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Music.

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Hello, and welcome to another episode of the Self-Initiative Project Podcast.

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I’m your host, Jim O’Brien.

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Hello, and welcome to episode 26. Today, we’re going to be talking about thinking

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through scenarios and what that means to our personal safety.

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Before we get started, as I just mentioned, this is episode 26.

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Now, we don’t turn out as many podcasts as some other entities or individuals

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might, and that’s okay. We have a full-time job we have to deal with most of

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the time, but we try to turn out a podcast, or we do turn out a podcast, once a month.

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So this is number 26, so you do the math.

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If this is your first time listening to the Self-Initiative Project podcast,

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we want to welcome you and thanks for taking time out to listen to this type of material.

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It’s not fun of some of the other stuff out there

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in podcast land but we think it’s important for folks to

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listen to this and maybe take away a couple of

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nuggets of information that they hadn’t thought about before and if

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you’re returning and listening thank you for listening to us either

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way thank you for listening to us and if you like what you hear here

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or think someone else could benefit from it please share it please share any

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of our podcasts there’s 26 to choose from now certainly there’s something someone

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might get something from or at least enjoy a little bit too maybe and we’d love

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it if you’d like and share and review and leave us five-star reviews if you

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do like what you’re hearing here.

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So thinking through scenarios. Thinking through scenarios is important because

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maybe you don’t take your personal safety as seriously as you should and start

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thinking about scenarios, possibilities,

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what ifs, what would I do when, what would I do if might get you to start thinking

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about your personal safety and taking it a little bit more serious.

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And then, you know, if you are the person that keeps your personal safety and

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your family’s personal safety top of mind, thinking through scenarios has some

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benefits too, including just enabling you to potentially be better prepared.

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So what is thinking through scenarios? When we talk about scenarios,

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this may not be the first time you’ve heard this concept, but what is thinking through scenarios and.

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Really simply, the short definition in my mind is thinking through things and

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putting a plan in place ahead of time. And that’s really what it is.

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So, you know, relative to your personal safety,

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what we’re talking about is, you know, when you think through scenarios,

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you’re thinking about ideas that you think might be possible based on your lifestyle

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and places you might find yourself. Not everybody does the same things.

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People go different places, different times. people might have

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different work situations or personal life

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situations that lead them down different paths but

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it’s all about thinking ahead of time and getting a plan in place ahead of time

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and look it’s it’s all about making you better prepared to handle a bad situation

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should it happen we’re fortunate that bad situations don’t happen a great percentage

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of the time right things could be a lot worse than what they are.

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But the goal is, is again, to hopefully get you thinking about your personal safety.

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And then if you are, get you better prepared, right or wrong,

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having any sort of plan at all is better than going into a situation or find

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yourself getting caught off in a situation and not knowing what to do.

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So why do we want to think about scenarios? Well, we’ve touched on a couple

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of these, but thinking through any plan at all is better than not having a plan.

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You know, like I said, good or bad, right or wrong,

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having a plan, having something in mind to do, knowing that you’ve thought through

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a possible scenario, a situation ahead of time, and putting together what you

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think you would do in your mind ahead of time is gonna put you a lot better off,

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should something ever happen, should that scenario actually ever occur and unfold.

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Thinking through scenarios ahead of time, I think helps you gain a better understanding

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of the importance of situational awareness and the importance of paying attention

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so you’re better able to get away or to avoid a potentially bad situation in the first place.

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And I think that’s really key for thinking through scenarios.

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That’s one of the best benefits is getting you to start realizing that you should

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pay better attention to your surroundings and know when it’s time to go and

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again, get away and avoid a potentially bad situation.

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I think thinking through scenarios is an opportunity to realize or to uncover

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some areas that you may find yourself needing additional training in.

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Maybe you’ve never taken a self-defense physical training class before and you

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realize, hmm, that might not be a bad idea.

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Or maybe you don’t shoot your firearms if you have firearms and like firearms.

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Maybe you don’t shoot them as much as you should. Or maybe you need to think

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about going to get some training, especially if you’re wanting,

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whether you’re carrying it

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on your person or just have a firearm in the house for personal defense,

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self-defense scenarios, you definitely need to be shooting regularly and you

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definitely need to be going to get some training on that.

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And we’ve talked about that in previous podcasts as well. I think,

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and we touched upon this right off, is I think it helps you to learn the importance

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of taking your own personal safety seriously.

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When you start thinking about scenarios and situations that maybe you haven’t

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before, and you find yourself not knowing what you would do,

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you suddenly realize, oh, I need to maybe do something about this.

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And one of the things that you can start doing is thinking through these scenarios

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and practicing situational awareness.

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And situational awareness was a podcast we’ve just done recently.

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Matter of fact, it was podcast number 25. So right before that.

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So if you haven’t listened to that podcast, I highly recommend it too.

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And, you know, the Self-Initiative Project was founded on the premise that your

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personal safety and preparedness is your responsibility.

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So I think as you begin to think through situations and scenarios and put together

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plans ahead of time, you begin to see that really it is up to you because,

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you know, there’s no one coming to save you.

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It is all up to you and it is your personal responsibility.

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And then lastly, you know, I think thinking through scenarios and possible situations

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that could happen and coming up with a game plan ahead of time just illustrates

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the importance of having a game plan and having a game plan ahead of time,

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because that’s going to put you far ahead of the next guy that hasn’t thought

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through any of this stuff.

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And why do we need to be worried about things in the first place?

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Well, you know, unlike you might hear about in the media or see in Hollywood,

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you can’t just wave a gun around in the air and or shoot warning shots at the bad guys.

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Arguably, there’s a lot of things that have gone wrong before firearms ever came into the mix.

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Showing your firearms, waving around in the air, warning shots,

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shooting people in the arm or

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the leg to get them to slow down just isn’t realistic and doesn’t happen.

