Tonight was the first time I've felt unsafe in my condo complex.

The complex is gated, well-maintained and nothing much happens most of the time. Tonight, when when I got home from work at nearly 1 a.m., there was a car parked at the call box outside. Initially I thought they were using the box to call someone to get in, but as I drove around them, up to the gate, I saw that they weren't quite lined up with the call box. When I opened the gate they followed me in.

This isn't an uncommon occurrence. What is uncommon is what happened next. I pulled in and found a parking space -- luckily there was one available tonight that wasn't my usual covered space (which has my condo # plastered on it). I pulled in and hopped out of the car. The car that followed me in, however, hadn't made it too far into the complex. I mean, they're still coming in, but they're driving at a crawl. It seemed like they weren't interested in getting parked and inside -- it seemed like they were cruising.

So, being the neighborhood watch-type citizen, I walked about 10 yards out of my way and approached the car. As the driver's side window came down, I spied the occupants.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

What followed was a "No you can't a******... What do you mean, can I help you? No, you can't help me f*****. I live here f*****...."

There were two men in the car, both black, and both angry (if that wasn't obvious).

To recap. It's 1 a.m. It's dark. They're in a car with tinted windows. I couldn't even see in the car until I was about 8 feet from it asking them if they needed any help.

And that's the response I get?

You'll excuse me if I put some portion of their abusive behavior on the fact that I'm a white guy. I've seen the "victim class" behavior rear its ugly head before. The "I questioned the right they had to be where they were because they are black" umbrage. Ignoring the fact that I questioned the right they had to be where they were because they were parked outside the gate at 1 a.m. and they waited for me to open the gate before they followed me in.

Seriously, what the h-e-double-hockeysticks is wrong with people nowadays?

Reasonable answers to my query:

"Passenger: I live here. My friend is dropping me off. I'm coming home late, my wife and kids are asleep and I don't want to wake them by using the call box to ring the phone." (This ignores the fact that his friend could've dropped him off at the front and he could've used his condo key to walk in the front gate, but I wouldn't have given this explanation a second thought.)

"I'm thinking of buying a condo here and I just wanted to see what it was like at night --raucous parties, etc." (This is something I've done before, so I don't think it's anything unreasonable to do.)

Either of these, and I'm sure there are others, and I just wave goodnight and go on my way. Instead, I'm treated to a flood of obscenities and attitude that makes me fear for my safety (and would of even if it had been two white guys in the car). From zero to 'roid rage in 1/2 a second.

You know, if the guy really does live here, doesn't the fact that someone is checking on suspicious cars trailing people into the complex at 1 a.m. make him feel a little bit safer?

The good news: I don't believe the guy lives in my building. I didn't hear the door to the complex slam shut and I didn't hear the elevator kick in.

Of course, I also don't know that the passenger even got out of the car. I got into my condo and called the cops on the non-emergency line. I told them what had happened and said I'd appreciate it if a cop just swung through the complex. Before I'd hung up with the cops, the car was leaving the complex.

So, I think I'm going to look into buying a gun -- probably a shotgun (my previous experiences firing handguns and rifles assures me that I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with either of those).