People who carry concealed pistols talk about situational awareness all the time. But this activity is something that is a lot easier to describe than it is to practice. Most of the time when we go through our average day, we don't even notice a lot of the activity that occurs around us. It takes some real definite practice to really do proper situational awareness. I can relate an incident that is an example of someone who did not practice this very important task. One of our neighbors made her usual weekly trip the grocery store a few months ago. She has a large family and has to purchase a large number of food items to feed her family each week. As is true of a lot of people who go to the grocery store every day, she pushed her fully loaded basket out to her car. The basket was parked by the side of the car as she opened the rear door to load in her groceries. She was very focused in getting everything loaded. She was not aware of the car that was moving slowly up and down each row of vehicles in the parking lot. That is before it was too late. Before she knew it a man stepped out of the passenger side of the car and grabbed the handle of her purse which she had left in the baby seat of the basket. He was gone in an instant as the car drove away swiftly.
The manager of the store helped her call the police, but there was not much they could do. She could not give an accurate description of the robber or the car, it had happened so fast! I think you know the two main mistakes that this lady made. First, she should never have left her purse in the baby seat of the basket. When the robbers were cruising by that is probably what they noticed first as an easy mark. Second she did not practice any situational awareness. Had she been aware of the car going back and forth very slowly in the parking lot, she could have protected her belongings and not have lost her purse to some criminal. In her interview with police the woman said the these crooks just “appeared out of nowhere”. What this really means is she had a blatant breakdown in situational awareness. Most probably she had never even though about practicing such a simple task as that. A classic example of not thinking ahead and observing her surroundings. It would only have taken a small amount of observance on her part to see what was going on around her to keep from becoming a victim.
No matter the time of day or circumstance it is imperative that you be observant of everything that is around you, in a church parking lot, in a gas station, or in your own driveway. These days criminals have become much more aggressive in their desire to take advantage of any opportunity that they can find. It is also necessary for anyone who goes out in public for shopping or other tasks be prepared in advance to be observant. Anywhere there are people you do not know. It is not that difficult to practice such a task. Anytime you get out of your car, just turn your head around so that you can see everything that is happening around you. The anticipation that you should have is a very important component of effective situational awareness. It is necessary for you to be intentional about observance. You need to think in advance about when you are going to need to have situational awareness. This advance thought should become a habit for you. Be more intentional about self protection and you will have better results.
The fact that you turn your head is not the complete task you need to perform. You need to focus and understand what is going on around you so you can take appropriate action. When you are walking back to your car, just keep watching all the activities that are happening around you. When you get to a point where you have to stop, just turn your head and observe everything that is going on around you. If you observe an activity that is suspicious then take precautions to protect yourself. That may mean moving to another location or it could even mean reaching for your concealed carry pistol. All these tasks do certainly require some anticipation on your part in order for you to be ready for self-protection at any time.
When the lady had her purse ripped away from her she said to police that the crook just came out of nowhere. This is a sure indication that she was not observant and did not know what was going on around her. This is a sure recipe to become a victim of robbery or even worse.
