PSA: situational awareness saves lives.
I live off of Aurora Ave in Seattle, which is notorious as the strip where hookers, junkies, and serial killers go to score. It's mentioned in books about Bundy and the Green River Killer.
On my way back to my car in a dark parking lot yesterday, a guy tried to snatch me. I saw him coming out of the corner my eye and spun out of the way, but he still managed to grab my sleeve. We had a silent standoff, and he decided the fight wasn't worth it and ran.
@malice wow- glad it ended as well as it did for you- how frightening! I hope they catch him
@malice you are the straight shizzle! So glad you did and shared.
Face the fear, not that you were afraid, is not taught enough, or, not taken enough at face value.
@malice Howdy, ex-cop here, and I'm glad you're physically safe. Of course that is kinda the easy part much of the time.
I've seen many people, men and women alike, that would call this a "near miss" and try to just move on, but then later realize that it really did something awful to them and they didn't take care of themselves maybe as well as they should have afterwards.
This incident was a big deal.
I understand your lack of trust in police (I now am like this). I hope the guy is caught.
@malice I hope that you can "move on", but if you can't, please take good care of yourself and ask for a little help if needed. I hope you can have peace after all this.
You did very well handling the incident in that moment. It ended the encounter, nothing more, nothing less. Outstanding! I hope it can end there.
Someone I look up to still once told me "You gotta be tough to live out West." Seems to me like we should be glad to have you around here.
@malice I'm glad you're alright (or as alright as you can be, considering). I keep a big eye on stuff around me, too. I've never had a good exit strategy if something goes down... Facing an attacker is an idea I haven't considered. I'll have to think on that.
real video of violent attack. Situational awareness might have helped Show more
@malice glad you are safe. It is straight up terrifying. I went through a similar experience overseas. Being aware of your surroundings is so incredibly important. Learning self-defense is also. Even with being prepared though you can quickly find yourself in a frightening situation. Hope you are ok.
@SimplyZippy @malice thanks for the recommendation. :-)
@SimplyZippy @Museek @malice You handled the situation well. Another resource is the MacYoung’s No Nonsense Self Defense website. http://www.nononsenseselfdefense.com/
@jaunty @SimplyZippy @malice thank you for the recommendation
I’m thankful you’re okay.
I’m glad the police were called.
At least he’s thwarted for tonight.
Now, pardon me for a minute, while I become your sixty second mom:
Always park in a lighted area, as close to your destination as possible.
Put your keys through your fingers. Keep a roll of nickles in your pocket, clutch them in the hand with the keys. Quarters if hands are big
Don’t brandish. Keep element of surprise.
Coins will add weight to swing
One sore mofo 😉
I was unarmed and alone, and I had no idea of he was armed. My instinct is never to run, but to face the person...something about putting my back to an active threat bothers me (and my cardio is shit so I'm a terrible runner anyway). In this instance, he took my facing him as being too much hassle to be worth it, and he split. But it does not always work that way.
If I had been less aware, he would have grabbed me and pulled me into his vehicle.
Whether or not you're armed...stay aware.