Quote:
|
As for Pax story, as a mother I am sure there was a great amount of fear in her mind but what could she do to stop what had already happened? Nothing, it was better to simply do as she was told to stand by.
|
BlackFeather,
Ask any EMT how often they need to restrain hysterical family members at the scene of major car accidents and other life-threatening events. Just because the best thing to do is nothing, doesn't mean people do it.
But sometimes the best thing to do is
nothing -- whether we're talking tactics or accident scenes. The human urge to "do something! ANYTHING!" has been the source of untold stupidities over the years.
A tactical example: once upon a time I stayed the night in an unfamiliar three-story house with an alarm system that had been acting up. Around 2 in the morning, the system beeped. It didn't alarm, just beeped as if someone had opened a door downstairs despite the fact that it had been set to alarm if the doors were opened. But the system had been acting up and wasn't to be trusted... so there
probably wasn't anyone there.
What's the tactically "right" thing to do in such a situation? Go back to sleep? Uh uh, no way no how. Not going to get my throat slashed in my sleep.
Jump up immediately and search the house? Bzzzt! That's pure stupid. There wasn't anyone else in the house that I needed to protect, and anyone downstairs could easily ambush me as I came down the exposed staircase.
Call the cops? Nope, because the system was acting up and wasn't to be trusted. No sense in calling the cops for a call that was 98% certain to be a false alarm.
But there was still that 2% possibility of disaster. So --
How 'bout the functional equivalent of "doing nothing" for at least 15 or 20 minutes, while listening and smelling and otherwise extending your senses knowing that if anyone is in the house they'll (eventually) make a sound?
THEN go investigate the noise. That's probably the best answer. But it's a very (very!) difficult choice for a fully-adrenalized alpha type person to make.
No real point here, except to say that every person is different and every situation is different. But learning to keep your own behavior under rational control, despite the presence of strong emotions that might urge you to do something stupid, is probably a pretty good first step to having a "Tactical Advantage" as the OP observed.
If you're scared of heights, force yourself to clean the gutters. If you're scared of big dogs, volunteer at the local humane society and force yourself to work with them. If needles wig you out, regularly give blood. Do what it takes to keep your rational behavior independent of your emotional reactions.
pax