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And, you know, we, you know.

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I’m thankful for our men and women in blue, our law enforcement officers,

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LEO, but, you know, 9-1-1 is not always going to be there for you.

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And we’ve seen some of that recently.

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And secondly, when things go bad, they usually happen really fast.

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And so 9-1-1 may not even get to you in time.

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So having a plan, knowing, having thought about it ahead of time is going to

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benefit you in the long run, certainly.

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So I thought what we would do today is talk through some scenarios,

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and my goal is not to give you answers, because the answer is, it depends.

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A tiny little situation can change within the overall span of a scenario or

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storyline that could change the whole thing and change the entire outcome.

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So today is not about giving you answers or black and white solutions to problems.

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It’s about getting you to think for yourselves

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and and just give you some give you some ideas of

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scenarios that you might want to think think through

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i know i have and give you some ideas

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and get you get your juices running right get the brain working and you know

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think about what if this were to happen what would i do if this were to happen

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and so just coming up with a list of things and i’ve put up several and i reached

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out to some of my friends and family and asked them what they wanted to know.

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So I’ve captured some of those things that we want to talk about here today, too.

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So there’s no answers. I’m not going to give any answers. I might give options, potentially.

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And again, the spirit of this is just to give you some scenario ideas so you

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two have a place to start.

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And then from there, you can start thinking about other things that you think,

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again, might be possible given your lifestyle and the places you find yourself going.

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I’ll also say that I will not be giving any legal advice.

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There might be a couple of things mentioned, but just be aware this is not meant to be legal advice.

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I’m not going to be providing any specific legal advice. And if I do talk about

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any legalities at all, it will only be from the Georgia perspective.

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What’s law here in Georgia? Not that I’m an expert, but I have learned a little bit over the years.

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So every state’s different. And so part of, you know, the scenario should be

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thinking about legal ramifications and how you would respond and behave and

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react, given the scenarios you come up with for yourself.

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I’d also like to say, too, that, you know, usually when we talk about personal

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safety and self-defense, you know, we think about physical techniques, right?

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Like hopefully this today are outside the physical, you know,

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challenges that you might be faced with.

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And we’re talking about things like avoidance, de-escalation,

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situational awareness, thinking through scenarios, all those things you should

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be doing ahead of time to hopefully avoid any bad situation in the first place

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like we’ve talked about.

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But, you know, in these scenarios, and there’ll be a couple that we talk through today,

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you know, even if you felt like you didn’t have time to learn or train self-defense,

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you know, physical techniques or some of this other stuff that we’re going to be walking through,

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you know, there are scenarios in your life, whether you’re, you know,

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you feel like you don’t have time to train or, you know, if a guy was big enough

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and strong enough, you just don’t feel like you’re strong enough to fight back.

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You know, one of the things that I would ask you to do is get some basic trauma care training.

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Back on podcast number three, we talked about Stop the Bleed program,

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which is an awesome basic program for learning the basics of trauma care and

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dealing with severe bleeding.

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And then podcast number seven, we talked about building out our basic trauma kits.

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So, you know, even if everything else, even if you’ve got an excuse,

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like we all do for a lot of things, for avoiding or not dealing with everything

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else, I would advise you getting some basic trauma care because it may not be

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just you that you’re needing to help.

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It could be a loved one, a family member, or a neighbor or someone you come

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up across that needs your help.

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And because you know what to do now, you can jump in and help and possibly save a life.

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So I think I’ve talked enough about what scenarios are and what this is and

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isn’t. Let’s jump in and talk through some scenarios.

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And again, I’m not going to give legal advice and I’m not going to give necessarily

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a black and white answer.

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There might be a couple of places where I give you a pretty good response that you should have.

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But most of these, again, are just to get your juices flowing and to think through

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what if, what if, what if, and all the possible outcomes of that and what you think you might do.

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The first one that I wanted to start with is a really basic one,

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and we’ve talked about it recently, either in a podcast or one of our Instagram

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posts, but here’s a scenario.

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Let’s say you go out to the grocery store, you’ve been gone at work all day, whatever it is,

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wherever you’ve been after having left the house, and you get home,

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and you find your front door ajar, or maybe for whatever reason you come around

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the back of the house and you find your back door ajar and you’re pretty sure

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you locked it or you shut it when you left the house,

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what should you do? What would you do?

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Well, in this scenario, at least I’ve been taught that you should not walk in

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the house if you don’t know.

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Now, if you’ve got kids, maybe they’re in there and they just didn’t push the

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door all the way closed, right? That could have happened.

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Maybe you might want to yell through the door to see if somebody that you know,

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like your significant another, your spouse or your children are home and see if they answer to you.

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But what would you do? Well, this is one that I’m going to give you a piece of advice on.

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The advice that I’ve been given over the years is whether you yell into the

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house or not, is do not go in the house unless you know for sure that somebody

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you know is home and in the house.

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Do not go in because what you don’t want to do is you don’t want to catch a

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robber or a bad guy off guard, right? So back away.

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If you’re fairly certain that no one should be home or no one is home,

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it’s probably a good idea.

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Simply don’t go in, back away, maybe get back in your car and leave,

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or at least get away from the house and call 911.

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Let the guys in blue, men and women in blue, come and check things out for you.

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Who knows? Maybe it’s nothing.

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Maybe little Timmy was down in the basement and just didn’t hear you yelling.

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But if a door is left open on your home, never go in.

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Go away and dial 911 and let them deal with it for you.

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So one that I think about often because I’m not one of these guys to back into my garage.

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I have a garage with a garage door, not a carport.

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And so I don’t back into my garage, you know, I pull in straight and I do most

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of my own car maintenance.

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And even if I’m not doing maintenance out, I might be wiping it down or vacuuming it out.

