January 4th, 2009
James points out a great post by Dan from Madison: If I Had Hair On The Back Of My Neck It Would Have Been Standing Up
Rather than me excerpting bits and pieces, you should just go read the whole thing to see what situation he found himself in and how it ended up.
I’ve got a couple of comments:
- Madison is in Wisconsin, and Wisconsin is one of two states with no form of concealed carry available to the general public.
- So Dan “armed” himself with a knife and a flashlight to confront a potential threat who had both hands in his pockets.
- Talk about walking into indian territory.
It all ended okay and might even have been nothing but a lost driver who was a few cards short of a full deck. But I would never have bet money, let alone my life, on it.
And I’ve got to quote one little snippet about how the store’s cashier called the cops:
I saw them with rollers on coming toward the convenience store a mile down the road as I was driving away. This was a good three minutes after the incident happened. I could have been dead if that guy had attacked me and I wasn’t able to defend myself. Self defense is up to you. Do not count on the professionals to save you.
Dan mentions that, upon reflection, he “probably should not have exited the vehicle at all until that guy was in a range I was more comfortable with.” That’s probably a good point, but now that this incident is past he can incorporate lessons learned into future encounters. He’s got a real-world example of how he reacted, and he remembers how he felt while it was unfolding. That’s a hell of a lot more valuable than any advice in any book.
Finally, though the only weapons he had available were the knife and flashlight, Dan went into indian territory with both eyes open, aware of the potential danger and ready to fight. That mindset is absolutely crucial to winning. If this same thing had gone down in the heart of Texas and Dan possessed a concealed gun but no will to fight, he would have been much worse off.
James calls the unexplainable feeling of imminent danger “The Monkey”. I call it (despite Murdoc being a DC guy and not a Marvel guy) my “Spider Sense”. Listen to it.
Tags: WI
