I had an interesting thing happen this morning that illustrates (at least, to me) how even the best training leaves us sometimes vulnerable to mistakes.
I woke up about 6 am and lit up my computer. While it was warming up I heard a crash and a car alarm sounding off in the neighborhood. I ran to the door and saw a Jeep laying on its side in the middle of the street a few houses down. It had hit a parked car and flipped. Obviously, it had been speeding.
I've had a lot of training over the years, for things from law enforcement to self-defense and-- most recently-- first aid. When I saw the car, my first thought was for injured occupants, so I grabbed my first aid kit and headed toward the wreck. When I was about a hundred feet away from my door, a small sedan backed very quickly down the street and the driver of the Jeep piled into the passenger side and they sped away, nearly running me down. It was then that I realized that I should have grabbed my shotgun instead of a first aid kit.
When the police finally showed up, we found that the Jeep was stolen and packed full of stolen computers and construction tools. Not only that, but the small sedan used as a getaway car was stolen too. We had evidently been introduced to a full-blown burglary ring.
The point I'm trying to make here is that, while I recognized the wreck as an emergency, I didn't realize what type of emergency it was. I know that if I had grabbed the shotty and stopped the car-- or worse yet, blown the tires out, I might well have been in more trouble than the burglars, which is a subject for a whole differnt thread, but I also know full well, looking back, that's exactly what I should have done. I just wasn't prepared, and I pride myself at being just that. I guess it can be called a "wake-up call."
I woke up about 6 am and lit up my computer. While it was warming up I heard a crash and a car alarm sounding off in the neighborhood. I ran to the door and saw a Jeep laying on its side in the middle of the street a few houses down. It had hit a parked car and flipped. Obviously, it had been speeding.
I've had a lot of training over the years, for things from law enforcement to self-defense and-- most recently-- first aid. When I saw the car, my first thought was for injured occupants, so I grabbed my first aid kit and headed toward the wreck. When I was about a hundred feet away from my door, a small sedan backed very quickly down the street and the driver of the Jeep piled into the passenger side and they sped away, nearly running me down. It was then that I realized that I should have grabbed my shotgun instead of a first aid kit.
When the police finally showed up, we found that the Jeep was stolen and packed full of stolen computers and construction tools. Not only that, but the small sedan used as a getaway car was stolen too. We had evidently been introduced to a full-blown burglary ring.
The point I'm trying to make here is that, while I recognized the wreck as an emergency, I didn't realize what type of emergency it was. I know that if I had grabbed the shotty and stopped the car-- or worse yet, blown the tires out, I might well have been in more trouble than the burglars, which is a subject for a whole differnt thread, but I also know full well, looking back, that's exactly what I should have done. I just wasn't prepared, and I pride myself at being just that. I guess it can be called a "wake-up call."
My City is full of our new found friends and they our new found friends are involved with much of the small minded street crime. They cause a lot of damage to many of the people who don't understand who they are.