By Carla Dickmann, 11/03/2022 – https://www.usconcealedcarry.com/blog/6-degrees-of-danger-when-the-unthinkable-happens-close-to-home
You’ve heard of the concept of six degrees of separation, right? The idea is that any person can be connected to any other person through a chain of five or less intermediaries. In other words, all people are thought to be six or fewer connections away from each other. (If you’re a movie buff, you’ve likely heard this same notion referred to as “six degrees of Kevin Bacon.”)
During a recent conversation with CCM Editor-at-Large Beth Alcazar in which I relayed the details of a strange encounter I had at a local gas station with a young man who tried to convince me to fill up his gas tank so he could drive his “very pregnant” sister back to Texas, we got to talking about how many potential — or actual — dangerous situations we’ve been in and how many others have happened to people we know. Together we landed on this notion of “six degrees of danger.”
After our chat, I started jotting down some quick notes about several encounters I’ve had — many of which I’ve written about previously in these pages — and others with which I’ve simply had a roundabout connection.
For example:
- My daycare provider’s father was shot and killed when she was just a little girl.
- My husband’s godfather’s grandson was strangled to death by his stepfather.
- A college friend of mine was held up and robbed at gunpoint in Costa Rica.
- One of my high school teachers was murdered in a home invasion.
- A former coworker of mine is friends with the family of a little boy who was killed by a man who drove through a parade.
- A few of my friends have children whose schools were on lockdown because of reports of a student with a gun in their district.
I’m sure I could come up with more if I started expanding beyond my inner circle. Scary, isn’t it?
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t super uncomfortable listing off these incidents. All of them are terrible, terrible things, and though none of them affected me directly — at least not physically — they all hit far too close to home.
Remember, if it can happen to someone you know or someone who the person you know knows, it can certainly happen to you.
You see, I have young children, including one who is in school. I take them to parades. I’ve been to Costa Rica. I pass the road where my former teacher lived when I drive to the next town over to meet a friend for coffee. It’s all just too much.
Although it’s not pleasant, I urge you to take a moment to examine your own six degrees of danger. Then, get to work on preparing for as many worst-case scenarios as you can. Remember, if it can happen to someone you know or someone who the person you know knows, it can certainly happen to you.
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