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And I feel like one of the weakest points that I’m at is when I’ve got my loud

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shop vac running and I’m down on my hands and knees inside, sweeping out the

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front floorboard, the driver’s side or the passenger side,

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whatever it is, I can’t hear because the shop

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vac’s blaring loud and my vision

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is blocked because i’m inside the car i’m at a weak point because i’m leaned

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over inside the car you know what do you do have you ever been in your garage

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and had someone walk up the driveway unexpectedly maybe it was your neighbor

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maybe it was the guy trying to sell you the sunday newspaper again for the 12th time.

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Have you had that happen? Have you thought about how you would respond?

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That’s a good one. I find myself thinking through that one a lot.

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So I know one of the, and I touched upon it earlier, just as a sidebar note

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here, I know one of the major reasons that people give,

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especially women, is that they just don’t feel like they have a lot of time

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to dedicate to themselves, to take time out for themselves.

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And you know, that’s the great thing about what we’re talking about here today

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is when you think through scenarios, you can think through scenarios at any time.

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And two times that I can think of that are fantastic that you always have is

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times that you’re in traffic, sitting in the car, driving to work,

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or going to pick up the kids.

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You can take a few minutes then to think about what if, and what would I do

00:16:05.323 –> 00:16:07.343
when this happened, this thing happened?

00:16:07.563 –> 00:16:11.803
Or maybe you’re in the shower, right? Instead of singing, maybe you start thinking

00:16:11.803 –> 00:16:13.203
about through some of these scenarios.

00:16:13.483 –> 00:16:16.903
So time is less of a factor when it’s thinking power.

00:16:17.103 –> 00:16:21.063
So just take advantage of some times that you have some downtime that you do

00:16:21.063 –> 00:16:24.423
have in your life where you don’t have to go out of your way to take extra time

00:16:24.423 –> 00:16:27.883
or make special time and start thinking through some of this.

00:16:28.543 –> 00:16:32.163
So maybe you’re at the grocery store parking lot, right? Pretty common.

00:16:32.303 –> 00:16:34.323
We all got to go shopping for groceries.

00:16:34.703 –> 00:16:41.123
So maybe we’re in the parking lot and someone is approaching and they’re walking straight to you.

00:16:41.343 –> 00:16:43.483
Maybe they say something, maybe they don’t.

00:16:44.250 –> 00:16:50.350
But what would you do? How would you deal with that? Would you even know that somebody was coming?

00:16:50.530 –> 00:16:54.690
Or are you the type that has your smartphone in your hand looking down at it all the time?

00:16:55.070 –> 00:17:00.370
Are you the type that walks slouched over looking at your feet as you go across the parking lot?

00:17:00.690 –> 00:17:04.770
You know, there’s a lot to be said and a lot of credence to carrying yourself

00:17:04.770 –> 00:17:10.330
confidently and carrying yourself as though you’re paying attention and aware of your environment,

00:17:10.330 –> 00:17:13.190
even when you maybe not be as aware as you

00:17:13.190 –> 00:17:16.930
should be just by making

00:17:16.930 –> 00:17:20.110
it a point to seem like it is your seem like

00:17:20.110 –> 00:17:24.730
you’re paying attention you actually will be paying attention so walking with

00:17:24.730 –> 00:17:28.930
your shoulders back your head up your head on the swivel as they say looking

00:17:28.930 –> 00:17:33.990
around anyone that you see you know maybe acknowledging them doesn’t mean staring

00:17:33.990 –> 00:17:37.350
them down or approaching them because you don’t want to be the aggressor, right?

00:17:37.810 –> 00:17:41.770
But paying attention to someone that is approaching you doesn’t get the drop

00:17:41.770 –> 00:17:45.910
on you, you know, get so close up on you into your personal space that you don’t

00:17:45.910 –> 00:17:50.210
have as much of reaction as you could. So what would you do if someone’s approaching?

00:17:50.910 –> 00:17:56.190
Maybe, maybe you glance at them in the eye or give them a nod to acknowledge that they’re coming.

00:17:56.890 –> 00:17:59.790
Maybe you’re sure to be walking out

00:17:59.790 –> 00:18:02.670
towards the middle of the parking lot and not right up

00:18:02.670 –> 00:18:05.990
against the back of parked cars to give yourself more

00:18:05.990 –> 00:18:08.890
room should something happen and to not allow yourself

00:18:08.890 –> 00:18:11.810
to be easily grabbed when you’re walking so

00:18:11.810 –> 00:18:16.230
close up against those cars look if a car is coming towards you you can simply

00:18:16.230 –> 00:18:20.730
move out of the way for that minute or if you hear a car coming behind you you

00:18:20.730 –> 00:18:24.950
can move out of the way for a minute but get in the habit of walking maybe not

00:18:24.950 –> 00:18:29.210
dead smack dab in the middle of the aisle but walking out away from the parked

00:18:29.210 –> 00:18:31.510
cars to give yourself more space and to,

00:18:32.188 –> 00:18:37.508
you know dissuade anyone from grabbing you between those parked cars but what

00:18:37.508 –> 00:18:41.668
would you do if they were approaching you do you acknowledge them do you cut

00:18:41.668 –> 00:18:43.888
over an aisle do you go back inside,

00:18:44.408 –> 00:18:48.888
what if they say hey ma’am i’m our hey mister i’m looking for directions do

00:18:48.888 –> 00:18:53.168
you talk to them do you enforce set and enforce boundaries of your personal

00:18:53.168 –> 00:18:57.108
space so if they keep trying to walk up on you you say no i’m you’re good right

00:18:57.108 –> 00:19:01.968
there what can i help you with or i’ve got to go So I’m on the call with some,

00:19:02.028 –> 00:19:04.808
I got to take a call or I’m on the way home. You know, I got to go.

