I found myself initially disappointed in my response to an actual “issue” last year, since I thought I froze for too long. I have no doubt that I froze for more than one second, but that’s still not as bad as it seemed. The 30-second YouTube commercial that was on when the issue started was still playing when I finished everything urgent and was waiting for 9-1-1 to answer.
One little thing changed from the situations that I had imagined, and it threw me off, or it’s just natural to take a moment when the unexpected hits. I still was ready in less time than it would take to sprint from the door to where I was when the issue started, and I would have “won” against anyone who didn’t shoot first. I wonder just how fast attackers would move in the real situation - I’m guessing fast but also that they would take a few seconds to break a door down.
The difference between zero warning and two seconds of warning is huge. The difference between a locked door and no lock is exactly as big. The difference between planning for a single contingency and imagining multiple situations helps with a fast response when fractional seconds matter.