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Situational Awareness: Tips To Stay Frosty
- Thread starter Mike H.
- Start date
Bassbob
Emissary
I work on the streets in the most dangerous part of the murder capital of the country. I am not LEO, but I have been shot at twice in the last 3 years and have had to duck bullets at least 10 times in the last 7. Situational awareness is more than just good practice, it's a way of life.
Good gosh! It is unsatisfactory that we cannot feel safe in our homes and communities. Things have changed for the worse. I worry for my family and loved ones.
Bassbob
Emissary
I'm not going to go into too many details about my job. It's nothing cool, exciting or bad ass I just don't share those kind of details on the internet. I will say that it requires me to be in different locations almost daily in N. St. Louis. And just being in N. St. Louis is all it takes to wind up being a target at some point.
Be safe!
Texas Matador
Operator
Agreed. Looking "at" someone is very different than looking them in the eye. The name of the game is consistently assessing your surroundings not provoking a dust up.
Texas Matador
Operator
My wife and I are big situational awareness believers. I swear my wife is nearly gifted in this. Ok, maybe that means paranoid but I'd rather her be highly aware rather than clueless about what's going on around her. It's often the subtle things that give away someone's intention.
One of my hot buttons on this is standing in line. It doesn't matter where or why but so many people do not understand the concept of a personal bubble. You know, the bit of air space around each of us that others ought not invade without an invitation. I don't know what it is about a line but people tend to line up right behind you so close that you can feel their breath on you. I don't remember when I started doing this but when someone decides to tuck right in behind me I generally turn slightly sideways well enough so that I can see the person in front of me and behind me.
One of my hot buttons on this is standing in line. It doesn't matter where or why but so many people do not understand the concept of a personal bubble. You know, the bit of air space around each of us that others ought not invade without an invitation. I don't know what it is about a line but people tend to line up right behind you so close that you can feel their breath on you. I don't remember when I started doing this but when someone decides to tuck right in behind me I generally turn slightly sideways well enough so that I can see the person in front of me and behind me.
Annihilator
Emissary
Before I retired I worked at my local Sheriff Dept in charge of the maintenance dept, so I made a lot of enemies with inmates. When they purposely damaged county property, me and the jail administrator would go over the cost of damages, then he would have jail court, and the inmate had a say in said damages, then after it was determined how much the inmate or his family would have to pay for the damages. At times it wasn’t good, I had one inmate who got out and followed me in my local wal-mart, got ahold of there security and called the sheriffs up, after that I carried CCW and always kept an eye out for anything or anyone.
Sounds like a lot of us may need to take notes from this person lol
but on the other hand I’m relatively comfortable with my stance in life. I’m not paranoid by any means but I do always keep a good eye out.
jmcd
Professional
Very true. If this individual doesnt become a statistic, they will live for a very long time as they have no worries. I'm with you. Its always good to know your surroundings.Sounds like a lot of us may need to take notes from this person lol
And therein lies the fallacy of folks who utter the all-too-familiar words of: "I can't believe that happened here!" or "Wow! That's just around the corner where I live, and I live in a good area!"
The late Paul Gomez wrote that when we find ourselves in the fight of our lives, we'll instantly find that we're that statistical outlier, that "n of 1." I've always thought that these were wise words.
The reality is that only fiction has to make sense: real-life does not.
So, really, "feeling safe" is really just that, isn't it? It's really just that bubble that's waiting to be popped.....
But at the same time, statistics still are on our side - we are actually not any more likely to encounter violent crime today than 20 years ago (actually, by FBI statistics, as a country, we've now fallen to pre-1970's levels). So, to an extent, @jmcd 's blissfully oblivious acquaintance really - and I really do hope - may just go through life without becoming "that statistic."
This was a poor choice of words on my part, as this was an emotional response to someone's statement.
^ No, no, please don't think of it as criticism - if it came across as that way, please allow me to sincerely apologize.
I was merely trying to get my own thoughts off the ground by springboarding them off of your post. It's hard for me to find words sometimes (I know, shocking!!! 
)!
I was merely trying to get my own thoughts off the ground by springboarding them off of your post.
It's hard for me to find words sometimes (I know, shocking!!! )!No worries, no offense taken.^ No, no, please don't think of it as criticism - if it came across as that way, please allow me to sincerely apologize.
I was merely trying to get my own thoughts off the ground by springboarding them off of your post.
^ No, no, please don't think of it as criticism - if it came across as that way, please allow me to sincerely apologize.
I was merely trying to get my own thoughts off the ground by springboarding them off of your post.
^^^ The correct words , he should have said.
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