00:19:05.168 –> 00:19:08.808
What do you do? Do you set and enforce boundaries?

00:19:09.188 –> 00:19:12.368
Do you be, are you firm with them when you address them?

00:19:13.088 –> 00:19:16.308
Hopefully you don’t let them so close that they’re in your personal space now

00:19:16.308 –> 00:19:18.988
and you’ve taken away options and response time.

00:19:19.668 –> 00:19:23.388
So that grocery store parking lot is a great one too, I think.

00:19:23.608 –> 00:19:28.928
So same one, you’re at the grocery store. Now you’re to your car and you maybe

00:19:28.928 –> 00:19:32.228
you’ve got your kid on your hip. Maybe the kid’s already in the back seat.

00:19:32.508 –> 00:19:37.268
You’re leaned over in the car and you’re unloading your groceries or you’re

00:19:37.268 –> 00:19:41.308
turned facing the trunk and you’re picking groceries out of the buggy and you

00:19:41.308 –> 00:19:45.968
turn and lower them down in the trunk and someone is magically standing right

00:19:45.968 –> 00:19:47.268
behind you. What do you do?

00:19:47.688 –> 00:19:53.228
What do you do? Again, opportunity for boundaries, opportunity for firmness.

00:19:54.068 –> 00:19:59.028
Opportunity to, you know, hurry up what you’re doing and get out of there, right?

00:19:59.128 –> 00:20:02.708
Especially if you’ve got a kid with you or is already in the car.

00:20:03.168 –> 00:20:09.088
I like the grocery lot, the grocery parking lot scenarios a lot because that’s

00:20:09.088 –> 00:20:10.488
honestly where we find ourselves.

00:20:10.688 –> 00:20:12.768
That or the mall, right? Stores in general.

00:20:13.751 –> 00:20:17.611
So, you know, one that I’ve thought about a lot, too, and, you know,

00:20:17.671 –> 00:20:18.891
a lot of things come into play.

00:20:19.031 –> 00:20:23.591
But let’s say we’ve gone to a sporting event or we’re at a concert of some sort.

00:20:24.191 –> 00:20:29.051
I went to Kiss last year, and it was fantastic. Dating myself a little bit.

00:20:29.151 –> 00:20:32.031
Maybe you don’t like hard rock, but I’m telling you, that was a great show.

00:20:32.691 –> 00:20:37.391
Anyway, you know, after the show or the baseball game, whatever it is,

00:20:37.471 –> 00:20:40.611
you’re coming back and you’re having to walk through a dark garage,

00:20:40.991 –> 00:20:42.911
a dark parking lot, whatever it is.

00:20:43.751 –> 00:20:47.951
You know, hopefully you parked somewhere up close if you could.

00:20:48.491 –> 00:20:51.411
Hopefully you parked under lighting if there was any available.

00:20:51.671 –> 00:20:57.871
And hopefully, like we just talked about, you are walking more down the center of the driveway,

00:20:58.151 –> 00:21:02.491
the aisle, so to speak, than walking up against the back of parked cars to make

00:21:02.491 –> 00:21:04.171
sure you’ve given yourself enough space.

00:21:04.171 –> 00:21:08.571
But let’s say you’re in that dark garage or in that dark parking lot after a

00:21:08.571 –> 00:21:14.591
sporting event and you hear voices coming and they’re getting closer.

00:21:14.591 –> 00:21:19.611
You hear footsteps, whatever it is, or you see a group approaching. What do you do?

00:21:20.111 –> 00:21:24.871
Are you close to your car? Do you have another hundred yards to go before you get there?

00:21:25.091 –> 00:21:28.511
Are you by yourself or with family or friends?

00:21:29.091 –> 00:21:35.311
Are you near a staircase? Are you near an exit so that if you felt really uncomfortable

00:21:35.311 –> 00:21:39.931
or you were listening to that gut instinct like we talked about in episode 25,

00:21:39.931 –> 00:21:41.851
you’re responding to it,

00:21:41.951 –> 00:21:45.951
not worried about what the other people might think about you? What would you do?

00:21:46.711 –> 00:21:50.071
I think that’s a good one because there’s a lot of us, myself included,

00:21:50.211 –> 00:21:51.571
obviously, like I just mentioned.

00:21:51.891 –> 00:21:55.331
You know, we go into concerts regularly, or at least I have,

00:21:55.531 –> 00:21:57.691
and sporting events even more so.

00:21:57.691 –> 00:22:00.831
How many times have you gotten out of a football game or a baseball game and

00:22:00.831 –> 00:22:07.091
it’s well after dark and you’ve got the five-mile march across the giant parking lot to get to your car?

00:22:07.831 –> 00:22:10.171
These are the sorts of things you need to be thinking through.

00:22:10.531 –> 00:22:14.331
And again, it’s not about coming up with answers because I can come up with

00:22:14.331 –> 00:22:16.391
answers of things I think I might do.

00:22:16.771 –> 00:22:21.131
But this is for your benefit. It’s to get you thinking what you would do and

00:22:21.131 –> 00:22:24.511
what works best for you and having that plan ahead of time.

00:22:25.171 –> 00:22:29.671
So another one that I like to think about is I’m sitting at home watching TV

00:22:29.671 –> 00:22:33.991
or I’m in the kitchen cooking or I’m in the back of the house.

00:22:34.131 –> 00:22:35.971
Maybe I’m even getting a shower. I don’t know.

00:22:36.551 –> 00:22:38.571
And I hear glass break.

00:22:39.507 –> 00:22:44.427
Or I hear someone not knocking nicely or ringing the doorbell normally,

00:22:44.647 –> 00:22:48.667
but really pounding on my front door. What do I do?

