Over at A Girl’s place, she shares an article from ART about a shooting in Oregon. Threw a comment over there, but figured I’d repost it here, because, well, I can…

The scenario is described thusly:

Imagine standing in line at the grocery store waiting as your spouse pays for your purchases.  As your spouse keys in the pin number for the debit card, a man behind you in line…pushes past you and begins trying to see the numbers your spouse is inputting on the keypad.  You tell the man to step back.  He ignores you and continues to try to get a closer look at your spouse’s pin number.  What do you do?

Interesting scenario.

When out with my family, my view has always been essentially: people get one warning to step away; my family’s personal space is my personal space.

He gets a warning, which also means he gets a choice. He gets to choose whether he wants to escalate the situation or not.

So, how would one train for that scenario? I don’t think you can. I think all one can do is be aware of your surroundings, observe people, be cordial and polite, and ensure you have the necessary tools (and skills to use them) when needed.

What if the perp has positioned himself between you and your spouse? Then he gets a warning.

But what if he doesn’t comply? He already had a warning and he chose to escalate the situation to physical contact. Like it or not, you’re now engaged.

But what if he’s bigger than you? Doesn’t matter. You’re engaged and he got a warning.

But what if?

Be aware of what’s happening around you. Stand up and take action.

Or, in this case, distilled down to its simplest form: shoot, move, and communicate — not necessarily in that order.