What’s the first thing you do if someone breaks into your house?
What’s a woman’s worst nightmare? Middle of the night, you’re sound asleep, all alone and you hear glass breaking or the door being forced open – you are frozen with terror! Your first instinct is… What? Grab the phone and called 911, right? Not! Once someone breaks in there’s a limited amount of time for you to get to safety. Where is safety? In the bathroom – no. How many times have you seen bad guys (or even good guys) kick in a door?) Under the bed – definitely not – have you seen “Taken”? If you haven’t, a young girl on a vacation in a foreign country is broken in on and hides under the bed. And Liam Neeson spends the rest of the movie going after the sex traffickers to get his daughter back.
(Speaking of sex traffickers- did you know that Dallas is one of the most frequently used places for sex traffickers?)
Don’t try to call and don’t try to hide. It takes way too much time. Your first and only mission is to get out of the house. Why? Because out of the house is a lot more safe than inside the house. Most break-ins are about burglary – and all a burglar wants is the stuff. But if the burglar is confronted that’s where things can go terribly wrong. No bad guy wants to be identified, so if he is seen and can be identified by someone, that someone becomes a threat, and threats have to be eliminated. Getting out to safety will prevent any confrontation that could lead to serious injury or worse. And if you are not alone, everyone in the house should be doing the same thing– getting out to safety. Having a pre-arranged meeting place is a great idea so everyone can be accounted for. This is also a good plan in case there is ever a fire. And don’t forget to have an escape ladder upstairs as well. You don’t want to be tiptoeing down the stairs to get out only to meet the bad guy going up the stairs!
Once you’re safely outside, you can call for help without fear of confrontation. Nothing in your house is worth your life! Get out and get help.
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!