Choices and Consequences

One of my readers sent me an email about a problem he and his wife have. She's recently had a child and has chosen to work at night in a convenience store so she can stay at home with the child during the day.

Their question was - after having a recent robbery just nearby - what can she do, given that avoidance is not a likely strategy when you have to be behind the counter to serve customers. The robber in question was a physical monster and she's quite petite. Her main concern wasn't the robbery, as she knows to give up the money, but rather being dragged into the back of the store and raped.

As I mentioned to them life is about choices and consequences (at least it should be) and if you choose to work in one of the most dangerous professions in the country then you place yourself in harms way. First defense therefore would be, do I really need the job that badly given the potential risks? What about a job at Target, or the local grocery store stacking shelves? How about one at a call center answering phones at night?

If you do have to be there and the concern is physical violence then you're going to have to learn how to fight. Whether that's with a gun or bare hands depends on a lot of variables including whether or not store policy permits clerks to go armed for example.

Finally, some other solutions were offered. How about secreting a weapon in the store room that you're concerned about being dragged into? What about acqiescing and walking ahead of the guy and then running at the last second and barricading yourself in, or setting up a shelf to pull down to jam the door and buy you enough time to escape out the back, through a skylight etc. Is your cell phone back there so you can call for help while you're barricaded?

That's about all one can do in that situation but given the inherent risk I'd be looking for a safer occupation.

Here by the way, is a quote regarding dangerous jobs. Note how many convenience store clerks are shot every year.

Homicide was the second leading cause of job-related deaths, accounting for 16 percent of the total. Robbery was the primary motive for workplace homicide. About half of the victims worked in retail establishments, such as grocery stores, restaurants and bars, where cash is readily available. (31,000 convenience store clerks are shot every year.)

The Infamous Fight or Flight

I always hear people talking about "Fight or Flight" as if that's the only two options in a fight. So which one is the person who is "paralysed by fear" doing? What about all the people who look up to see a car bearing down on them, or an avalanche who freeze in their tracks until flattened? Were they running or were they fighting?

"Freeze" is a third element that needs to be discussed. In some cases it's intentional and others it's not. I'm no expert but I imagine someone who's never been exposed to a certain event, or even thought about it, might freeze. Take the car for example. You look up and it's coming at you at 35 mph...when would the average person ever have thought about that one happening? Their brain quickly sifts through the memory banks for something...anything and nothing appears. Results, frozen in place until flattened.

Freezing obviously stands us in good stead in other situations. Military personnel are taught to freeze during night ops if a flare is tripped, for movement will give you away faster than anything else. Commandos are taught to use it when moving behind enemy lines and think they may have been spotted. Snipers use the same skill when 'stalking' into place for their shot.

Undoubtedly our cave men ancestors used it to survive being eaten by predatory animals. Many of the latter hunt by sight and freezing is very effective against big game either when hunting them or being hunted by them.

So remember, next time you hear the old "fight or flight" line freeze, and remember the third option nobody ever seems to talk about.