I stopped at a gas station in Texas to fill out the lab paperwork for some samples I had just collected. This is a nice, new gas station right off a major interstate. Not the kind of place you expect issues.
We're filling our sample coolers with ice and some random dude starts trying to make conversation. I'm not interested in talking. Coworker isn't interested in talking. We thought he'd gotten the message to beat it.
A few minutes later I'm sitting in the front seat and start feeling the creeps. Turn around and the dude is lurking behind my coworker, who is finishing up the paperwork on the tailgate and hasn't noticed him yet. I don't know exactly what he was after. The coolers contained $30,000 of labor, but held no actual monetary value to anyone. Not that this rando knew that.
I'm not about to let my coworker get robbed or lose $30,000 in labor, and I have no idea what this dude is about to try, so I open my center console and grab my pistol as he creeps up. The guy looks up, sees me reaching in the console, and bails immediately. Good decision on his part.
Needless to say, we gtfo'd immediately. I try to live by the mantra that if I think I need to use my handgun, I shouldn't be there in the first place.
Tl;dr - Gas station, rando creepy dude doing creepy robby s**t, me grab freedom flinger, rando runs away