I'm a career mechanic. First in the Air Force as a Crew Chief for multi million dollar aircraft on a busy flight line, now as an industrial machine repair tech in an automotive injection molding plant. The slightest thing out of place can be catastrophic, be in on an active flight line, convoy escort in Iraq, or here at work. I'm always patrolling my facility looking for things that are out of sorts, noticing employees, new faces, work habits, etc. I do the same thing on the streets, at the grocery store, etc.
For the most part, people's lives don't involve the same level of potential for catastrophe as my own. They aren't looking, or trained to look for, certain things, which is why we have people who get run over by forklifts, hands caught in conveyors, and other easily avoidable mistakes and accidents.
Being situationally aware is often a side effect of your lifestyle and compounded experiences. Training yourself with little to no lifestyle experience can be more challenging due to not having that experience to guide you to notice certain things.
For years after my last tour, I hated driving. Not only because of the other idiots on the road, but for certain triggers, like garbage bags on the side of the road, or people loitering at intersections. I was so fixated on noticing that sort of thing, that I had very many near misses with deer. That's pretty much reversed itself, due to experience, I'm much more mindful of wayward deer than I am of potential IEDs and ambushes.
But you're here, asking questions and gaining insight that most people would never seek.
Lots of good info here. I've really got nothing to add that hasn't already been offered.
