There is a skill that everybody that carries and even those that don’t need to acquire.
Situational Awareness
My wife doesn’t have it at all. She has no ability to anticipate, to notice, to plan for what will happen.
On the other side there are the people that look at every trip into the city as a threat to their lives (I’m looking in a mirror) and plan for any possible event.
Situational awareness is more than pre planning. It is the ability to notice things and put together a gestalt that tells you “Here Be Dragons”.
Did you notice that little man sitting with his back to the wall sipping a drink? Did you notice that guy that is obviously right handed but never carries anything in his right hand? Did you notice that couple getting noisy in the back corner?
How about the two dudes that might not be friends with stiff bodies?
Did you notice the car that shouldn’t be on the street? Did you notice the van with the wrong public utilities symbol on it? Did you notice that the girl you are dancing with is to hot to be single?
Is she crazy? Is she trouble on two legs?
Or is she taken?
Ol Mr Cooper called it “condition yellow”… Many I see are in condition chartreuse- no F’in idea.
I had an iraq veteran tell me “Im not gonna live paranoid “(?!!?).. Its not paranoid to be aware.
My wife is pretty good at being aware. Up here we have an infusion of drug dealers from nyc and some of our towns are becoming not nice areas. Carry well yall.
Colonel Cooper. FIFY. ?
I’ve always paid attention, but on the boats, I learned to always know what is going on around you, because more than YOUR life is at stake. That tends to become a lifetime habit, that I’ve made NO effort to change.
If you haven’t had people, assume you’re employed by a law enforcement agency, you haven’t achieved the level of awareness required for the first phase of self-defense. The criminal element of society is always aware of people who are aware of them; created by looking each person in the eye, without giving any distinguishing recognition in response to those who notice or acknowledge.
I’ve been accused/asked about being a cop for many decades.
Nobody’s ever accused me of being a cop… but nobody’s ever offered me any illicit drugs, going all the way back to high school when I’m quite certain there were drugs about. Rarely even a suggestion that I might wish to indulge in alcohol, even. And, somehow, whatever company I’m in, there’s no locker-room talk (except for one time, when I think a roomful of lesbians was trying to get rid of me). Maybe I look like some sort of clergyman?
There’s also false situational awareness: some people will freak out over the threats they’ve been conditioned to fear, to the extent that they can’t truly perceive their surroundings.
If the sight of a white person, per se, puts you on high alert; if a carnival greeter dressed in a colorful, freshly-laundered hobo costume sets you aquiver; if a playful puppy seems a menace; if the forest seems filled with wicked witches and/or murderous hillbillies… you’re probably paying too much attention to fiction, and not enough to the world right around you.
There’s another aspect of situational awareness: in addition to spotting the occasional threat, it allows you to spot potential new friends. And butterflies, and flowers, and lizards, and clouds, and the redwood tree bearing the likeness of Richard M. Nixon… the world is filled with things to notice, if only you’re paying attention.
And, as David Douglass notes above, your being visibly alert will affect other people’s behavior, generally for the better: those with ill intent will mostly avoid you, and those without ill intent may find you interesting for reasons they can’t explain.
Left of Bang
https://www.amazon.com/Left-Bang-Marine-Combat-Program/dp/1936891301
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https://academy.cp-journal.com/programs/tactical-analysis/