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PSA: That $40 headlamp saved me from a customer who wanted to argue in a parking garage at 11pm
So I do appliance repair and one night I'm at this apartment complex in Tacoma finishing up a fridge job, and the customer decides he wants to dispute the $180 bill right there in the dark parking garage. No lights, no cameras, just me and this guy getting louder by the second. About a year ago I bought a $40 rechargeable headlamp off Amazon mostly for attics, and I had it clipped to my bag strap without even thinking. When he stepped closer I just clicked it on and lit his face up, and it completely changed the whole thing. He blinked, backed off, and started talking normal again. I think the sudden light made him realize how dumb this looked. Now I keep it on my bag every single job, no matter what. I know I got lucky and a light is not real protection, but it got me out of there without anything worse happening. Anyone else carry something dumb that ended up mattering way more than you expected?
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elliot_barnes8d ago
There was a study done on this, I forget where I read it, but it was about how light affects how people act in tense situations. The short version is that darkness makes people feel hidden and bolder, and sudden bright light breaks that spell because now they feel exposed. A headlight in someone's face does the same thing a phone camera does, it flips the power in the room. You basically showed that guy he was being seen, even if nobody else was watching. Smarter than you're giving yourself credit for.
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