Contingencies

Read this quite gripping account of a survivor from the Mumbai Islamic terrorist attacks. It forced me to think about a couple of disturbing things.

First off, put yourself in that man’s place. Can you think of anything more horrible, more terrible, than to be a civilian thrown into a paramilitary situation as this? I never use that old phrase, “There but for the grace of God …” but I think it’s more than appropriate for use here. I realize just how much God protects us and cares for us simply by not having these seeming random acts of violence touch the majority of our lives. Would I be as clear-headed as that man in that situation? Would I even know the first thing to do to save myself? What if my family was with me, stranded, isolated, helpless, waiting in a hotel room and not knowing whether the approaching footsteps were those of a policeman or an Islamofascist thug?

Couple this with the rash of school and workplace shootings over the past ten years or so. Think about your desk at work. If you heard “firecrackers popping” just outside the hall, will you allow yourself to freeze, or will you promise yourself, right now as you read this, to take action first and foremost, and worry about the possibility of looking silly later. For instance: Is there an escape route (preferably more than one) you can take? A failsafe place you could hide? Something / anything you can use to defend yourself with? Think seriously about this, and find answers to these questions. Remember: No job, none, is worth sacrificing your life over. I know firemen who always plan an escape route whenever they sleep in a new hotel room, or even enter a new building for a meeting or party. I knew a man who never sat with his back to a door. Prepared planning or paranoia?

Consider yourselves on notice from this moment on. Going down a dark street alone at night? Fine, but what would you do if someone came at you? Approaching your car by yourself in a parking garage? Make sure there’s no one waiting for you in the back seat. Sitting down for a meal at a nice restaurant? Note the exits. Read that stupid little cartoon pamphlet about airplane evacuation as you’re waiting to taxi onto the runway.

This is not, and in no way should be construed as, an invitation to a life of fear. No. Absolutely not. Quite the contrary, in fact. This is an invitation to be prepared. To be always entertaining silent thought exercises in your mind. To grow confident, secure in the knowledge that if there’s smoke, or an explosion, or a scream, you’ll know exactly what needs to be done, and do it.

To never be a victim, never again. Or at the very least go down fighting hard.