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“It is by no means self-evident that human beings are most real when most violently excited; violent physical passions do not in themselves differentiate men from each other, but rather tend to reduce them to the same state.” Thomas Elliot
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I’ve been traveling outside the US for the last month and have really enjoyed the military and civilian seminars I’ve been doing in the various countries. Traveling gives you a real perspective on how others view the US and it is interesting to see how US citizens conduct themselves in a foreign land.
We’ve all heard of the ‘Ugly American’ syndrome but I’ve noticed the ‘Ignorant American’ as being more prevalent. I’ve often said that we in the US live in a ‘Fantasy Island’ situation when it comes to violence. Even though the world views us as a very violent nation we ourselves have the illusion that staying in our neighborhoods gives us a safety zone that allows us to be rude to each other.
By assuming we are dealing with other members of society that cow-tow to threats of invoking the legal system on any perceived slight some people in the US are emboldened to push their verbal and non-verbal aggression to the max with little fear of facing a physical beating.
It is funny when you see this US approach backfire in international waters!
A friend recently told me of a caustic uncle who traveled to Corsica for a vacation. He checked into his hotel and strolled over to the scenic marketplace to buy some fruits and nuts for his stay. His 30-year-old daughter (who was living there) was with him and warned him to not cross the street until the traffic light was green.
He ignored her and promptly stepped onto the street and was nearly run over by a nicely dressed man in an Audi A6. The uncle ran up to the car that was now stopped at the light and started screaming at the man with expletives flying. He then kicked the passenger door and waved at him with ‘one finger’ (this ‘uncle’ by the way is a 62 year old, distinguished looking attorney from Connecticut).
The response from the driver? He calmly got out of his car, walked up to the now emboldened uncle (who continued to spew invectives as the man approached) and without warning hauled off and smashed the uncle above his upper lip with a hammer fist (pinky side of the fist) instantly flooring the uncle and popping out 5 of his upper teeth. The man then calmly walked back to his Audi and drove away. By the way this was done in front of a crowd.
The police took the report but chastised the now toothless old man saying that in Corsica we don’t speak to each other that way unless we expect to fight. His daughter knew that no effort would be made to find the man in the Audi.
The uncle probably had responded to slights in his safe little enclave in Connecticut like that numerous times throughout his cantankerous life. Maybe his new dental work will be a reminder to be more civil. He was lucky he just lost some teeth.
So now I sit here at the Madrid Airport at a café across from 2 US soldiers. How do I know they are US soldiers? No, they aren’t in uniform, nor are they dressed like Americans. If it weren’t for the fact that they both are sitting in broad daylight looking at their US Army Service records, no one else would know they were US servicemen either. But every passerby has taken notice of the manila folders these two soldiers are poring over aimlessly.
I have had to bite my tongue not to chastise these young kids. You’d think with the bombings and threats in Madrid over the past year they’d be a bit more security conscious. I mean they could easily blend in with their civilian dress. But they just don’t think anything could ever happen to them. It’s always the other poor sap.
Well, these are just 2 examples I wanted to share with you of people needlessly exposing themselves to potential violence. In one incident, violence occurred. The other — so far, so good. When traveling it’s a good deal easier to see lapses in judgment regarding personal security.
Ask yourself what risks have you taken in the last 30 days in your little world. Leave your doors unlocked? Take a risky short cut? Use an ATM after dark? Think a bit on that one…
Correct these and you’ll go a long way to never having to use the methods and principles I teach about “Surviving The Most Critical 5 Seconds Of Your Life”.
Until next time,
Tim Larkin
Creator of Target Focus(TM) Training
http://www.targetfocustraining.com
PS. PS. Speaking of “Surviving The Most Critical 5 Seconds Of Your Life”… I’ve now put up a few video clips from this new Seminar Series as well as more of the initial customer comments (we knew it was good but wait until you read what others who’ve watched it had to say):
http://www.targetfocustraining.com/video.html
PPS. In just one weekend you can learn to defeat any attacker using the Target Focus Training system. See how at:
http://www.targetfocustraining.com/livetraining
