if he was a dealer, he was behaving very stupidly. The last thing an established dealer (or spotter working with a dealer) wants is to attract attention. Deliberately spooking women who live nearby is a good way to ensure that the area gets more police patrols, and that's very bad for business. A potential scenario is that the other guy was the dealer, and Mr. Friendly was a customer, hanger-on, or a fellow gang member.
Back In The Day (TM), I learned that if you're living in a bad part of town, the best security you can possibly have on your home is to have a drug gang dealing off your street. They strongly discourage other criminal behavior, like mugging, break-ins, or random attacks, since these things draw police attention. They're also very good about getting the drugs to the customers and then moving the junkies along; they don't want the junkies hanging around, drawing attention and being awkward with other customers. The worst threat in such a situation is happening to be in the path of a random bullet - or paying too much attention to a particular transaction, and making somebody nervous.
... I'm babbling. But yes, I agree that you did the right thing in that situation. I'm glad you're safe.
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Date: 2006-02-26 11:59 pm (UTC)Some thoughts, from someone who used to live on some very dangerous turf in Oakland: if he was a dealer, he was behaving very stupidly. The last thing an established dealer (or spotter working with a dealer) wants is to attract attention. Deliberately spooking women who live nearby is a good way to ensure that the area gets more police patrols, and that's very bad for business. A potential scenario is that the other guy was the dealer, and Mr. Friendly was a customer, hanger-on, or a fellow gang member.
Back In The Day (TM), I learned that if you're living in a bad part of town, the best security you can possibly have on your home is to have a drug gang dealing off your street. They strongly discourage other criminal behavior, like mugging, break-ins, or random attacks, since these things draw police attention. They're also very good about getting the drugs to the customers and then moving the junkies along; they don't want the junkies hanging around, drawing attention and being awkward with other customers. The worst threat in such a situation is happening to be in the path of a random bullet - or paying too much attention to a particular transaction, and making somebody nervous.
... I'm babbling. But yes, I agree that you did the right thing in that situation. I'm glad you're safe.