Hank_Z
02-01-2009, 07:45 PM
A few days ago, I spent my lunch hour in a public park in a large city in Costa Rica. The sun was shining and the cool winds were blowing. Gorgeous day.
As I was sitting on a bench eating my lunch, I noticed a man who made his way to a nearby bench. Even though he'd walked quite a ways from a car and merely sat down for about 20 minutes, I noticed that he kept his keys in his hands.
Glancing towards the busy street, I noticed a man in his 20s walking on the sidewalk. He kept a writing pen in his hand for as long as I could see him walk.
About 30 seconds later, a woman in her 30s got out of her car at the other end of the block and made her way across the street and then about a block further to a store. As she walked, her keys were very visible in her hand.
I had already started carrying a one-piece stainless steel pen in my hand when I'm out in public. It's the Spanish Inoxocrompen pen that Digger recommended so highly. (I found a U.S. seller, if anyone is interested. The pen is terrific; gorgeous and very strong.)
Two main thoughts:
1. I think that just carrying the pen in my hand helped me watch other people more closely than I had before. More of a "self-defense", aware mindset.
2. I'm not guaranteeing that I can think like a "bad guy." But just seeing those three people very visibly carrying items they could use for self-defense would make me want to "go after" someone other than them if I were a bad guy. :hammer: Heck, keys can be used to do damage to eyes and other vulnerable areas.
(BTW, Digger, I still don't have the book "Self-Defence in 30 Seconds" by Rob Redenbach in mid-December. His customer service is great: He's going to send another to me at no charge, even though the address he said he used for the first one was correct. Straight-up guy.)
Hank
As I was sitting on a bench eating my lunch, I noticed a man who made his way to a nearby bench. Even though he'd walked quite a ways from a car and merely sat down for about 20 minutes, I noticed that he kept his keys in his hands.
Glancing towards the busy street, I noticed a man in his 20s walking on the sidewalk. He kept a writing pen in his hand for as long as I could see him walk.
About 30 seconds later, a woman in her 30s got out of her car at the other end of the block and made her way across the street and then about a block further to a store. As she walked, her keys were very visible in her hand.
I had already started carrying a one-piece stainless steel pen in my hand when I'm out in public. It's the Spanish Inoxocrompen pen that Digger recommended so highly. (I found a U.S. seller, if anyone is interested. The pen is terrific; gorgeous and very strong.)
Two main thoughts:
1. I think that just carrying the pen in my hand helped me watch other people more closely than I had before. More of a "self-defense", aware mindset.
2. I'm not guaranteeing that I can think like a "bad guy." But just seeing those three people very visibly carrying items they could use for self-defense would make me want to "go after" someone other than them if I were a bad guy. :hammer: Heck, keys can be used to do damage to eyes and other vulnerable areas.
(BTW, Digger, I still don't have the book "Self-Defence in 30 Seconds" by Rob Redenbach in mid-December. His customer service is great: He's going to send another to me at no charge, even though the address he said he used for the first one was correct. Straight-up guy.)
Hank