I was reading about some of the missing and later recovered children recently and 1 thing I noticed. Sometimes it can be hard to prove the child is yours. Especially if it has been several years. Well, keep in mind that virtually every child has her/his footprints taken before they leave the hospital. If you have this problem, don’t bother with fingerprints, check the footprints.
When my girls were little 1 thing we did was fingerprint them when they were about 5. Most of the police departments will do this for you. You just get the prints and put them in the vault. If you need them you have them and if you don’t they make great souvenirs etc. when they are older.
Kids love cell phones and almost all phones these days come with little cameras attached. Do you have a teenager with a cell phone? Want to know what they are doing? Do you have trust issues? Call the kid and tell her to take 4 fotos of what’s around her right then and email the fotos to you. That’s how you can tell what’s going on. Just telling the kids you might do that brings them up short.
And don’t buy into that old chestnut “you don’t trust me.” The answer is simple “trust but verify”.
I just love going on a plane. They search you for all kinds of weapons. But they never get the truly dangerous stuff like No. 2 pencils, pens, toothbrushes etc. etc. After all, in prison they turn toothbrushes, razors, all kinds of stuff into weapons. And now this Article in the Washington Post says that the scientists are working on a new way to solve the problem. Wonderful. Next thing we’ll have to buy this new stuff just so we can fly. Pfui!
Moral of the story: anything can be a weapon if you are determined to use it as one. Even a bar of soap in a sock or a tie or a handful of quarters. I could go on but why bother?
I was out late a couple of nights ago and had to walk several blocks to my car. One of the streets was dark–a lot of big trees were blocking the lights (and there weren’t many of those either). And I found myself on the sidewalk with a solid wall running down one side–you know what I mean: it was the side of a large office building with no windows or places to conceal yourself. So I walked down the street very close to the wall. Why? So I could control which way someone could come up on me. This way I could see the front and 1 side easily so I could concentrate on protecting myself and “check my 6”. Just another idea for you.
I can always get a laugh when I try to show people how American men walk. They have 2 ways of walking:
1) Military, chest out, chin tucked in, shoulders square, back stiff. They will fall over if they have to change direction quickly or even if they have to change speed. As for being able to actually *see* what they are doing or where they are going, or even where they are putting their feet, fuggedabowdit! Or,
2) head forward, butt backward, leaning into their walk.
Both ways to walk are dangerous–you can be knocked over easily and be easily surprised. Instead, learn to walk with good balance, ready to move in any direction. In yoga they call it “centered”. I call it walking with good ki. Either way, learn it.
It seems obvious to me, but I guess it’s not. Don’t walk between a group of people. Don’t let a group of people walk up and around you. If you can’t figure out why this is a really bad idea, consider this: Do you want to be surrounded with no place to run?
Funny what you can learn from your children. I was out yesterday with my teenage daughter shopping. She left her backpack in the car, but brought her cellphone with her. In 1 hand. Because she didn’t have pockets in her shorts. So she couldn’t carry anything in that hand.
Now, think about this when you go out. It was broad daylight and we weren’t expecting any problems. But she had 1 hand full. So she was effectively 1 handed. This isn’t a good idea. Carry your phone etc. in a pocket or pouch. Put it where you can get it easily. Take it out when you think you need it. But not otherwise. Sometimes you need *both* hands to protect yourself.
Now that the weather’s getting better and we’re all out more in the evenings, “check your 6”; i.e., look behind you sometimes. It’s not only for bad guys out to get you–if you are jogging you should check periodically to see if a biker is coming up. Especially if you are about to pass someone or change direction, check your 6 first. You don’t want to get run over by a biker any more than you want to get mugged. So… check.
By the way, want another reason to hate IPODs and other devices that keep you from hearing? If you are wearing it you cannot hear the biker sound a warning as they approach. And if you can’t hear a biker sounding a warning, can you hear the footsteps gaining on you? I can’t. Check your 6.
Contempt of Cop. It’s not an official crime. You’ll never find it listed in the statute books. But it’s real. Just ask the right people. If a cop believes that you are not being sufficiently respectful (as the cop defines “respectful”) you are in trouble. If you were stopped while you were driving, you can be cited for “weaving”, bad equipment on the car, broken taillights, whatever. If you were walking, the list of problems including failure to disburse, failure to identify yourself, etc. grows.
And then comes the search. A proper search can be done reasonably or otherwise. There are lots of tricks cops know and use when they want to antagonize you. Then the charges are upgraded to resisting arrest, assault on a police officer etc. And you are in BIG trouble.
So, what to do when the police stop you? Be respectful. Shut up! Don’t say anything you don’t have to say. If you are not sure what to do, don’t do anything. If the cop wants you to talk he’ll tell you to talk. And then you can reply, respectfully, that you prefer not to talk without a lawyer present. But Respect is everything on the street and the cops will insist on it–especially from young people and people who do not speak English with the same accent the cop does.
