Being Street Smart

[CaliG]

I've recently heard a story about some guys who would drive around at night and look for people loading or unloading their car. When they found someone they'd sneak up on them, surround them, jump them and take their stuff.

It got me thinking a little. I've heard about similar things happening in home invasion robberies, where they try to find someone outside the house and they force that person to take them into the house and do their thing.

I makes me realize that doing stuff in front of the house after dark probably isn't the best idea. I mean I'm not going to live in fear but I will think twice about it if it's very late at night.

What are some street smart things you do to stay safe?

[Michael]

Trusting my instincts so that if I think someone poses a threat, or is looking for trouble I don't poo-poo it and give it the attention it deserves.

[Ben]

About two weeks ago my brother was robbed at gunpoint. An early morning knock at the door turned into a fight with two armed robbers and ended with some cuts and bruises and a lot of his stuff being stolen.
He wasn't shot so it could have been worse.

I think the main thing to being street smart is to see trouble coming and avoiding it. If something doesn't feel right it probably isn't.
I honestly think if you're not looking for trouble most of the time you won't have too much of it.

[Frank Bellemare]

The fear Americans seem to live in never ceases to amaze me. Do you guys lock your doors when you're inside your house? I first saw that in Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine" and at first I didn't even understand what he was talking about. "Locking your door?" I thought. "Sure, everyone locks their door when they go out of the house. Oh.. they lock their door when they're inside?" That makes no sense to me.

Unless some guy made a death threat to you, why would you be constantly on your guard? Doesn't that take the joy out of life? I don't want to live like a samurai whose head is constantly about to be chopped off.

But then I live in Quebec City Canada, population 500 000, where a year with 2 murders is a bad year, so obviously I can't relate...

[fisherman]

I think that it is important to at least be aware of what is going on around you. I would say it is having your guard up all the time, but I think that you need to be attentive to shitty situations.
I think if you live in an area that has a higher crime rate then you obviously have to play things a bit safer. If you are in an area that is unfamiliar then it is probably best to at least be aware of any potential threats and avoid them.

[Chris Fleming]

I know people who live just fine with their doors unlocked, and they don't live out in the sticks, they are in a regular American big city. Not the inner city (like downtown) but they are not in the suburbs either.

Having lived previously in a somewhat rougher city (where people do break in to steal stuff), I lock my door to this day. Especially at night. It isn't about living in constant fear. It's more along the lines of the best offense is a good defense. I don't own any guns (but I do own a shit load of swords!) and don't really intend to for home protection. A conflict is stopped before it starts by not being an easy target, so I don't worry about it.

[Ian]

I prefer thinking in terms of the OODA cycle rather than 'awareness'.

Awareness is merely the first 'O' - observation.

When you factor in orientation, decision-making, and action, you get something closer to 'anticipation and proactiveness' rather than 'awareness'. Many people are aware of the signs but, for whatever reason, fail to act on them.

And it's always good to have confidence and to be prepared, either from carrying a weapon that you're comfortable with using, or having some bombs at your disposal (I'm talking about fists).

It doesn't have to be Rambo style, either. E.g. tonight I had to deter a pack of wild dogs with my sjambok while walking my westie.

Take a look at CCTV footage of people getting messed up, though. A lot of what you see can be prevented.

This one shows that you can get hurt by your own weapon. And never brandish a knife like that.

[CaliG]

The fear Americans seem to live in never ceases to amaze me. Do you guys lock your doors when you're inside your house? I first saw that in Michael Moore's documentary "Bowling for Columbine" and at first I didn't even understand what he was talking about. "Locking your door?" I thought. "Sure, everyone locks their door when they go out of the house. Oh.. they lock their door when they're inside?" That makes no sense to me.

Unless some guy made a death threat to you, why would you be constantly on your guard? Doesn't that take the joy out of life? I don't want to live like a samurai whose head is constantly about to be chopped off.

But then I live in Quebec City Canada, population 500 000, where a year with 2 murders is a bad year, so obviously I can't relate...

Frank, funny you should say that because when I was in Victoria some kid on meth killed a 10 year old girl in a park. It happens everywhere bro don't be niave.

This isn't a fear thread, it's a street smart thread. I lived in States, Eastern Europe and China and I saw shit go down everywhere I went.

Sure there are people who live in fear but there's a difference between being fearful and being smart. To me training martial arts is smart, just locking your door believing that will do it isn't.

As far as Canada and the US there's no comparison, Canada's non-white minority is something like 13.4%. I'm not saying minorities are the problem, I am one. What I am saying is that we are a much more multi-cultural society down here with 300,000,000 people so there's no reason to expect our two countries to be the same.

[Frank Bellemare]

You're right that it happens everywhere Greg. Earlier this year a bar fight between two young guys went wrong and one of them got stabbed and died. It's just that on the whole, violence around here seems so remote that I'm always surprised to hear stories about home invasion and keeping guns in the house and locking your door while you're inside. I guess I just didn't realize that some of you guys have to deal daily with the very real possibility of being attacked.

[Chris McKinley]

Frank,

CaliG already gave you some of the crucial differences between the U.S. and Canada that make a direct comparison impossible, so I won't go into it. However, I would like to point out what I see as a logical flaw in your astonishment at someone who might choose to keep their doors locked while at home. The idea of locking one's doors when absent is presumably to protect property and belongings. The idea of locking one's doors when at home is to protect oneself and loved ones. Since one's life and health are of immeasurably higher value than one's property, it would seem completely reasonable to lock the doors when one is at home, especially in more densely populated areas. Not mandatory necessarily, but at least completely reasonable.

