While my methods wildly vary from those of family, these recollections make my point: 'safety creation' starts domestically, at home—and radiates collectively in the community;
'Creating safety' starts domestically, at home. While I believe the individual accepts or rejects behaviors in his home, behaviors modeled by parents, guardians, siblings, relatives and family friends play significant roles.
I grew up in a public educator household. My affinity for reading (unlike Gavin Newsom lol) was fed by as much content as my mind could consume. Also consumed were some 'safety creation' examples echoed by my adult self.
My late maternal grandfather was a retired math teacher. Diplomatic. Jovial. Someone whom babies and cats were invariably drawn to. Unlike his somber grandson.
Grand Dad was also a 'safety creator'. Whenever going out at night he'd holster a snub nosed .357 pistol and put his unzipped jacket over it. Decades later I have everyday carry or 'EDC', too, in self defense lingo.
Always good to keep protection equipment handy.
He also had an effective-and funny-neighborhood watch style: rattling the blinds if infrequent loiterers were too close to the house. Fast forward to last year and perhaps influenced subconsciously, I'd knock on the window to disperse trespassers and loiterers from the nearby 'hood' bar.
One memorable hurricane preparation briefing had Grand Dad print out instructions on a hand cranked mimeograph machine (who remembers those?) predating Xerox, which few recall, or laser printers.
I inherited his love of heroic fiction, with two Bantam Books reprints of pulp novel classics from his library which served as blueprints for 'creating safety' instead of as escapist entertainment.
They are the 'Man of Bronze' and 'the Avenger', by Lester Dent, which introduced me to superhero prototype Doc Savage and Richard Benson, the pale protagonist known as 'the Avenger'.
Grand Dad was an easygoing guy who always kept an eye out for trouble behind his smile.
My late maternal grandmother was an intelligence gatherer par excellence. A retired social science teacher, her network of fellow widows kept their fingers firmly on the pulse of community intel. Some might call it gossip sometimes. They never ceased to amaze me with gathering back stories on eyebrow raising incidents.
She would also look through bedroom blinds at suspicious people. Unlike Grand Dad, she wouldn't rattle them. She was subtle with her scrutiny.
My late mother, a Spanish teacher and Speech Pathologist and Audiologist, was a very cautious person. So much so that I sparingly told her about adventures in what I later describe as 'safety creation'.
Two memorable safety-related occasions come to mind.
The first was a nighttime broken window on her car's front passenger side. Nothing was stolen and I wondered then and now whether it was an act of retaliation for anti crime stances I took?
The other occasion was when my maternal grandparents' kitchen closet was mysteriously locked. Ma armed a twenty-something me with my late grandfather's snub nosed .357 pistol at the ready in case of an intruder. After she quickly moved out of the line of fire we discovered it was empty.
Her admonition was to always ask myself would a 'wise and prudent person' undertake a particular course of action. I haven't faithfully followed this advice. When I have it's kept me out of life-altering trouble.
My late paternal grandparents owned their own farm. It's where my father grew up and eventually returned. He built a house on the hill overlooking it. I remember during a boyhood visit to my grandparents’ place that every room had a firearm in it. Obviously, they were off limits to little hands and heaven help you if you tried playing with one.
Another interesting form of family 'safety creation' was having a stick to scare away possible snakes before using their outhouse. Like many 'greatest generation' Black Southerners, they didn't have indoor toilets.
You can imagine how quickly I used the outhouse or slop jars (improvised bedpans) where one could urinate without going outside.
While visiting as a young adult, my father pocketed a derringer and asked me to wait outside while he talked to a female cousin's angry husband who arrived unannounced at my paternal folk's house.
I'm happy to report the talk was incident-free, in no small measure due to large shadows of my grandfather and father.
While my methods wildly vary from those of family, these recollections make my point: 'safety creation' starts domestically, at home—and radiates collectively in the community.
Or not, sadly.
Nadra Enzi aka Cap Black addresses 'anti safety' theory and policies through advocacy and consulting usually for free but please don't tell hardcore capitalist friends.
Read next: Creating Retail Safety In the 21st Century
Email Us | Reader Friendly | Comments
