This video is primarily directed to people who carry a firearm or who must travel or work in high-risk environments.
The presenter uses the O-O-D-A (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) loop in a very deliberate way.
Observe: When you first walk into a space, scan the space and tag anomalies. Examples: People wearing clothes that are out-of-season, hiding their hands, are too quiet, too loud, carrying bags, stone-faced, everybody looking at one person or in one direction, somebody not staring at their phone.
Orient: Your observation skills will tag several anomalies. Those anomalies are the puzzle you must prepare to solve, the rest of the situation is a stage or is noise rather than signal. Filter out the noise and let your mind deal with the signal.
Decide: Do the anomalies present a possible threat?
- Sort through the cast-of-characters, the "Who"s in the situation. Maybe the stone-faced man whose eyeballs never stop is the boss and not a jilted lover. Maybe the pretty girl directly approaching you is a decoy.
- What is a likely scenario or story behind everybody in a coffee-shop being totally still and looking in one direction?
- Where is the primary threat likely to come from? The secondary threat? Is leaving the scene an option? It might be too late (When).
- Sort through your options and choose one. How are you going to survive this evolving situation.
Act: Even if you determine there is no immediate threat in the space, standing by the door might not be the safest place to be. Inaction or freezing is an action that will call unwanted attention to you.
Cities
One of the reasons I dislike visiting cities is that I am no longer calibrated to them. I don't have a solid baseline of what is normal and what is not-normal.
 |
| A rare photo of ERJ in the city |
Another issue is that I dress and walk and talk like a "hick". I am the anomaly. I am the pasty-white, old dude wearing a battered camo jacket, work-boots and a blaze orange, knit cap. When I go into a restaurant the hostess directs me to the kitchen to unstop the plugged drain.
I am no longer invisible when I am in a city. I get too much attention. I don't know the players. The old saw goes something like "There is a patsy in every poker game. If you don't know who the patsy is...then it is you."
I can handle cities - but I don't want to anymore (I was never big on them).
ReplyDeleteI don't like the controlled crowded conditions, the rules, the dirt, trash, and entitled people.
I would much rather face bad weather than heavy traffic.
I want my own space, privacy, and quiet, and the freedom to do what I want when I want to.
Jonathan
We lived in Australia for a while. At the Ekka in Brisbane (i.e. the big country fair in the capital of Queensland) a young couple walked past and the lad murmured to his lass "Did you see that old Bushie?"
ReplyDeleteThere you are: I could not only pass myself off as a local but as an iconic Aussie character. My wife thought it most amusing. I suggested that they must have thought that she looked like a Bushie's wife.
Is her name Barbie?
DeleteHer complexion was rather too good for a dweller "in the bush". The Aussie sun can be pretty hard on your skin.
Delete(I am not poking fun at Oz or Aussies. We loved our time there.)
BushBarbie has a youtube channel. There is nothing wrong with her complexion.
DeleteI tell people to pay attention to your guts and the people around you. Predators look around scanning of prey and sheepdogs, prey stare at their cellphone or other distraction. Most of my scars come from times I overrode my "somethings weird or time to go" urges.
ReplyDeleteUncle Remus said it well enough "Stay away from crowds" and "stay away from stupid people doing stupid things". As EMS I've lost count how many folks I was patching up for a trip to the ER and OR "knew they should have left".
The saddest cases are the women beaten and worse who "just wanted him to love me" so they overrode the gut saying time to GO. Her parents never taught her self respect not what LOVE really looks like.
Always know the exits and especially not the obvious ones. I frequently carry but am most inclined to get out via the restaurant's kitchen doors Or Walmart's garden center doors instead of being Macho.
Done Macho got the scars, done the shooting bit didn't like the months long legal issues that resulted from a "Clean Self Defense" case.
Ahh, Joe - you know, you only get old in your head. You should look at 'blending in' as a skill to be developed into a strength, like any other. It can come in handy when it counts the most. Study and learn how to blend in, in any surrounding, as a non-player character. Jackets and hats don't take up much room, and can be kept in a backpack left in the truck for that purpose.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was working, I had to spend a few days a month in LA, DC or NYC. It really doesn't take too much time to figure out who is a potential problem and where you don't want to go. An old man who is observant is less of a target than a tourist taking pictures or a youngster fixated on his/her/it's phone.
ReplyDeleteOverseas in Easter Europe or the Middle East the same rules applied but i will admit having a local with me made it easier.
I always looked at what firearms the police or military were carrying in case the SHTF. After some training I was good with battlefield pick up.
Martial arts can be another venue where the principles of observation and action are taught. It is not just the act of defending one's self, it is learning to understand the cues given off by a potential attacker.
ReplyDeleteI can certainly blend into the city environment when I have to. And for me, one of the first urban rules is "Do not stick out".
When I stopped in at the local gas station, there was an unoccupied squad car parked normally out front. I was congratulating myself for looking around after entering, wondering "where's the cop, is there trouble?", looking for anything suspicious. Then I realized I was the one who appeared suspicious and did a mental eye-roll, got my stuff and left.
ReplyDeleteBack again, two days later, there were three squad cars and five or six officers inside standing in an inward-facing circle, talking unconcernedly. I may stop going there; the place makes me paranoid.
ERJ looks like a likeable fellow about to do a pole dance.
"Don't stick out " good advice to be sure . Try not to look like a tourist . walk with purpose , be aware of surroundings . Do not display expensive jewelry ,flashy watches and cell phones. Good luck , it's a jungle out there !
ReplyDeleteI never did "blend in". I don't like cities or big crowds. Thankful I have never lived in a really big city. Don't care to now.
ReplyDeleteYou all be safe and God bless.
Change your mode-of-dress if you don't wanna stand out as the country mouse or as the guy who unclogs drains.
ReplyDeleteChoose to blend in...or stand, out as you wish
You can't change your age but you can change how you are perceived.
Me, I just try to look harmless until the need for a different person shows up.
Lesson learned from many years of leading and being involved in audits, 2nd and 3rd party: If nothing looks out of place, people will generally move on.
DeleteI couldn't find this video . Please publish a clickable link.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much.
P.S. I love the Neanderthal graphic. I can't wait to use it. Consider it stolen.
ReplyDelete