help w/ the fiance's self defense...

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reagansquad

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My worst nightmare is coming true. I have to move to the worst town I've ever been to. And I have to bring my fiance. I consider this to be a SHTF... because I wouldn't be moving there if I wasn't desperate.

Here's my problem; The fiance is from a nice suburb. Then she moved to a small college town. How can I teach her to be more street smart and situationally aware? I need to do this without patronizing her, hurting her feelings, or scaring her. It's not like we're moving to Baghdad... it's a perfectly safe place to live is you stay in yellow and take the right precautions. I just need to let her know about all of the little stuff you do when you live in a bad town like always locking the door, not being out after dark and recognizing/avoiding threats. She doesn't CC, but I'm sure she'll be fine with carrying some OC.
 
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This is a tough one. In my experience you can't "teach" someone to be aware if they don't want to do it. Best you can do is explain to her the situation and tell her about ways to be aware of her surroundings, stop tunnel vision, make out threats ect. But beware a lot of people think of that as "oh stop you're being paranoid I'M not going to live MY life that way". Those ones are the hopeless and helpless. :uhoh:
 
Get some facts and figures about the crime rate, types of crimes, etc. in the town. Check on the average police response time to a 911 call. Find out how many crimes are committed "on the street" as opposed to "in your house". This will give you some hard facts to show her, rather than unproven fears.
 
Take her through some of the bad areas, pointing out the things that make the areas bad. Kind of like a ride along with the PD. Matter of fact, if you know any police officers well enough have her ride along for the day. Try to help her gain experience, so she understands what you have already learned.

Statistics do not have the same impact as reality.
 
Books ... get her a few books for Christmas.

Beauty Bites Beast by Ellen Snortland is one I'm in the middle of right now. Very feminist, but very good on mindset and on encouraging women to be responsible for their own choices.

Effective Defense by Gila Hayes. I've read that one a few times now, and still find it useful. It is directed mostly toward the woman who might be interested in owning a gun for defense, and covers most the gun basics. She also covers mindset fairly well, and gives a good overview of most the options.

There are a bunch of others out there, those are just the two which spring to mind most quickly.

pax
 
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