“When you least expect it, you’re elected!” – Farnam
Note from a fellow Instructor.
My wife and I live in subdivision located in what is generally considered a quiet, small town.
Sunday afternoon I was working in my home office when multiple police sirens became apparent in the distance. Within a minute, those sirens were in our neighborhood, and then coming down our street!
I looked out the window and saw multiple squad cars engaged in a high-speed pursuit of a small SUV, heading directly towards our house.
As the chase passed by, another patrol car appeared in the intersection a few houses down. The fleeing vehicle smashed into it and came to a stop as a 5th police vehicle cut off his route and the other chase vehicles pinned him in from behind. 6 responding officers exited their squads with guns drawn.
I immediately yelled to my wife to “get to the basement, now!” as I chambered a round in my rifle. As we we made our way to the basement stairs, I observed the officers through our front window and all were re-holstering their pistols – a relatively good sign that the VCA was in handcuffs.
And, I also saw the majority of my neighbors exiting their homes rushing towards the scene, many with children in tow!
I cracked my front door open and loudly communicated “It’s not a good idea to go over there, it’s dangerous!” I was completely ignored.
The driver had been boxed in and gave up without a fight, however, 4 guns were found in his car, along with a pound of marijuana, open alcohol, fake ID, and drug paraphernalia.
He certainly had the means to fight, just not the will. Lucky for us all!
My otherwise conservative and productive neighbors’ behavior was incredibly disappointing. The situation had all the ingredients it needed to go south, fast!
My first thought was to get concrete between the threat and my wife, since all that was separating us from projectiles moving 1400 feet-per-second was one layer of aluminum siding combined with an inch of plywood and drywall. My neighbors’ first thoughts were to “get a good look”, thus exposing themselves and their children to potential injury, death, or to be taken hostage.
Even if the offender was in cuffs and locked in the back of a patrol car, the officers on scene were now going to handle, clear, and inventory 4 guns in the middle of the street, hopefully without any UD’s. The gathering crowd was clueless!
More proof that we’re all on our own!
Comments:
There’s no such thing as safe!
“Safe” is a word humans invented to describe an imaginary condition. Like Utopia, it can never be attained. Our politicians go on ad nauseam about gun safety, safe streets, officer safety, child safety, etc., all in order to garner votes (and power), but their rhetoric is hollow – not only because they lie for a living, but because their premise (much like communism) isn’t based in reality.
Safety doesn’t exist – there’s only degrees of risk. Life on Earth is a risky proposition. Every endeavor, including waking up in the morning, carries with it the potential for injury or death. No matter how hard we try, no matter what laws we enact, we will never eliminate the risk. All we can do is minimize it!
Choosing where and how we live, as well as who we live with, is really a matter of risk management. We do what we can to live in places with low crime rates, but low doesn’t translate to NONE. As our friend testifies to, even on a sunny, Sunday afternoon, locked inside a “safe neighborhood” home, danger shows up uninvited.
Those who naively believe that their choice of neighborhood, door locks, alarm system, or donation size to a political campaign makes them completely immune from harm, are adults in name only. The difference between their fantasies and that of a child who believes in Santa is that the child will eventually grow up and accept that Santa doesn’t exist.
Actual adults not only recognize life’s risks, they embrace them and move forward boldly! In our friend’s case, he was armed, trained, ready, and had a plan. It sounds like the majority of his neighbors didn’t. Granted, they survived, but through no fault of their own. And, most likely, have learned nothing from it.
How about you?
“Delusion: A false belief regarding the self that persists despite the facts, and is a common psychotic state.” – Webster’s Dictionary
