Hi everybody. I’m not sure which order is most accurate: I get hungry so I write about food metaphors or I write about food and then get hungry! Well, whatever the order is, I’m writing about food (sort of) and I’m hungry, again!
I find that the best way to teach, so that my students can remember the information, is to apply what I’m talking about to something that is already familiar. Today I’m talking about how to REALLY live a safer life. Following my own teaching guidelines, I’ll be comparing safety to something everyone is familiar with: LASAGNA! By the way, if you are the only person reading this who is NOT familiar with lasagna, go to a decent restaurant and order some TODAY – but be careful. Good lasagna is like a plate of tomato based heroin – once you’ve had it, you may not be able to quit!
Good safety is like that too, but in a good way. Once you see how wonderful (and easy) it is, you’ll start doing “safety” all the time. But don’t be stingy with it. You can’t run out of “safety” so be sure to share it with all of your friends and family.
OK, back to the delicious goodness of lasagna and its incredibly important structure, which makes it such a great meal AND a terrific teaching aid for SAFETY. Lasagna is one of those easily identifiable foods specifically because of its structure, unless I’m making it. Then it becomes the Italian Mystery Meal.
What is it about that particular food’s structure that is so important? It’s layered. I suppose I could have used “7-layer dip” as this lesson’s metaphor as well, but I’m currently craving Italian, so we’ll just go with what we started with. Even if you don’t layer the ingredients of lasagna, it will still taste pretty good. But then it’s something else.
So “safety” is like lasagna. (For any grammar fanatics out there, I want you to know I’m consciously saying “metaphor” while using “similes” just to bother you. Fun, right?)
There are many parts to being safe. You may use all of them or you might just use some of them. Your personal safety plan may not look like someone else’s (just like lasagna). But to be an actual safety plan, your safety should be made up of layers. Non-layered lasagna isn’t lasagna, it’s goulash. Still good, but NOT lasagna. A mishmash of different safety tools may help you be safe, but it’s NOT a safety plan.
A good safety plan can not only help you respond much quicker and more effectively in a dangerous situation, it can actually help you to avoid that dangerous situation altogether. Criminals only want EASY targets: unprotected homes, unlocked cars, unaware and untrained persons. Keep this in mind when thinking about what is worth spending time & money on: Unprepared = EASY target!
When a criminal seeks out a target, they are looking for vulnerabilities. That is why you don’t want to have just one action or protective layer in your plan, it can be easier to get through only one layer. As a criminal is looking for his target, he will be assessing the ease of getting to his goal.
That’s why we teach our classes in layers. When you have a system, a plan, you will not only have more safety options to use, but you’ll also be more likely to use them! There are LOTS of safety tips, tricks, hacks, and products that are available to most people. (If you don’t believe me, just type “safety” into your favorite web browser!). If you’re overwhelmed by the possibilities and unbelievable options out there, you might just decide to put all that “safety stuff” off and keep your fingers crossed for good luck.
There again, that’s why we make it simple. Safety, like delicious lasagna, is actually pretty simple. Of course you can always add the extra fancy things once you have those ultra-important basics down. Some roasted zucchini in your lasagna? SURE! Zone-specific motion detectors in your home? SURE! But remember this: If your basic lasagna (safety plan) was crappy to start with, the fancy additions won’t really help much, right?
So, in case you’re NOT familiar with our courses, here’s a very simple overview of each layer:
- Situational awareness – what it means, what to look for, how to use it, & how to get better at it
- Creating boundaries – in and around your home, at work, in your car, & personal boundaries
- Escaping a situation – how to hide, how to evade a criminal in the woods or in the city, everyday tools to help you escape, your body’s response to fear as a super tool kit, and more
- Fighting your way to safety – psychological preparation to EFFECTIVELY fight an attacker, tools and weapons you ALWAYS have access to, the most effective targets on an attacker’s body AND what to do to them for the greatest impact, plus much more!
But remember this, even if you don’t have access to classes that are focused on regular women with busy lives and maybe even dealing with physical challenges, you can still find some good, useable information at your library or local bookstore. Because if you’re starving (metaphor for “in danger”), even goulash is better than nothing!
(Update: Some of our programs have changed. Subscribe to our email list to stay up to date.)
Until next time,
Cranford
