Cecilie1200
Diamond Member
Way back when I used to smoke, I'd duck outside for a cig when I was visiting others. NUMEROUS times I was stopped by a neighbor, or building manager and asked what I was doing. I told them I was visiting and stepped outside for a smoke. No problem, although a few times my host was contacted to see if they knew me. This is what happens if someone is asked "what are you doing" when out at night with no good readily apparent purpose.
The response is not to follow someone back to their car and cold cock them from behind.
My oldest son is 16, and looks more or less Caucasian, and still comes under more scrutiny when he goes places by himself than an older person would. Store clerks watch him more closely, the police are more likely to stop next to him on the street and ask him what he's doing if he's out late, and I would assume the neighbors would be more suspicious of him if he were to wander around the neighborhood and they didn't already know him. It's the nature of being an adolescent boy, particularly in areas with crime problems.
The correct response is either a) address the other person calmly and politely, or b) run the hell away if you feel endangered. It is not EVER c) get up in someone's face and demand to know what their problem is.
Pity Trayvon Martin's parents didn't bother to teach him that they way I taught it to Nicky.