I was drinking at a bar in Williamsburg, many years ago. I had been at another bar with a girl I was seeing, and as we were fixxin to head to this bar, we picked up a sociable character and let him hang out with us. This guy got a few drinks in him and started putting some moves on the girl, to which I took some offense.
That led to an argument in front of the bar, which escalated to me standing there with the business end of a revolver in my face. Being unarmed, at the time, I called his bluff and told him to go on and pull that trigger in front of all these witnesses, on a Friday night in Williamsburg, where there had to be at least 10 different cops close enough to hear the shot. Then, with pistol still up my nose, I calmly produced a phone and dialed 911.
Fortunately, he turned and left; I assume that he evaluated the situation, and realized that walking away was best for his freedom. Or, maybe, be just wasn't as hardcore as he thought. Whatever the reason, the emergency disolved.
Good thing, too. Turned out, that phone was useless. My phone hit some random cell tower in a different county, which put me through to a 911 call center that was clueless to my location, and was unable to put me in touch with a relevant call center, or a relevant police department, in a timely fashion. Four hours later, my phone rang with a Williamsburg police officer calling to see if I still had a gun in my face. I was home, safe, and in bed by that point.
911 has its place. But, it's a piss poor first line of defense.
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