I almost did once. My wife was taking care of a dog for woman. My wife was confronted on one occasion by the woman's ex husband who entered the house where he was prohibited from being. She was afraid to go over again without me and, being Sat evening when we always went out for dinner, I went with her before dinner. yup, the guy shows up drunk.

He starts yelling at her and I get out of the car and enter the yard where my wife was. He gets on the phone to some other guy and tells him he's going to beat the **** out of this old guy. I put my hand in my pocket where my 380 was and almost pulled it out to defend myself and my wife. He stopped yelling and stormed off.

About 3 days later there is a news clip on TV about a shooting and killing of a guy who had just pistol whipped his wife in the parking lot where she worked and fled. The police took chase and cornered him. The name of the wife was the same person who my wife was taking care of the dog for. Had we called the police the first time maybe none of that would have happened. My mistake.

What somewhat surprise me was that I was totally calm. Completely at peace with myself. I have been involved with fatalities in my job and knew that was the way I reacted to those. It's not easy bring bodies out and then having to tell the families. I'm glad I found out I could still remain calm for this. Of course I would come apart later but at least I know how I'll react in the future, I hope.