00:22:49.487 –> 00:22:53.707
What do I do? Do I have a safe room? You know, in past podcasts,

00:22:53.907 –> 00:22:56.987
we’ve talked about the importance of having a safe room.

00:22:57.167 –> 00:23:01.807
You know, we’re not, we’re not, most of us aren’t military or former military or law enforcement.

00:23:01.987 –> 00:23:06.267
We shouldn’t be thinking that we’re going to sweep and clean and clear our house, right?

00:23:06.427 –> 00:23:10.527
It’s very dangerous. So the better course of action for most of us is to have

00:23:10.527 –> 00:23:12.327
a safe room and have that in the mix.

00:23:12.787 –> 00:23:15.947
And if you don’t know what a safe room is or don’t have one,

00:23:16.167 –> 00:23:20.407
I recommend going back and listening to our podcast on making our home safer.

00:23:20.587 –> 00:23:24.667
We talk about it some then, but doing some research on what a safe room is in

00:23:24.667 –> 00:23:27.567
your house and getting that equipped to go to.

00:23:27.887 –> 00:23:31.427
So do you go to your safe room? Do you try to call 911?

00:23:32.147 –> 00:23:36.947
Do you yell out at the person that’s kicking or banging on the front door loudly

00:23:36.947 –> 00:23:41.027
that you’re on the phone and your boyfriend or your husband or whoever’s going

00:23:41.027 –> 00:23:42.147
to be over in a few minutes?

00:23:42.747 –> 00:23:47.007
Do you call 911 on the spot? I don’t know what’s right for you.

00:23:47.387 –> 00:23:51.267
But those common scenarios that we don’t think twice of because we generally

00:23:51.267 –> 00:23:55.827
think and feel like we’re completely safe in our home. And for the most part, we are.

00:23:55.987 –> 00:23:59.847
But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t take a moment to think about what those

00:23:59.847 –> 00:24:01.267
what ifs when we’re home.

00:24:01.427 –> 00:24:05.267
You know, taking that, that scenario a little bit further. I’ve thought about

00:24:05.267 –> 00:24:08.487
this one a few times myself. So I’m sitting in my leather chair with my feet

00:24:08.487 –> 00:24:12.727
up on the ottoman watching Netflix or Amazon prime, whatever. And.

00:24:13.725 –> 00:24:18.965
Not only is someone pounding on the front door, they get the front door open and I’m sitting there.

00:24:19.485 –> 00:24:25.025
Holy cow. What am I going to do now for me? My front door is probably less than

00:24:25.025 –> 00:24:30.425
10 feet from my said leather chair from my leather chair that I sit in all the

00:24:30.425 –> 00:24:31.925
time to watch movies and whatever.

00:24:32.325 –> 00:24:34.485
What in the heck am I going to do in that scenario?

00:24:35.165 –> 00:24:39.465
Do I have a tool? Do I have a self-defense tool nearby?

00:24:40.065 –> 00:24:43.665
Do I have a gun or knife on my person? is

00:24:43.665 –> 00:24:46.465
my cell phone near me so I can grab it as I get up

00:24:46.465 –> 00:24:50.005
I don’t know what would you do what would

00:24:50.005 –> 00:24:52.965
you do so you know his here’s

00:24:52.965 –> 00:24:59.365
one for some of the younger of us right so maybe you’re at a college party and

00:24:59.365 –> 00:25:03.845
who knows maybe you’re with friends maybe you’re not this particular night you’d

00:25:03.845 –> 00:25:07.925
had a rough week and your friends were tied up and busy but you were bound and

00:25:07.925 –> 00:25:10.645
determined to get out of the dorm or out of the house, whatever.

00:25:11.165 –> 00:25:15.545
And you went out by yourself, or maybe your friends are with me or with you.

00:25:15.925 –> 00:25:19.385
So you’re, you, you go to a, you go to a college party.

00:25:19.565 –> 00:25:23.005
Maybe it’s at a bar, maybe it’s at a dorm, maybe it’s at a frat house,

00:25:23.245 –> 00:25:24.325
sorority house, whatever.

00:25:25.365 –> 00:25:31.885
And maybe a guy or a group of guys start talking aggressively to the women at the party,

00:25:31.905 –> 00:25:38.685
to the ladies at the party and even to you and and maybe and maybe they not

00:25:38.685 –> 00:25:43.245
only are talking aggressive but they’re saying inappropriate things what are

00:25:43.245 –> 00:25:45.325
you going to do how would you handle that,

00:25:46.106 –> 00:25:51.246
Do you have boundaries for yourself? Are you letting those guys get into your personal space?

00:25:51.846 –> 00:25:56.346
Are you allowing them to grope you? What happens if they do get close enough

00:25:56.346 –> 00:25:58.986
and decide to grab or touch you? What are you going to do?

00:25:59.406 –> 00:26:04.886
Do you have the boundaries? Do you have that monster firm voice that we all

00:26:04.886 –> 00:26:07.006
have deep inside of us? Are you going to let it out?

00:26:07.546 –> 00:26:12.066
What are you going to do? Are you going to leave the party? That might not be

00:26:12.066 –> 00:26:14.226
such a bad idea, right? Get away.

00:26:14.946 –> 00:26:18.506
So a similar scenario maybe you’re

00:26:18.506 –> 00:26:21.286
at a bar and look these scenarios that i run

00:26:21.286 –> 00:26:26.286
through some of them might have sex male or female implied but i don’t really

00:26:26.286 –> 00:26:31.546
i wasn’t really intending that just the way some of these like this last one

00:26:31.546 –> 00:26:36.566
i just talked about the college scenario i’m thinking female right and it’s

00:26:36.566 –> 00:26:40.466
just as important for females to think through scenarios it is as it is males.

00:26:40.806 –> 00:26:45.486
So there’s a mixed bag here, but these really apply or could apply to anyone.

