Like I said in Part 1, I would not go over the HARDEST thing to prepare for in a disaster type situation.
The hardest thing to prepare for is boredom. Boredom will lead to complacency, which will then compromise security and other means for survival. No matter the war or disaster, there will be a lull. Minutes, hours, days, there is no telling how long it will last. In a safe situation, a book can help pass the time. Group interaction and games are useful, especially if there are kids.
If you're not in a safe area, that lull will usually end suddenly. You cannot be "switched on" all the time. You would go crazy, and your system is not developed to handle it. Furthermore, you won't be able to operate in everyday life.
Imagine walking down a dark alley, in an area that you are unfamiliar with. Most likely, if you are smart, you will be extremely aware of what's going on. You'll be wary of that bum sleeping near the dumpster. You'll look toward every noise. You'll be "ready" to move at the first sign of danger, although it will probably be more of a jump and a high-pitched yell when a rat scurries past. In any case, that's like being "switched on," albeit with no training of what to do in that state. The thing is, you can't be like that constantly, or you will become a nervous wreck. It's best to not always be in those situations.
To-Shin Do teaches the ideas of Condition White (completely relaxed), Condition Yellow (aware that something may be happening), Condition Orange (aware of a threat), and Condition Red (actively dealing with a threat). Condition white is what you are normally in at home or at work, in a place you feel completely safe. Yellow is where you operate when you're unfamiliar with your surroundings, or aware of general potential danger. Orange is when you've identified the specific danger and are prepared to deal with it. Red means it's go time.
You NEED to switch off. Especially if you were just "turned on" for an extended period of time. You can't run red all day. Even in a combat zone, you'll drop to white if there's enough security that you are able to sleep.
And that last point brings us to the most important part of preparedness and self-defense: self-protection. It's not "the best defense is a good offense." It's the idea that, within the realm of your control, you avoid situations that will place you in danger and force you to defend yourself. Sometimes, the long way is just safer. Sometimes that gut instinct is completely right.
For example, I like to listen to my MP3 player when I travel. I have trouble not listening to what's going on around me. I overhear too much some times, so I like to drown it out. When I'm on the train, I'm into my music and my book. Granted, I'm still aware of my surroundings (Condition Yellow). I still glance around, and the music isn't so loud that I can't hear anything else. I'm not good at turning off completely.
However, I occasionally I'll either turn off the music to hear (why leaving the headphones in to make it seem like I'm not), or take the headphones out. One of those times is withing the last block or two leading to my apartment (no matter how much you vary your route, there is only one way to get into your door). The neighborhood's nice, but I don't take chances. I turn music off, take one headphone out, the other tuck into my collar. As I unchain the gate, my body motion is such that I am able to look in the direction that I came. Once the key is in the front door, I look behind me as I open the door, and enter, ensuring it shuts behind me. I'm in Condition Yellow for about a minute. Once I'm inside, it's back to Condition White.
I'm not conducting SLLS (pronounced "sills," it's a combat patrolling technique that stands for "Stop, Look, Listen, and Smell"). I mean switching to a low level of awareness and preparedness. Should something happen, I don't have to go from zero to hero to deal with the situation, and I've gained vital seconds in evaluating my situation.
While I was talking on the phone to a friend of mine, she said "Patrick, not everyone is a bad-ass like you and has combat training." This is true. That doesn't mean that you can't develop and internalize the ideas that would help this. Here's a list of a few books that will at least introduce you to ideas that professionals use to make themselves safe, as well as assist you in thinking of how to prepare:
- The Gift of Fear
- The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science That Could Save Your Life
- Meditations on Violence: A Comparison of Martial Arts and Real World Violence
- Gang Leader for a Day
- Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs, from Communism to Al-Qaeda
- Master of Disguise: My Secret Life in the CIA
- The Zombie Survival Guide
- The Ranger Handbook
- Earth Abides
Feel free to ask me about any of these, or why they made the list.
The three most important things that I can recommend are: do not limit your scope of knowledge, don't let your new found knowledge cripple you, and always carry a small notebook and a pen. On the first point, if something makes you curious, learn about it. I'm reading Packing For Mars. I am not going into space any time soon, but I have learned a lot of interesting thing in planning and consideration. Even if you can't completely use the subject, you can abstract the ideas. Here's are two of my takeaways from that book:
- Not that bravery has been entirely phased out. Those recommended astronaut attributes also include “Ability to Function Despite Imminent Catastrophe.” If something goes wrong, everyone’s clarity of mind is needed.
- “I don’t know if we…have the mentality—I don’t want to say ‘guts’—to take the kind of risks we did when we [went to the moon] the first time…. And that’s a sad commentary.” After all, no matter how much you plan and how carefully you engineer things, there will always be problems. The safety manager of the eighth Apollo mission once famously pointed out: “Apollo 8 has 5,600,000 parts…. Even if all functioned with 99.9 percent reliability, we could expect 5,600 defects.” On the other hand, as they say, failing to plan is planning to fail.
Once you start expanding your knowledge, you will learn a few things. First, you really know nothing. Second, that there are some really useful things to learn. Last, there are a lot of things that can kill you. If you dwell too much on this, it will cripple your ability to act. You will live life in fear of the next step, because you fear that it will kill you. That's as good as being dead. Don't run recklessly into life, but understand the danger and mitigate them. I know electricity is dangerous, so I make sure to trip the breaker, and test the circuit before installing a new light switch. If anything, remember the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear from the book Dune:
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
On the last point, I ALWAYS carry a small notebook. It's great when you get some random idea that you can jot it down quickly, so it's not lost to the ether. That website you saw, that problem that came up, that thing you need to buy; all things that the notebook can preserve for you until they are solved. Cross out tasks and info when you are done with them. When the notebook fills, get a new one, go through the old one, and transfer anything you still want. Similarly, use that Amazon wishlist. Come across a book that might be interesting in the future? Put it on the wishlist, and you'll get to it some day.
