People who break the rules lead short, interesting lives.
Rule One - "Avoid crowds." - Remus
Rule Two: - "When disaster strikes, be somewhere else." - Commander Zero
All The Rules:
The best way to handle any potentially injurious encounter is: Don’t be there. Arrange to be somewhere else. Don’t go to stupid places. Don’t associate with stupid people. Don’t do stupid things.
Crowds of any kind, particularly those with an agenda, such as political rallies, demonstrations, picket lines, etc are good examples of “stupid places.” Any crowd with a high collective energy level harbors potential catastrophe. To a lesser degree, bank buildings, hospital emergency rooms, airports, government buildings, and bars (particularly crowded ones) fall into the same category. All should be avoided. When they can’t be avoided, we should make it a practice to spend only the minimum time necessary there and then quickly get out. - John Farnam, 19 March 2003 notesVisit that last, and RTWT.
And BRM's post.
Spiciness cometh.
If common sense proves unattractive to you, I'll see you at work in the E.R.
Probably on the night shift.
If you're lucky enough to make it that far.
Remember, nothing is as funny at the Pearly gates, or in court at 9AM Monday Morning, as it was at 2AM Saturday night.
Whatever you do in life, invest it wisely. Don't squander it for a side-trip to Dumbassville.
And try not to enter the afterlife with a stupidly surprised look on your face.
I was in Nuremberg for business one year and was strolling down a street in the city center during something called a blue light festival. As far as I can tell that consists of blue wrapping plastic being put around all the lights and every German within miles walking around. Lots and lots of (thank God) Germans. Got caught in a tight squeeze being pressed from all sides and not a damn thing to do about it. Knew then and there the feeling all those stampeded people in Mecca and Bombay and Vegas I guess feel just before the panic and screams.
ReplyDeleteGermans being Germans (back then) they just stood there and waited till it sorted out but yeah, stay away from crowds.
You don't want to spend eternity being embarrassed when explaining how you died.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a little OT, but I wanted to ask a question. A lady ER nurse friend of mine is getting her carry permit and wanted advice on how/where to carry concealed. She's mostly worried about a shooting in her hospital and a little worried about being acosted late at night on her way to get car. She's inclined to carry on her calf or in a fanny pack at work. She's slender. I suspect calf is better, but wanted to ask if you had any advice you could give, if you have time. Thank you.
ReplyDelete1) Even with a CCW, carrying on hospital premises would probably constitute a party foul, and a workplace policy violation. If you ever pull the piece for any reason, you're just self-terminated employment that day. Obviously live and fired is better than dead and workplace-compliant, but it has to be said.
ReplyDelete2) IMHO, ankle carry at work isn't likely to a be a good idea. It's out of your control, and in a wild hog rodeo dogpile tussle (I have more tackles than Dick Butkus, lifetime, and mine are on assaultive/crazy patients and visitors)a pistol on your ankle is going to
a) get spotted, by someone you don't want privy to that info
b) be far away from your hands, and close to someone else's, when it matters
c) be more likely to be taken away from you when you need it most
3) I carry half an OR worth of clamps, hemostats, scissors, etc. in a waistpack/junk bag. If I had CCW, and was going to carry, that's where I'd carry it.
4) While I recognize that bad things can happen anyplace, anytime, to anyone, if I ever thought I'd need a CC weapon at work, I'd find another hospital before I'd start packing a pistol at work. By the time you're drawing a weapon, you've already passed like 23 offramps to not be on the road to disasterpiece theater. So my first step would be not working Hoodrat Hospital, on the night shift. And then 20 other "How not to be a victim" safety briefings.
My $0.02 on the topic. YMMV.