00:26:46.586 –> 00:26:49.666
So, you know, kind of extending on the one we just talked about,

00:26:49.906 –> 00:26:54.966
maybe, maybe you’re at a public bar in a, you know, a bar hopping district or whatever.

00:26:55.606 –> 00:27:01.346
And, you know, you meet a guy that night, assuming female, maybe not, that’s okay too.

00:27:01.566 –> 00:27:07.806
But you meet a guy that night and, you know, When you leave the bar for the

00:27:07.806 –> 00:27:10.266
evening later, maybe you guys hung out the whole night.

00:27:10.886 –> 00:27:14.726
Maybe he was just nice enough and dropped by and said hi, and you didn’t feel

00:27:14.726 –> 00:27:18.586
like getting hit on, whatever. Maybe he bought you a drink and moved on, whatever.

00:27:19.166 –> 00:27:24.966
But as you leave the bar, you’re noticing he happens to be leaving the bar at the same time you are.

00:27:25.386 –> 00:27:30.386
Or worse yet, you leave the bar late that night, and that person,

00:27:30.526 –> 00:27:32.906
that individual is out by your car somehow.

00:27:32.906 –> 00:27:38.146
Somehow he found out what car you came in somehow he knew what car you were

00:27:38.146 –> 00:27:43.286
there in and he’s out waiting beside it for you to come out of the bar what do you do?

00:27:44.026 –> 00:27:48.126
Do you try to get around him to get into your car get your car unlocked and get out of there.

00:27:49.113 –> 00:27:52.873
Do you tell him he should shove off and what the heck? You know,

00:27:52.993 –> 00:27:56.053
again, boundaries and using our firm voice sometimes.

00:27:56.793 –> 00:27:59.013
Or do you turn around and go back in the bar?

00:27:59.873 –> 00:28:05.653
Or, you know, do you turn back in and go back in the bar and ask someone to walk you out?

00:28:06.093 –> 00:28:08.253
Ask the bartender for help. What do you do?

00:28:08.793 –> 00:28:12.033
Thinking about these things. That’s not a far-fetched scenario.

00:28:12.733 –> 00:28:19.673
Completely plausible scenario for someone that you weren’t looking to following

00:28:19.673 –> 00:28:22.873
out of the place that you were maybe it’s just a restaurant following you out

00:28:22.873 –> 00:28:27.893
of the place or already being out in the parking lot or even worse next to your

00:28:27.893 –> 00:28:29.693
car waiting on you what do you do,

00:28:30.613 –> 00:28:35.533
so one that i had to deal with back in the day on occasion and some of my friends

00:28:35.533 –> 00:28:39.513
dealt with it regularly because they were in charge of it is you’re leaving

00:28:39.513 –> 00:28:42.713
your place of work maybe you work at a pizzeria or something.

00:28:43.093 –> 00:28:46.773
It’s late at night, place is shut down, it’s time to go home,

00:28:46.813 –> 00:28:50.113
and you’re in charge of making the deposit the next morning at the bank.

00:28:50.413 –> 00:28:52.533
And you’ve got to go outside with the till.

00:28:54.173 –> 00:28:57.953
Are you safe? Have you checked the parking lot before you went out?

00:28:58.393 –> 00:29:02.333
Maybe you get all the way outside and there’s a group approaching. What do you do?

00:29:03.013 –> 00:29:07.053
What do you do? Are you prepared to, are you one to have a gun?

00:29:07.613 –> 00:29:11.293
Is the gun in the till with the cash, in the pouch with the cash?

00:29:11.473 –> 00:29:14.213
That probably won’t do you any good. Is it on your person?

00:29:15.033 –> 00:29:20.333
Do you know these people have intent or not? Do they look threatening?

00:29:20.693 –> 00:29:21.673
Have they threatened you?

00:29:22.093 –> 00:29:25.673
Well, if they haven’t, you likely can’t do anything with that firearm anyway.

00:29:26.293 –> 00:29:31.473
Maybe you don’t have a firearm and they’re approaching. They look kind of thuggish,

00:29:31.753 –> 00:29:35.813
hoodies on, pants around their, down below their butts.

00:29:36.033 –> 00:29:39.833
Whatever it is, you know, what do you do? Have you a plan?

00:29:40.693 –> 00:29:43.853
One that we don’t like to think about a lot one

00:29:43.853 –> 00:29:46.833
that i certainly don’t think about a lot and but is pretty

00:29:46.833 –> 00:29:52.273
common or can happen and arguably could happen more easily or more frequently

00:29:52.273 –> 00:29:56.473
than some of these other scenarios we’ve talked about but let’s say you’re out

00:29:56.473 –> 00:30:01.773
one day one night doesn’t really matter and you’re in a bad car accident and

00:30:01.773 –> 00:30:05.353
your spouse beside you or in the back seat or your friend,

00:30:05.773 –> 00:30:10.693
you realize as soon as the car stops, the vehicle stops moving,

00:30:10.693 –> 00:30:12.833
or maybe you’ve lost conscious.

00:30:13.033 –> 00:30:16.313
And as soon as you become conscious again, you notice your spouse or your friend

00:30:16.313 –> 00:30:19.753
is still in the car and they’re bleeding severely.

00:30:20.153 –> 00:30:23.793
And 911, maybe, maybe hasn’t been called yet.

00:30:23.933 –> 00:30:28.473
Maybe there’s no one else around and they’re bleeding bad. They got cut bad.

00:30:28.653 –> 00:30:34.553
They’re bleeding severely do you have gear on hand do you know what to do do

00:30:34.553 –> 00:30:38.953
you know what to do if you didn’t have gear on hand can you get to your phone

00:30:38.953 –> 00:30:43.113
to call 9-1-1 what are you going to do you’re going to sit there and let them bleed out.

