Forum Discussion
tatest
May 11, 2014Explorer II
I don't remember feeling unsafe anywhere I've lived, traveled, or stayed, 65+ years now, since I last wandered too far from Mom in a department store.
Chalk it up to ignorance, and maybe my frame of mind. Safety is mostly a frame of mind, not so much a reality.
I still derive some confidence from unarmed combat training, though at least 40 years past the capability to perform anything I was trained to do. Some years in law enforcement, and connections since, help keep me aware of my environment, I see things most people might miss, but I also tend to think of situations as interesting, or at most an annoyance, that others might see as a threat.
I am probably too loose on this. At least three times I've been warned that I'm too brave, or at least too casual about risks. When I was in grad school in Chicago, my Southside born and raised office mate told me I was go to places he would find threatening, but I was OK, people would not bother me because I looked like a narc. When I lived in Beijing, I freely walked the two miles too and from work, or anywhere else I wanted at any time, but after dark my Chinese colleagues would put me into a cab for the ride home, sometimes escort me, because they thought I was a target for crime. To some extent I was, because if not in the company of a woman, I would often be approached by a woman. Third case, in the small city where I live, I was advised by a homicide investigator that I should not ride a motorcycle in this town. In this case, he was right, so I rode much more carefully.
What many people see as threats to their safety, I have come to see as annoyances (approach by panhandlers or ladies of the night) or just interesting (the "I need a boost" scammers at rest areas).
No place is absolutely safe. What feels safe to you will depend on your tolerance for the great variety of human nonsense, your attitude, your preparation. What can you shrug off, what can you appreciate with humor, what scares you away?
Chalk it up to ignorance, and maybe my frame of mind. Safety is mostly a frame of mind, not so much a reality.
I still derive some confidence from unarmed combat training, though at least 40 years past the capability to perform anything I was trained to do. Some years in law enforcement, and connections since, help keep me aware of my environment, I see things most people might miss, but I also tend to think of situations as interesting, or at most an annoyance, that others might see as a threat.
I am probably too loose on this. At least three times I've been warned that I'm too brave, or at least too casual about risks. When I was in grad school in Chicago, my Southside born and raised office mate told me I was go to places he would find threatening, but I was OK, people would not bother me because I looked like a narc. When I lived in Beijing, I freely walked the two miles too and from work, or anywhere else I wanted at any time, but after dark my Chinese colleagues would put me into a cab for the ride home, sometimes escort me, because they thought I was a target for crime. To some extent I was, because if not in the company of a woman, I would often be approached by a woman. Third case, in the small city where I live, I was advised by a homicide investigator that I should not ride a motorcycle in this town. In this case, he was right, so I rode much more carefully.
What many people see as threats to their safety, I have come to see as annoyances (approach by panhandlers or ladies of the night) or just interesting (the "I need a boost" scammers at rest areas).
No place is absolutely safe. What feels safe to you will depend on your tolerance for the great variety of human nonsense, your attitude, your preparation. What can you shrug off, what can you appreciate with humor, what scares you away?
About Bucket List Trips
13,487 PostsLatest Activity: Jan 18, 2025