Mental awareness

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JimConway

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To make it easy, the colors are white, yellow, orange, and red. When I teach the color code, I define white as oblivious to your surroundings, Yellow as watchfully aware with no specific threat on the horizon, orange is when a specific possible threat has been identified and red as when you know that you will have to take action.

Think about the color code in terms of driving a car. No one would admit to driving a car in condition white. Most people are in condition yellow when driving. When you see a car, ahead of you, starting to back to back out of a driveway, you go to condition orange and put your foot on the brake in case it is needed. Additionaly you start to think about what you can do if the car pulls out in front of you. Can you turn left or right, can you pull into the middle of the road, can you brake in time?. The car waits and pulls out in front of you. You are in condition red and you execute the plan that you thought of in condition orange.
 
Theres no such thing as paranoia, only a heightened sense of awareness..(of course theres extremes to everything, but in well moderated general)
Im personally always "On", it never ceases to amaze me how people walk around in a complete self contained bubble each and every day.you could walk up to them and tap them on the shoulder before they even knew you were there. My GF is one of them and it kills me, and nothing i say can allude her to the danger of it,she just shrugs her shoulders and turns on trading spaces.. sadly for these people its not until someting bad happens to them that they will become engrained to look for trouble before it finds them.
 
Jim, that's a very good analogy. I'll expand a little more for folks that may be new to the concept.

Again, most crimes are perpetrated as an opportunity exists for an easy score. These type crimes are the ones we have the greatest ability to thwart or avoid all together. There exists only four levels of Tactical Awareness in our universe. Of these four, only three are acceptable during lucid intervals. These four levels can be labeled in many ways - by numbers, colors, accronyms, etc. The important part is to know what the different levels represent and how to utilize them.

The four levels of Tactical Awareness in asending order:

Condition Zero, White, Comatose, etc. - Is the level of non-awareness. It is being completely oblivious to even your most immediate surroundings. This level is only acceptable when you are in your deepest cycle of REM sleep, or comatose from a severe head injury. Unfortunately, a vast amount of the population goes through their entire conscious lives in this level of awareness and are therefore an easy mark for criminals, and poorly prepared to deal with any type danger including the driving analogy that Jim described above.

Condition One, Yellow, Aware, etc. - Is the level in which the prepared individual will spend around 95% of their waking hours. It is the level of SNAFU. In other words - or daily lives. At work, at play or relaxing in front of the fireplace in our living room we are aware of the sights, sounds and smells around us but we are in a passive mode that allows us to recognize if anything changes. We know that the potential of danger exists and can present itself in any form from any angle. We are always scanning for danger both consciously and subconsciously.

Condition Two, Orange, Alerted, etc - Is the level that our passive scanners have alerted us to a change in our serene environment, or that we purposely move into when knowingly putting ourselves in a position or area with a high probablity of danger. This is the level of TARFU. It's when we smell smoke coming from some place we know it shouldn't. Or, we notice someone start following us that isn't merely walking in the same direction. Or, we notice the same car circle the house slowly twice that's new in the neighborhood, etc, etc. This is when we start deciding on our plans of actions for the given circumstances. This is when the hair on the back of neck stand up and the heart rate begins to increase.

Condition Three, Red, Oh-Shit!, etc. - Is the level in which we were blind-sided or simply unable to reslove or avoid a situation. It is the level of FUBAR and immediate action is necessary to survive a deadly or dangerous situation. This is where proper preperation and training are needed to increase your chances of surviving the encounter - be it defensive driving, home fire-escape plan or defending your life through defensive tactics. At this point it is too late to think, "I wish I had of..."

[/u]
 
TonyD said:
Condition Zero, White, Comatose, etc. - Is the level of non-awareness. It is being completely oblivious to even your most immediate surroundings. This level is only acceptable when you are in your deepest cycle of REM sleep, or comatose from a severe head injury. Unfortunately, a vast amount of the population goes through their entire conscious lives in this level of awareness and are therefore an easy mark for criminals, and poorly prepared to deal with any type danger including the driving analogy that Jim described above.
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One comment on this: Technical people (you know who you are) will frequently find themselves at this level not through being comatose but through concentrating completely on a problem. I cannot count the number of times I have grumped at my cow-orkers for "sneaking" up on me at work. Usually when I was dialed into a PBX and was nose-deep in programming. I simply tune out the world so I can concentrate on what I'm doing.

Of course, usually I'm either at my desk or in a locked switch room when that happens, so I'm OK. But it does happen, and it's something to be aware of. When I can, I arrange my desk so I'm facing out, not towards the back of a cube. But I can still tune out the world when I'm concentrating, so that's not a total solution.
 
Chris said:
Ross, Reason #1 that I always turn my desk to face the door and put my back to a wall. I've got a lot of flack for it at various jobs, but I know when people approach.
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Yup, I do the same. and yes, I've taken heat for it, too.
 
Jim and Tony - excellent posts.

I *hate* not being able to see an entrance behind me. When Ed and I go out to eat, I'll give him view of the front door, but I'm covering the back entrance (or exit), and we usually try to get a table in a corner, or at least with some protection to one side of the other....sometimes that's not easy to do, and there have been times when we've asked for a table that looks good and we've waited for it.
 
Lynne said:
Jim and Tony - excellent posts.

I *hate* not being able to see an entrance behind me. When Ed and I go out to eat, I'll give him view of the front door, but I'm covering the back entrance (or exit), and we usually try to get a table in a corner, or at least with some protection to one side of the other....sometimes that's not easy to do, and there have been times when we've asked for a table that looks good and we've waited for it.
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After 18 years of marriage, Kathy automatically takes the seat that has the back facing the door... she knows how much I hate having my back to the door.
 
It's nice to know that I'm not the only one who ignores the confortable seats or somebody's intended seating arrangements and automatically looks for a seat with a direct view of the door and its back to the wall.

Ken
 
Just thought I would bring this up...

I got my first issue of Concealed Carry Magazine this week. There just happens to be a GREAT article about this exact topic in there. Some good examples given, and one instance where an intended robbery of a restaurant was thwarted by just making eye contact and smiling at the person that was going to rob the place before he even attempted anything.

Adam
 
JimConway said:
Adam
I am glad the you like Concealed Carry Magazine. Watch out for the next issue since there will be an article about Neshooters.
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When does it come out???? <inquiring minds, ya know?>
 
Lynne said:
JimConway said:
Adam
I am glad the you like Concealed Carry Magazine. Watch out for the next issue since there will be an article about Neshooters.
Click to expand...

When does it come out???? <inquiring minds, ya know?>
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Lynne,
If you didn't know, you can't buy it at the news stand. It is a membership magazine.

http://www.concealedcarrymag.com/

So far I love what I have seen, and wait anxiously for my next issue.

Adam
 
Adam_MA said:
Lynne said:
JimConway said:
Adam
I am glad the you like Concealed Carry Magazine. Watch out for the next issue since there will be an article about Neshooters.
Click to expand...

When does it come out???? <inquiring minds, ya know?>
Click to expand...

Lynne,
If you didn't know, you can't buy it at the news stand. It is a membership magazine.

http://www.concealedcarrymag.com/

So far I love what I have seen, and wait anxiously for my next issue.

Adam
Click to expand...

thanks hun. :D
 
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