00:30:44.171 –> 00:30:48.851
This is why I said earlier, you know, having some basic trauma care knowledge

00:30:48.851 –> 00:30:54.651
and being able to deal and stop severe bleeding is oh so important, if nothing else.

00:30:54.851 –> 00:30:58.651
And that car accident scene is very possible.

00:30:59.051 –> 00:31:04.131
Or let’s say there’s no one else in the car, but you come to if you were knocked

00:31:04.131 –> 00:31:08.371
out and you realize you’re bleeding severely from your leg or from your arm.

00:31:08.531 –> 00:31:11.291
What are you going to do? Do you have a kit in the car?

00:31:11.531 –> 00:31:16.731
Do you know how to apply a tourniquet? Do you know how to compress a wound to

00:31:16.731 –> 00:31:18.851
get it to slow or stop bleeding?

00:31:20.311 –> 00:31:24.871
Again, a very viable scenario. Have you put any thought into it?

00:31:25.571 –> 00:31:29.711
You know, one that we see, or at least I’ve seen, because I watch a lot of videos

00:31:29.711 –> 00:31:34.871
of horrible things, just so I kind of understand things a little better than the normal person.

00:31:34.871 –> 00:31:38.991
But one that’s fairly common that I see a lot of videos from is gas station

00:31:38.991 –> 00:31:41.331
parking lots or the out around the pumps.

00:31:41.331 –> 00:31:45.911
And if you’ve been following us on Instagram, you’ll know that we’ve given some

00:31:45.911 –> 00:31:50.291
safety tips, quite a few safety tips around vehicles, you know,

00:31:50.331 –> 00:31:55.991
how to make your vehicle more safe, safer inside and outside the vehicle.

00:31:56.231 –> 00:31:59.911
And we’ve talked about some things specifically dealing with what you should

00:31:59.911 –> 00:32:01.611
and shouldn’t be doing at the gas station.

00:32:01.971 –> 00:32:05.311
But let’s say you’re at a gas station and you’re pumping gas like any other

00:32:05.311 –> 00:32:10.751
time and someone’s approaching you. you’re pretty sure they’re not heading towards

00:32:10.751 –> 00:32:15.271
their car now what maybe they are but you haven’t been able to make that determination yet.

00:32:16.255 –> 00:32:19.815
They’re making a beeline straight towards you. What are you doing?

00:32:20.255 –> 00:32:24.775
Are you paying attention? Do you even know they’re walking your way? Are your doors locked?

00:32:25.395 –> 00:32:29.835
Are you wedged between the gas pump and the side of your car holding onto the nozzle?

00:32:30.095 –> 00:32:34.035
Or are you stepped behind or in front or beside the car on the opposite side

00:32:34.035 –> 00:32:37.275
to stay out of that tight, as they say, kill zone?

00:32:37.815 –> 00:32:41.595
Where are you? And what are you prepared to do as that person approaches you?

00:32:41.915 –> 00:32:45.055
It’s a very, very common scenario. Very possible.

00:32:45.855 –> 00:32:48.695
Same thing mall parking lot you know we’ve got a lot of

00:32:48.695 –> 00:32:51.815
we you know and that’s all thinking through scenario is

00:32:51.815 –> 00:32:54.675
about is just thinking about common everyday

00:32:54.675 –> 00:33:00.075
things that we do situations that we might find ourselves in and we’re we’re

00:33:00.075 –> 00:33:03.355
in them all the time right how many times have we go to the grocery store once

00:33:03.355 –> 00:33:07.015
a week twice a week every day i’ve got some friends that shop for meals every

00:33:07.015 –> 00:33:10.735
day because they never know what they’re going to eat how often are you at a

00:33:10.735 –> 00:33:13.075
store or an event, you know?

00:33:13.575 –> 00:33:17.135
So thinking through scenarios isn’t about getting wild and wacky Hollywood.

00:33:17.595 –> 00:33:20.955
It’s about thinking things that you would do normally.

00:33:21.575 –> 00:33:25.695
So yeah, mall parking lots, another one approached again.

00:33:26.155 –> 00:33:32.515
Where are you? Is it nighttime? Is it lit? Are you alone? Are you in a group? What are you guys doing?

00:33:33.235 –> 00:33:39.675
All these things. And again, you may not have the most awesome thought-out plan

00:33:39.675 –> 00:33:42.995
in the world that’s going to work. You won’t know until you try.

00:33:43.395 –> 00:33:48.715
But again, the idea is at least you’ve thought about it and at least you have

00:33:48.715 –> 00:33:53.435
a plan so that when and if the day something happens, you know what you’re going to do.

00:33:53.595 –> 00:33:57.455
And knowing what you’re going to do ahead of time puts you way ahead of the

00:33:57.455 –> 00:33:59.775
person that hasn’t given a single bit of thought.

00:34:00.575 –> 00:34:04.975
So the last scenario that I wanted to talk about that was brought up by a dear

00:34:04.975 –> 00:34:07.595
friend of mine is I’m hiking.

00:34:08.435 –> 00:34:16.155
Maybe I’m hiking the AT, the Appalachian Trail. Maybe I’m hiking a really great trail up in Maine.

00:34:17.696 –> 00:34:22.596
And I’m alone. I’ve decided that I’ve got to prove to myself that I can make this trip.

00:34:23.336 –> 00:34:29.656
Should I make this trip? I don’t know. But I’m going to, because I’ve got to prove this to myself.

00:34:30.296 –> 00:34:34.416
Maybe I’ve got to show some people what I’m capable of too. But in the mix,

00:34:34.436 –> 00:34:37.196
I’m going to make this trip, and I’m doing it alone.

