Be Aware! Bad guys will use a number of different tricks to distract potential targets – don’t get blindsided, and have a healthy amount of suspicion for anything out of the ordinary. For example, everyone gets flyers on their windshield from time to time. But that could be used as a distraction, right? Some of you may have also heard of someone returning to their car to find a water bottle placed on the hood. What’s the main immediate reaction? Simple – you go to get the bottle off the hood – right? Wrong! It’s a trick – just a way to distract you. So the answer is simple – get in your car and driiiive awaaaay!
No hesitation, no distraction… No problem!
In my martial arts teaching days, I was well known for telling karate stories. Texas karate is filled with tales of “blood and guts” karate, and I think that knowing the history of our system was important for my students to know. But storytelling also helps you remember information better and also its fun and entertaining.
This story, though, is to remind you that there are many ways for predators to distract us. The one I learned of most recently was of a teen girl who left a store to find a van parked next to her car and a pair or sunglasses hung in the doorhandle. Two huge red flags! As soon as she spotted the sunglasses (a distraction) she went straight back inside and called the police. Amazingly, as soon as she called the van drove away. What the police said was there was probably a team in the store and in the parking lot. The inside team warned the outside team so the van got away. But the sunglasses in the doorhandle… that was the distraction!
Smart girl! She didn’t stand there debating about what to do, or call a friend for advice, or just blow the whole thing off thinking she was just “being silly”. She went directly back inside and took action by calling the police. Go straight back inside – do not pass go, do not collect $200!!
Diane Reeve Kirby is an 8th degree Black Belt with over 35 years of martial arts training. She was the sole owner of a karate school in Plano for 27 years. Her current focus is building confidence and safety for women and girls. Her motto is – Find Your Fierce!