hardspunned :" You’ve thought this through too, "
Thinking in advance, and preparing a mindset is important ; sometimes you find yourself in a situation which is out of your control .
Situational awareness : a facet of this mindset is learning to trust your "gut" or intuition.
Frequently we have a subconscious awareness, and something just doesn't feel right, and we can't put a name to it; something seems out of sync .
Awareness is a mindset, and can be learned ; it is more than a skill.
Learn where demonstrations and social disturbances have occurred in the past, and avoid those areas.
There is a reason why the issues occur at those specific locations , so avoid them.
An explanation of the various degrees of awareness as well as "Coopers Colors" can be found at :
https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/practical-guide-situational-awareness
It's like people who are "accident prone", it's that they are not self aware.
Situational awareness and always have an exit path.
At home, come up with a defense plan and an exit path.
Stay away from areas known to be sites of unrest (Biden Rallies).
Check your gear and and don’t do stupid stuff.
Having had a long ‘career’ in active addiction (thank God THAT’S over) I have a (probably not terribly) unique ability to ‘read a street’.
I can look at any given street scene and identify the players. He’s dealing. She’s prostituting. He’s looking for someone to rob. She’s looking for a mark. He’s a mark. She’s looking to score drugs. He’s a plainclothes cop.
While this is not the most useful skill known to man, in the current environment, it might be very useful indeed.
Matt remarked one time that he’d rather have one guy like me on his team, then several former Special Forces guys. I believe he’s right.
BLM came to our little town of less than 3000 people back in July. The news article was short on details, but I gather that counter protestors were there and it was noisy, but no burning, looting etc.
The police told BLM that the event was advertised to end at a certain time, and that the police intended to leave on time. BLM then asked for an escort to their vehicles and left.
They also visited several other towns within an hours drive from us during July. In Fredricktown, I was able to find face book posts, and according to the person posting, none of them were Black. Shouts of “you ain’t black-go home” were heard, and lots of yellow don’t tread on me flags.
I suspect it was a scouting trip to look the area over and make plans for future events. We are 75 miles from St. Louis and 99.6% white community. Hunting is a big thing here-kids skip school and claim they are sick—the Admin winks and says ok. Apparently that 75 miles is not far enough.
It’s a designated poverty area, and the downtown stores are mostly flea market type stuff. We have a Walmart, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Save and Lot and Harps. A few fast food places. Not much for aspiring looters.