00:34:38.336 –> 00:34:42.476
Are you prepared? And we’re not talking about all the gear, because I bet you

00:34:42.476 –> 00:34:43.896
if you took that type of trip,

00:34:44.136 –> 00:34:47.836
you’d be doing your research ahead of time, And maybe you already have quite

00:34:47.836 –> 00:34:53.656
a bit of gear because going on big hikes and going on backpacking camping trips is normal for you.

00:34:54.096 –> 00:34:57.056
But you’re going to be thinking about your gear and what you want to take and

00:34:57.056 –> 00:35:00.136
what you want to leave behind and what weight savings you’re going to have.

00:35:00.196 –> 00:35:01.236
You’re going to be thinking about that.

00:35:01.636 –> 00:35:05.176
But have you thought about what happens if you fall down and break your leg

00:35:05.176 –> 00:35:09.536
or twist your ankle severely? What are you going to do?

00:35:10.416 –> 00:35:14.556
Maybe you fall off a cliff and get bad lacerations on the way down and you’re

00:35:14.556 –> 00:35:15.916
bleeding out profusely.

00:35:16.656 –> 00:35:20.516
What are you going to do? Do you have the kit? Do you have a kit?

00:35:20.696 –> 00:35:27.836
Do you have anything beyond a basic first aid kit with alcohol swabs and band-aids and neosporin?

00:35:28.616 –> 00:35:33.676
The first aid kit’s not going to do you a bit of good in those scenarios. So do you have the gear?

00:35:33.976 –> 00:35:38.116
And are you trained enough to be able to work that gear and apply it even to

00:35:38.116 –> 00:35:40.456
yourself? Because no one else is around, right?

00:35:41.936 –> 00:35:45.076
Maybe while you’re on that hiking trip, a stranger approaches.

00:35:45.076 –> 00:35:49.776
I would believe that since you’re hiking alone, anyone you come across is going

00:35:49.776 –> 00:35:51.236
to be a perfectly good stranger.

00:35:51.736 –> 00:35:56.636
Maybe this person is shifty-eyed. Maybe they seem overly nice.

00:35:57.156 –> 00:36:03.176
Maybe they fit the profile and are exercising common techniques used by predators

00:36:03.176 –> 00:36:05.356
to get and gain your trust.

00:36:06.036 –> 00:36:10.136
Do you know enough? Are you trained well enough? Have you read enough to recognize

00:36:10.136 –> 00:36:12.996
some of those so you know not to engage with them?

00:36:12.996 –> 00:36:16.956
What if you’re out there and they

00:36:16.956 –> 00:36:23.356
try something bad with you physically or engage in a verbal altercation with

00:36:23.356 –> 00:36:29.016
you what do you do do you have a cell phone on you can it get signal are you

00:36:29.016 –> 00:36:31.696
close to a ranger station or

00:36:31.696 –> 00:36:35.916
a main road are you deep 20 miles into the woods with no one else around,

00:36:36.536 –> 00:36:41.516
do you know what to do you know do you have your knife on you can you pick up

00:36:41.516 –> 00:36:47.476
a stick can you blow a whistle whatever it might be the point is is that you

00:36:47.476 –> 00:36:52.696
need to be thinking about these things and then hopefully putting a plan in place ahead of time.

00:36:53.831 –> 00:36:58.431
And so with that, I want to wrap up our episode talking about thinking through

00:36:58.431 –> 00:37:05.371
scenarios and the importance of doing so when taking our personal safety into account.

00:37:05.571 –> 00:37:08.611
Again, hopefully if you start thinking through scenarios, it’s going to be one

00:37:08.611 –> 00:37:13.111
way to get you to start thinking about some things like your personal safety

00:37:13.111 –> 00:37:15.371
and realizing that it is your responsibility.

00:37:16.011 –> 00:37:22.171
And then if you are someone, which hopefully you are, that takes your personal safety more seriously,

00:37:22.411 –> 00:37:26.031
at least thinking through scenarios still benefits you as much,

00:37:26.051 –> 00:37:30.471
if not even more, because you’re going to have the opportunity to think about

00:37:30.471 –> 00:37:34.611
things ahead of time and most importantly, get a game plan in place so that

00:37:34.611 –> 00:37:36.431
when and if the day happens,

00:37:36.711 –> 00:37:39.191
which again, is generally rare.

00:37:39.191 –> 00:37:44.391
But if it were to happen, you’re a hundred times ahead of the game to the next

00:37:44.391 –> 00:37:48.251
person because you have thought about it ahead of time and you put a game plan

00:37:48.251 –> 00:37:51.191
together for yourself and you don’t even have to think about it.

00:37:51.311 –> 00:37:53.211
You just execute and put it into motion.

00:37:53.771 –> 00:37:57.651
So I hope this episode has really been helpful. I hope you’ve taken away some

00:37:57.651 –> 00:38:01.231
things. I hope it’s made you think about some things you haven’t before.

00:38:02.611 –> 00:38:05.791
And actually, I hope you do start thinking about some things,

00:38:05.951 –> 00:38:07.691
some scenarios ahead of time.

00:38:07.691 –> 00:38:10.531
And if you find this

00:38:10.531 –> 00:38:13.231
episode useful please share it with your friends put it

00:38:13.231 –> 00:38:17.111
on facebook social media wherever like

00:38:17.111 –> 00:38:22.871
us follow us and go back through and listen to some of our past podcasts as

00:38:22.871 –> 00:38:26.971
well we’ve got some good stuff out there situational awareness the importance

00:38:26.971 –> 00:38:32.771
of mindset firearm safety and some other good topics oh and even how to put

00:38:32.771 –> 00:38:35.071
together your trauma kits I think we mentioned that earlier.

00:38:35.311 –> 00:38:39.571
So we appreciate you listening in and we’ll hope to have you back the next time.

00:38:39.771 –> 00:38:40.991
Thanks so much for listening.

00:38:41.360 –> 00:39:01.180
Music.