from Tony Manifold's site at http://www.members.shaw.ca/tmanifold/crunch.htm

Before You Get There

The first part to keeping your self alive is not putting yourself in a position to get hurt. Sounds simple doesn’t it? You would be surprised how often people don’t follow this simple rule. I had a poster one time that had “10 rules to live by” and it was from the movie Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man. The one that stuck out to me was “Don’t play cowboy in a room full of Indians”. I took that to mean that if you don’t belong, don’t go there unless you are prepared for trouble. It may be your right to go where ever you want but that doesn’t mean that the people there will respect that right. When I first joined the Army I went for a run and our Platoon Commander was pointing out various important buildings; we passed one and he said, “That is the Airborne Barracks. Don’t go there, they will hurt you.” So I didn’t go there.

For women this can be a bigger problem. Many of the violent crimes to women that I have known about could have been prevented if they had just not gone there. I know women who think nothing of going to places where some of the toughest guys I know won’t go. I know this may sound a little sexist but women are targets. I don’t care how tough you are, when a potential attacker looks at you they will see “Woman=Victim”.

The bottom line is this, think before you go somewhere. If you have been fighting with your violent Ex-husband don’t go somewhere private “just to talk”. If it is a Hell’s Angel bar and you’re not an Angel or with an Angel, you are looking for trouble. If the bar has paddy wagons in front of it, pick a different bar.



Guess my parents weren't as dumb as I thought :D The first question they would always ask when anything happened was, "Why did you...." It bugged me to always be in the wrong but it did teach me personal responsibility.

Janice

Originally posted by TheLady
Guess my parents weren't as dumb as I thought :D The first question they would always ask when anything happened was, "Why did you...." It bugged me to always be in the wrong but it did teach me personal responsibility.

Janice

Yup. There is such a thing as "wrong place, wrong time" kind of bad luck. And sometimes trouble seeks you out.

But I'd guess that about 90% of the time (maybe more), it's possible to avoid trouble all together by applying just a little common sense.

Pay attention to your instinctual alarms. They're there for a reason. Sometimes they're false alarms. But usually they have a reason for going off. Ignore them at your own risk. When they go off, analyze what you're doing, or about to do. Chances are, it's risky. If so, then determine whether it's necessary, or if there's a less risky method of accomplishing the same goal.

This is one of the hardest lessons to get people to understand.

Mike

Yes, a sizable income is surely the best defense--for then you can live and work in a safe environment, have access to ggod health care, etc. Things like going to college, always walking in pairs, and staying away from dangerous areas will save more lives than all the roundhouse kicks once can imagaine!

Originally posted by arnisador
Yes, a sizable income is surely the best defense--for then you can live and work in a safe environment, have access to ggod health care, etc. Things like going to college, always walking in pairs, and staying away from dangerous areas will save more lives than all the roundhouse kicks once can imagaine!


That is one of the main reasons I went to college. :D

..don't go where the fight is!

Perhaps another thing that should be added to "avoidance" is "awareness." Stay sharp and alert to all that's going on around you at all times...

I agree! I see so many people, women especially, walking down the street with tunnel vision. they never look anywhere except at what's directly in front of them. never check behind, never look left or right. These women probably make pretty easy targets, whereas the woman who is aware would be less of a target.

Brings to mind... Black Dot - White Dot Focus..

Part of me feels women should be able to go anywhere any time. I lived by this when I was single. Now I have a child I am much more cautious with my life. When I was single I wrote a book on the Red Light Districts of the World. As you can imagine this involved going to extremely dodgy places solo in the middle of the night and interviewing complete strangers. I had no Martial Arts training at the time and relied solely on being able to talk my way out of situations which usually works. At the same time I dressed dowdily and didn´t carry a handbag obviously. I sometimes had to carry a camera though which annoyed one or two people. I stopped to talk to one of these but took to my heels when she tried to get my camera. A woman in flat shoes runs much faster than a tart in heels so I kept the photos. I only got mugged once in sixteen countries - not too serious. I think the real problem there (budapest) was I was so tired I didn´t assess the situation well and got surrounded by four people one of whom started to hit me after they´d seemed friendly. Luckily I was wearing thick leather so only copped a bruise or two - best fabric to be beaten up in. As others say, it´s only money and credit cards at the end of the day. These can be replaced.
Fiona

Originally posted by drunken mistress
Part of me feels women should be able to go anywhere any time.

I agree that you *should* be able to go anywhere, any time, and wear whatever you want. But, you should understand and accept the consequences of your actions too. It's like wearing a seatbelt. Yeah you can go without one, but don't be surprised when you go through the windshield in a crash...

WhiteBirch