{"id":118921,"date":"2019-11-26T10:03:51","date_gmt":"2019-11-26T15:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=118921"},"modified":"2019-11-26T10:03:51","modified_gmt":"2023-09-06T07:29:54","slug":"situational-awareness-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/situational-awareness-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"Situational Awareness Fail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Situational<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s Note:\u00a0<\/strong>The following is a syndicated article by author Ken Lawrence that first appeared in USCCA\u2019s Concealed Carry Magazine Volume 14, Issue 3, April 2017 under the title, \u201cSituational Awareness Fail.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u25a0 Since\njoining the USCCA<\/strong> last year and reading all the fabulous articles in Concealed\nCarry Magazine<\/em>, I have learned to be intentional about living in Condition\nYellow at all times. I thought I was doing well at being situationally aware. I\nsit where I can see what is going on in restaurants. I watch who is coming and\ngoing around me and my family. I stay alert when pumping gas or using an ATM. I\nthought I was in the zone. Boy, was I ever wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SURPRISE, SURPRISE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something recently happened that showed me no matter how\ndiligent I am most<\/em> of the time, letting my guard down for just a few\nseconds can have a life-changing impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t usually go out at lunch, but that day I needed a\nstress break. I left work to run a few errands and enjoy the warm, spring-like\nweather. As I began driving, the \u201clow fuel\u201d light came on, so after I completed\nmy errands, I stopped to fill up. I live in a small rural town in western\nColorado with just one gas station, so I\u2019m very familiar with the surroundings.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I pulled up, there was a car parked by the door of the\nconvenience store portion, making it difficult for me to get to the pumps. I\nmanaged to squeeze in and stopped at the first one. I looked around before\nexiting my vehicle to get a feel for who might be around me and, seeing no one,\nI exited the vehicle and began the process of inserting my credit card and\nmaking my fuel choice, all the while scanning the area. The driver of the car\nclose to the c-store door got in his vehicle and drove off; though there\nappeared to be no one else around, I was in Condition Yellow and aware of my\nsurroundings \u2026 or so I thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I finished refueling and awaited my receipt, but the pump\nprinter had an error and would not print. Rather than go into the store to get\na receipt, I took a few seconds to focus on the pump to note the dollar amount\nand number of gallons so I could write the information in the gas logbook I\nkeep in the vehicle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After I had the information in my head, I turned, opened my\ndoor and began to get back into my vehicle. With one leg partially inside, I\nsuddenly noticed there was someone sitting in the passenger seat. I jumped back\nout of the vehicle and instinctively reached for my weapon but then remembered\nI was not carrying because I\u2019m not allowed to carry at work. My heart pounded\nand a million thoughts raced through my mind: Who was in my vehicle? Is this\na carjacking? A robbery? How did this person get inside my vehicle without me\nnoticing?<\/em> I was about to run away when I heard a familiar laugh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intruder wasn\u2019t a threat at all. He was, in fact, a\nfriend of mine messing around with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JOKE\u2019S ON YOU<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He\u2019d been inside the gas station\u2019s convenience store when I\npulled up, but his car was parked across the street so I didn\u2019t notice it. He\nwaited until I had my back turned while I was waiting for my receipt to quietly\nslip out of the store and into my front passenger seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After I realized it was him and I was not in danger, I got\nback in my vehicle and we had a good laugh. I laughed with him, but inside, I\nwas very upset. I wasn\u2019t so upset with him; I was more upset with myself for\nallowing him to get into my vehicle without me seeing him. So much for my\nsituational awareness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve run the situation over in my mind many times, and I\ndon\u2019t remember being distracted by the pump for more than three or four\nseconds. It might not have seemed like very long, but it was long enough for\nsomeone to exit the building, quietly open my passenger door, slip into my\nvehicle and close the door without me noticing a thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While my friend\u2019s prank was a big joke to him, it was a\nlife-altering situation for me. This situation has taught me some valuable\nlessons from which I hope everyone can learn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n