Perhaps one might reason that leaving the doors unlocked when at home during daylight hours is acceptable, if one assumes that one would have sufficient time/warning/preparedness to deal effectively with any potential home invader while one is awake and alert. That is for each person to determine, perhaps. However, it is arguable that locking the doors when one is at home at night is almost mandatory for any reasonably precautionary person, since when one is asleep, one may not likely have the awareness that unlawful entry is occurring, nor therefore the preparedness to deal effectively with the invasion. Further, one would be at a severe disadvantage if forced to deal with an invader after he's gained entry rather than before.

Doing something as simple and effective as locking one's doors, whether at home or away, does not require any melodramatic sense of constantly being "on guard", as if one's life were lived in constant paranoia. It's simply a precaution that both requires less time and effort and provides more important value than changing your car's oil.

[Frank Bellemare]

Chris, I do lock my doors at night sometimes for the reasons you mentioned. My "constantly being on guard would take the joy out of life" comment wasn't related to locking your doors during the day while you're home, it was related to everyday life outside the house. Ian mentioned that always being prepared and carrying a weapon you're comfortable with is a good idea. I think that sort of mindset is actually more likely to get you in a fight than out of a fight. There were a few times were I could have gotten into a fight, but I chose to avoid it. Would I have avoided it if I had had a "battle-ready" mindset and a weapon at hand? I don't think so.

As to my amazement at people locking their door while they're home, I guess what this thread made me realize was that the perception individuals have of violence is relative. My own perception is influenced by the safe environment and peaceful society in which I live in, so it's only normal that I blurt out comments that would seem at best laughable to others who live under the constant threat of violent encounters. To me, the prospect of home invasion is as likely as looking out the window and seeing Dumbo fly in the sky. As such, I think I'll shut up now.

[mixjourneyman]

I generally take certain safety measures around town.
I try to avoid going out to the "red light" areas of town too often at night and I also avoid going to slums unless I have to.
Safety is not a huge concern of mine, but it does stay in the back of my mind just the same.

[bruce]

You're right that it happens everywhere Greg. Earlier this year a bar fight between two young guys went wrong and one of them got stabbed and died. It's just that on the whole, violence around here seems so remote that I'm always surprised to hear stories about home invasion and keeping guns in the house and locking your door while you're inside. I guess I just didn't realize that some of you guys have to deal daily with the very real possibility of being attacked.

just a few months back i was meeting my wife at the car in our parking garage (where i am in my practice videos) and a local crack head jackass was banging on my wifes car window yelling at here because she would not give him change "for the bus". i walked up and as you can imagine was in protect my wife mode. lucky for all no real violence was needed. i just "escorted" him off of our property and advised him if i see him around again i will call the police ... i took his picture too ...

on ponce de leon and boulevard where i live in atlanta on any given day you can stand out there for an hour and watch a fight/beating/mugging/drug deal gone bad/whore being slapped around/every now and then guns come into play but normally they are just a threat ... etc etc etc ... i have to walk past this to go to my yuppy whole foods market to shop. in general i have no problems because i am not a easy mark and have lived in "rough" areas through out my life.

my wife and i like to go for walks and to get to the many nice areas to walk in you must pass through the shit areas. just do not fuck with people and in general they will not fuck with you.

i also for a time in my teen years lived in a small town called ivesdale il pop. 300 for the most part the only crime there was domestic violence and drunk driving. i did not even have a key to our house as the door was never locked even when we would go away for a few days fishing or what ever ...
but that "peaceful" place is where i got the shit beat out of me by racist asshole stomping me and calling me nigger and telling me to leave there "white" town!

oh well some people suck and some do not.

[CaliG]

You're right that it happens everywhere Greg. Earlier this year a bar fight between two young guys went wrong and one of them got stabbed and died. It's just that on the whole, violence around here seems so remote that I'm always surprised to hear stories about home invasion and keeping guns in the house and locking your door while you're inside. I guess I just didn't realize that some of you guys have to deal daily with the very real possibility of being attacked.

Unfortunately Frank that seems to be the case. Trust me I wish some things here were much more like Canada's.

[Chris McKinley]

Frank,

RE: "Ian mentioned that always being prepared and carrying a weapon you're comfortable with is a good idea. I think that sort of mindset is actually more likely to get you in a fight than out of a fight.". I completely disagree with that sentiment. In situations where you do not have a choice of whether or not to engage in combat, being unprepared and unarmed will not save you. In situations in which you do have a choice (which is, by far, almost all of them), then being prepared and armed is no more likely to force you into using violence against someone any more than being unprepared and unarmed is going to change whether or not use of force is necessary. It's a matter of having a healthy, responsible and dispassionate perspective on what constitutes the necessary use of force in any potentially violent situation.

The situation dictates whether or not that level of force is necessary or not, not your attitude, your relative confidence level, or your ego.

RE: "There were a few times were I could have gotten into a fight, but I chose to avoid it. Would I have avoided it if I had had a "battle-ready" mindset and a weapon at hand? I don't think so.". That's an unfortunate, if at least honest, reflection of your dysfunctional views on appropriate use of force at those times. The appropriate, healthy reasoning should have been, 'Even though I am mentally prepared for combat and I am armed, if the use of that level of force is not necessary, the fact that I am ready and armed is irrelevant. I do not fight, period.'