If you live close to other people – in a city, an apartment complex (sprawling, hi-rise, condo), or in dense suburban neighborhoods, as a matter of survival, you need to be familiar with the area and the people in it.
If you work at some distance from your home (all too common in America), you also need to be familiar with the environs of your work location.
If you shop in scattered areas of the city – or in other cities – on a regular basis, you need to be familiar with those locations, too.
Your survival depends upon being aware of what’s happening around you in the immediate Now. You can’t get so locked into your routines that you go through life on auto-pilot.
OK, maybe you can. But life is so much more interesting, fascinating, and engrossing if you pay attention to it. Plus you’ll find a zillion opportunities for making friends, gaining people you can depend upon in tight situations, increasing your safety and survivability in criminal situations, and you’ll see all kinds of intriguing things.
In your residential area, these are the things you should be aware of:
Immediate neighbors – how many people live next to you, how many children and pets do they have, what are their daily arrival and departure routines, their regular lawn care routines (if it’s a house), do they take their trash out the night before pick-up or the morning of?
Why you need to know this: if their house caught fire, you’d know if anyone was home and needed rescue, if they deviated from their routine departures and arrivals, you’d wonder if they were OK (less chance of a solitary older person dying at home alone and not being found for weeks or months), and if there was a disaster that affected the whole neighborhood, you’d again know if anyone needed rescue or if you could recruit them to help in the disaster. The trash thing is so you can be on the look-out for strays that scatter the trash across the lawns and you’ll be prepared to clean it up. If you’re familiar with how your neighbors looked, you’d be aware of any strangers wandering the neighborhood. While most strangers are harmless, there will be those who are casing the neighbor with criminal activity in mind.
Where are the fire hydrants, power transformers, power lines, and fire stations?
Why you need to know this: At the risk of being Captain Obvious, if you need to report problems, you’ll know where the problem originated; if the fire department is occupied with too many other emergencies (widespread disaster), you can tap into the fire hydrant for your local neighborhood; you can avoid damaging power lines in clean-up efforts; and the fire station offers free CPR classes and other community benefits as well as fire dousing abilities.
Where are the vacant houses/apartments/buildings, and is there activity happening in them?
Why you need to know this: vacant houses may be housing homeless people who may appreciate help in getting re-homed. Homeless people are not usually a problem beyond petty theft and if they are helped instead of treated like criminals, they may be able to be re-homed and become productive citizens again (and maybe even a good neighbor). On the other hand, vacant houses are also a draw for criminals, from the mischief making of bored teens (which can be pretty deadly) to the dangers of drug trafficking.
Where are the wild edibles growing?
Why you need to know this: In times of disaster or financial downturns, you can supplement your diet with food. You will never starve if you know what’s edible around you.
Where are the exits in public buildings like stores, malls, your work place, other office buildings you enter, etc? Where are the storm shelters?
Why you need to know this: In case of an emergency, you want to be able to exit quickly and in the case of tornadoes (in my area, anyway) you want to know where you can get to safety until the threat of the storm passes (usually half an hour or so, so you’re not stuck in there for long).
Who is in your immediate area, how are they acting, what are they doing, why are they there?
Why you need to know this: Most of it is pretty obvious – they’re shopping, they’re meeting someone, etc. But if they are congregating in one place or all looking one way, chances are something’s happening you need to know about, either so yo can help or get away. If you’re aware of the people about you, you’re also less likely to be chosen as a victim of a criminal act.
What can you use as a weapon?
Why you need to know this: If you’re a woman, I hardly need to tell you this. Violence towards women is escalating, from casual violence like being shoved out of the way to rape and murder. Smart women plan their outings around the potential for violence being directed at them, and then they go about their business. Anything can become a weapon – bricks, rocks, a clothing rack, the car door, a purse, shoes. Just because men are less likely to be a victim doesn’t mean they won’t become one if they aren’t prepared, so while they may not be as focused on the potential for harm coming their way, they still need to be alert.
What are the most common threats in this area?
Why you need to know this: Threats are different in different areas. In your home, you would be able to provide more layers of protection and safety, but when you’re away from home, you may have to wing it. Is the parking lot well lit? Are you parked far from the door? Is there anyone lurking around the parking lot? Use the shopping carts to carry out even small packages – the shopping cart can become a good weapon or barrier against a potential criminal and your hands will be free to protect your self, and you’ll be able to run unburdened if you have to. In office complexes, isolated areas may become places where you are harassed or feel threatened, so knowing how to get away is essential. On the street, again isolated poorly lit areas are more dangerous, but even well-lit crowded areas offer their own threats. Knowing what kinds of threats could happen frees you up to note them then move on. You’re prepared.
What skills, resources, and compassion do your neighbors and friends have?
What you need to know this: In the event of an emergency, you need to know which people to depend on which to help. You need to know what kind of skills are available. Different emergencies require different skills. We have become a society of specialists, so knowing who the specialists are and where they live or can be found can help you (or them) create a viable community that survives. Your individual skills are good, but there are situations where you just won’t be able to do it alone, not if it’s a long term disaster or emergency. We need only look to the aftermath of Katrina to know this. In examining Katrina, we see the people who are the best off three years later are the ones who banded together and helped one another. Those who were in it for themselves, or who were alone fared worse. The best way to survive a long term disaster is to make sure, first, that you survive it, then that you band together with others and help one another survive and reach out to rescue others to join your merry band of survivors. Networking is essential to survival.
There's more, of course. There's always more, but these should get you to paying attention and discovering things you may have been oblivious to - and thinking about other things you might need to know and why you'd need to know them.