The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - Has Situational Awareness Ever Saved You?

armed_librarian · December 22, 2011, 05:52 PM

Situational awareness has kept me out of trouble plenty of times. I also find it hard to believe how many people are oblivious of what is around them. This particular instance was before I had my LTCH but I still made sure I had a knife on me at all times. (Yeah I know, school trip and I'm carrying a knife. What can I say? I don't trust people. I kept it to myself and turned out I was happy I had it.)

I was on a school trip in Washington DC and towards the end of the week a bunch of us had gone to a mall. Myself and one other buddy and been walking around and we ran into a few of the girls who were in our group. We started talking when a man walked by real close (the mall wasn't terribly crowded and the proximity just seemed weird) and eyed one of the girls rather intently. Over the next 30 minutes I noticed the same man maybe 3 or 4 more times. Somewhere in there I went from yellow to orange. At this point we go to the food court and grab some lunch. The same girl I mentioned earlier gets up to use the restroom which is down a hallway close to where we are sitting. The hallway had, I think, a row of payphones, followed by the men's bathroom, then the woman's bathroom at the end. As she is walking to the bathroom I noticed the same man, once again eyeing my friend and walking towards her. At this point I'm standing but not doing anything yet. He turns down the hallway and I'm starting to walk towards him, deciding not to act further unless he walks past the men's bathroom, for all I know the whole thing is just a weird coincedence. The moment he walked past the men's bathroom door I started running. I went from orange to red and remember grabbing the knife from my pocket (I never did open it though). I remember yelling at him to get away from the door and get lost (I won't repeat the actual phrasing). He turned around and at first looked ready for a fight, he saw me (I'm a bigger guy and at the time I was hitting the gym 5 days a week) and my buddy who I guess realized what was going on and followed me. The guy then gets all apologetic and gives the whole "I'm sorry," "And I'm not looking for a fight," and "its not what it looks like." I told him to get lost, waited for the friend, who never noticed anything and looked completely bewildered to find us both standing outside the bathroom when she walked out, and we phoned the chaparone and left. I reported it to mall security and gave a description, in hopes the same thing could be prevented in the future.

I think what got me the most is that had I not noticed him, who knows what may have happened. Everyone else in the group said they hadn't noticed a thing until I was out of my chair and running.

December 22, 2011, 05:52 PM	#47
armed_librarian Member Join Date: July 16, 2011 Location: NW Indiana Posts: 76	Situational awareness has kept me out of trouble plenty of times. I also find it hard to believe how many people are oblivious of what is around them. This particular instance was before I had my LTCH but I still made sure I had a knife on me at all times. (Yeah I know, school trip and I'm carrying a knife. What can I say? I don't trust people. I kept it to myself and turned out I was happy I had it.) I was on a school trip in Washington DC and towards the end of the week a bunch of us had gone to a mall. Myself and one other buddy and been walking around and we ran into a few of the girls who were in our group. We started talking when a man walked by real close (the mall wasn't terribly crowded and the proximity just seemed weird) and eyed one of the girls rather intently. Over the next 30 minutes I noticed the same man maybe 3 or 4 more times. Somewhere in there I went from yellow to orange. At this point we go to the food court and grab some lunch. The same girl I mentioned earlier gets up to use the restroom which is down a hallway close to where we are sitting. The hallway had, I think, a row of payphones, followed by the men's bathroom, then the woman's bathroom at the end. As she is walking to the bathroom I noticed the same man, once again eyeing my friend and walking towards her. At this point I'm standing but not doing anything yet. He turns down the hallway and I'm starting to walk towards him, deciding not to act further unless he walks past the men's bathroom, for all I know the whole thing is just a weird coincedence. The moment he walked past the men's bathroom door I started running. I went from orange to red and remember grabbing the knife from my pocket (I never did open it though). I remember yelling at him to get away from the door and get lost (I won't repeat the actual phrasing). He turned around and at first looked ready for a fight, he saw me (I'm a bigger guy and at the time I was hitting the gym 5 days a week) and my buddy who I guess realized what was going on and followed me. The guy then gets all apologetic and gives the whole "I'm sorry," "And I'm not looking for a fight," and "its not what it looks like." I told him to get lost, waited for the friend, who never noticed anything and looked completely bewildered to find us both standing outside the bathroom when she walked out, and we phoned the chaparone and left. I reported it to mall security and gave a description, in hopes the same thing could be prevented in the future. I think what got me the most is that had I not noticed him, who knows what may have happened. Everyone else in the group said they hadn't noticed a thing until I was out of my chair and running.