Jun 4 • General discussion
Part 2: What's Your Plan - Our Take
To begin with, this is a win, nothing happened, no one got hurt, killed, or went to jail. Most of the feedback that we have received has been positive, praising what a great job she did, and that there was not much that she could have done differently. However, in keeping with our philosophy of teaching you how to think, not what to think, and always trying to do better, let’s take a closer look.
Her awareness and observations before her exercise routine were great, she took the time to look around, saw the truck, made note of it, and went along with her day. When she saw the truck the second time, and it caused her some concern, is where this story should have ended. We tell women all the time to trust their “gut.” Why not turn around, walk back to your car, and exercise another day or in a different place? If you have time and distance, avoidance is usually the best, safest, easiest, and the first choice you should make.
She decided to continue her walk and approach and pass the truck. Prior, she moved her safety gear to her dominate side (bear spray) and opened her coat so that she could access her firearm if she needed it. This implies that they were not in a spot where she would have been able to get to them as fast as necessary should a life-threatening situation arise. The sole purpose of carrying these items is to be able to use them as quickly as possible to save your life. If you cannot get to them in an emergency, they are useless. It would be prudent to start your walk with them in a place where you can get to them when needed without having to adjust or move them to make it easier when the threat appears.
She did this “casually… Just like I’m going to unzip my coat, no big deal.” Bad guys, like bears, are usually looking for easy prey. Appearing “casual” while approaching a potential threat is the opposite of what you should be doing. You want to appear to be the hardest target possible. Hopefully it gives the attacker pause before deciding to take the risk of a fight and carry out the crime. This isn’t to say pull your gun out and point it at them as you walk by, but a least have your spray in your non-dominate hand to reduce the time it would take to use it, and leave your dominate hand free if you were forced to use your gun instead of the spray.
She also called her husband, not to save her, but to be a “witness.” A witness to what exactly? Her murder? If something were to have happened, “he could call for help.” (her words). If this was serious enough to warrant all of these actions, including providing in depth descriptions, the first call should have been to the police to give them the information and have them respond, thereby cutting the time to get to her if she needed help. All the descriptions, observations, and the phone call were designed to help catch the bad guy after the attack had occurred and not prevent it from happening in the first place. None of that matters if you are dead or worse, catching and prosecuting the bad guy are low on the list when it comes to avoiding or surviving an attack. The focus needs to be on survival not evidence collection.
As she passes the truck she mouths “Are you ok?” and gives the guy inside a thumb’s-up, he nods back, and she continues past him. What was her plan if he had bad intentions? What if he had a gun out and fired? What if he had a gun and told her to get in the truck? What if he sprayed her with bear spray so she couldn’t see or breathe and did horrific things? How long before her husband could call the police, explain everything, and get them coming? How long before they got there? Reactions are always slower than the actions themselves, there would be no way for her to respond with any of her life-saving tools before he fired.
A short time later the truck pulls down the road, stops, does some more suspicious things. Her husband, who is at home a few minutes away, decides to get in his car and meet her. She tells him not to pick her up but to stop down the road a bit and just watch out for her. The truck leaves the area, not to be seen again, and she is kind enough to make a video of what happened while walking back to her car.
This is speculation on our part, but this seems to be a case of someone who has some training, is carrying a gun, and puts themselves in a bad situation because they think that they can handle whatever happens. All the time thinking that they are doing the right thing. Likely it was subconscious, and from the video she clearly believed that she was doing exactly what she should. We all have a desire to prove ourselves, the problem with proving yourself in a self-defense situation is that you must be in a really bad situation to see if it is going to work. Just because you have the training you shouldn’t be forcing the issue to see if it is going to work. We often hear; “I don’t go to that place unless I’m carrying my gun.” If you must carry a gun to go there, you most definitely should not be going there at all. The most important part of the training is awareness and avoidance. Perfect that and 95+% of your problems won’t appear.
On a side note, and speaking as a man. If my wife were to call me in this situation the conversation would have been “Turn around, keep your spray in your hand and gun exposed, stay on the line with me, I’m on my way.” I don’t care if she wanted to finish her walk, I’m on my way, she is coming home, and we can fight about it later (and we might). But she will be safe and I will be there before anyone else, and before anything can happen. There is a point where a man must step in and do what is necessary to protect his family.
Let us know how we did, what you think, and what we missed,
S&J
The Vigilant Family
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Part 2: What's Your Plan - Our Take
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