Closed Tonight

The gym is closed tonight, but I might go to self-defense seminar that's being held by the Chicago Police Department. I heard that the cops will give out free pepper spray, too. For those of you who read this blog and don't live here, there's been a rash of assaults against women in an area of town known as Lakeview. Lakeview is one of the city's many yuppie havens, located not far from downtown Chicago.

My interest in going is to hear what tips for self-protection will be given out. I'm guessing it'll be the usual -- don't walk alone at night, have someone pick you up from the public transportation stops if you'll be coming home late, make cab drivers wait until you get inside the house before you drive off, etc. I have no doubt that most of the women in attendance will display expressions on their face that indicate they haven't heard the tips before and/or have never considered them.

It's disturbing in this day and age that both men and women often get lulled into a false sense of security. Judging from the comments I saw in the local papers after the attacks, it appears that a lot of people think because they live in a supposedly safe area, such incidents would never happen there or to them. I realize that many also believe that if they are shelling out money for property, particularly some of those who have condos and town houses, that their mortgage payments should automatically guarantee that the neighborhood be free of criminals. People need to wake up and get real. There are no "safe" neighborhoods, towns, cities or suburbs. Crime is everywhere and it happens anywhere and anytime.

I grew up in neighborhoods where you learned to watch your back from day one. The front doors, back doors and the windows in the house were closed, locked and checked regularly. You learned not to always use alleyways and gangways as shortcuts. There were houses and apartment buildings that you hurried by when when you walked pass, if you couldn't avoid them at all. Everybody knew what streets and corners were particularly bad, and they stayed away. People learned who the bad guys and girls around the neighborhood were, and they were hip to all the con games and schemes. People also knew how to protect themselves.

I keep saying this: it galls me that women and girls in this country are still being told, "It's not ladylike to fight." When facing a criminal who wants to rape, rob, assault, etc., that kind of attitude will get females killed. I'm always running into women who tell me, "I've never been in a fight." That does not negate the fact that women and girls should be prepared to know how to defend themselves in case the need arises. Forget about nonsense like, "when people learn how to fight, that makes them aggressive." Better to learn how to be aggressive when appropriate than to end up in the emergency room or the morgue.