Comments on: What is a Healthy Level of Paranoia?

By: Dawn Atkins

Dawn Atkins — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:36:04 +0000

Christine:
I’m so, so sorry you endured that ordeal! Your reminder is very, very wise.
Best,
Dawn

By: Christine

Christine — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:16:28 +0000

Ladies we can never be too careful. A year ago I was attending a business convention away from home. As I returned to my hotel I got lost in an unpleasant part of town, dressed up in my smart skirt suit and heels carrying an attache case and purse I could not find a taxi and soon got the unwanted attention of a gang of street thugs. Needless to say I was terrorised attacked, beaten up sexually degraded and humiliated and could do nothing to defend myself.

By: EllenToo

EllenToo — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:41:38 +0000

I installed a steel screen door that is decorative as well and it locks with a key like a regular door. I can see through the screen and talk to the person which is what I do if I don’t know the person. And I never open it if I don’t know the person even if they try to had me a card or pamphlet or whatever. If I have to be out after dark for some reason I always carry pepper spray in my hand ready to use. As to driving along and having a police car come up behind me that is one reason I drive a car with OnStar so I can call them and have them check if there’s really a police man in the area. But don’t get the idea I haven’t done some dumb things because I have.

By: Paula R.

Paula R. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:05:06 +0000

Julie, I really like the idea of a video screen and phone set up. If I had a home, I would definitely install as system like that. I would also try to have the phone connected to the police too, with the touch of a button, just in case they were needed. Maybe they should make alarm systems with that set up, so that we can call fire, police and ambulance, if needed.

Peace and love,
Paula R.

By: Paula R.

Paula R. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 22:02:39 +0000

Sam, I would probably let my dogs answer the door too. I think that I would do the same thing you did, go outside to see what is going on. I work at a boarding school, and I remember one night we got a call about locking the dorm down. A known pedophile was trolling the campus, so they wanted to make sure there was no visiting between dorms that night. I did what I had to do, but my kids were very vigilant and they saw a man walking around campus, seemingly peering into first floor windows. Of course, they were nervous and they came and told me. I went out there with a baseball bat…very crazy in retrospect. Thankfully, it was one of the faculty members walking his puppy. I didn’t even think about what I was doing. I think that sometimes we react without thinking depending on the circumstances at the time. I got yelled at for going out there, because now, there were two “suspicious characters” walking around outside after the state troopers said to lock down…I am just glad that I didn’t have to use that bat, which I probably would have.

Peace and love,
Paula R.

By: Paula R.

Paula R. — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 21:57:28 +0000

You make a valid point about not putting the window all the way down, but as you stated, they can shoot you through the window too. I just get really nervous when I am driving a long stretch of highway after midnight or close to it, and I feel like I am the only car on the road. I try not to be too skeptical and paranoid, but I still feel vulnerable. I was in the Army for 10 years and I still feel “weak” whenever I am home alone and someone rings my doorbell. I am extra cautious when I go to the car at night too…you know what? I feel much safer in Brooklyn NYC, than I do walking in my safe neighborhood, and I have lived here for 10 years…I think that the fact that things shut down so early, makes me feel as if no one is around, whereas in the city, there is always the subway station or a corner store open late…

Thanks for your response Joanne. I would love to hear what others think about this scenario too.

Peace and love,
Paula R.

By: Dawn Atkins

Dawn Atkins — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:41:01 +0000

See, Jillian, that impulsive reaction is exactly the kind of thing that can get us in trouble, but is so, so human. The kind of behavior that when it happens in movies–Girl in nightgown investigates noises in the basement knowing serial killer is after her–make us throw things at the screen. Truth IS stranger than fiction. People in real life behave far less logically than we’d ever allow our characters.
Dawn

By: Jillian Burns

Jillian Burns — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:05:02 +0000

After a series of rapes occurred in our town a few years ago, I’m extra careful about not even opening my garage door to leave until I’m IN the van witht he doors locked. I don’t answer the door unless I check the peephole and KNOW the person–also cuts down on solicitors taking up my time-but then I went and did somehting really stupid a few months back.
Y’all are prob sick of hearing about my trouble with my teenage daughter but the last couple years have been rough. I think I’ve gone alittle wacko in the head due to emotional stress. Anyway, I’m a night owl and stay up late to write because it’s the only quiet time at my house in the summer, and one night (morning) about 3 or so the dog started barking like crazy. My dog NEVER barks. Except one time several years ago when some kids must have stolen our kids bikes off the front porch and all I did was tell my dog to be quiet for fear she’d wake up the hubby. So, this time, I vowed I’d catch them in the act. I went to the door –in my nightgown–threw it open and ran outside. Some creepy guy darted across the lawn and down the street. It was then I realized how STUPID I’d been.
What I’m trying to say, Dawn, is, don’t you feel really smart now?;-)

By: Dawn Atkins

Dawn Atkins — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:30:30 +0000

You guys have fascinating answers to my question and cool ideas about personal safety. I’m glad I’m not alone in my confusion about how safe to feel in the world. I guess the moral of the story for me–my take-away, as it were–was the idea that I’d better not feel smug when I hear about attacks and think *I* would never be fooled, tricked or caught off guard like that poor person.

On the other hand, experts in survival (those who study people who survive hardships or crises or health issues) say one way to improve your chances is to think through scenarios and plan your behaviors, rehearsing them in your mind. Like, “the exit row is five seats behind me” since in a plane crash, smoke makes it impossible to see and loves have been lost when people don’t reach the exit in the few seconds left of good air.
Hmm, a cheery thought , huh?
Dawn

By: Julie Harrington

Julie Harrington — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:48:28 +0000

My aunt had a similar experience at her front door and she ended up having a very nifty device installed the next week. They place a small optic eye at your front door that connects to a wall-mounted telephone that is placed somewhere away from the door (in her case in a back hallway). The phone has a display screen on it. The doorbell rings and you can go to the screen and press a button so you can see who is standing there (it just activates the video screen). The telephone receiver is only used to speak to the person via the intercom. She never has to open the door or go anywhere near the door to speak to the person. It doesn’t tie up her phone line so she can say, “Get off my porch or I’m calling the police.” Or, assuming she simply doesn’t like what she sees at all, she doesn’t even have to say a word.

I thought it was a very clever system and extremely smart that you don’t have to be anywhere near the door to make it work.

Julie