I committed an epic “reactionary gap” mistake once. I was open carrying at an outdoor farmer’s market and went back to my car. A panhandler who was asking people for money approached me. As he got close, he saw my handgun and said something about, “sorry to bother you,” and held out his hand to shake hands. I STUPIDLY shook his hand. Fortunately, nothing happened. My father was along and gently pointed out the error of that encounter–which I never forgot.

In case anyone is interested, my mindset was one of forgiveness and reconciliation and I thought it would be rude to refuse his handshake. I no longer care if my reaction to a sketchy person appears to be rude, especially since their sketchy behavior is rude in the first place.