Mall Kidnapping

[White Warlock]

People in threatening situations don't always react logically. I also thought it was foolish for the woman to run in the same direction as the car was traveling, rather than turning around and running into the mall, but foolish acts and adrenalin often go hand-in-hand.

 

But really, it's all those sheep, cows and monkeys i have a problem with. Nobody reacts because nobody else reacts. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why we study the arts. So we don't think and act like this.

[SoonerJohn]

I remember seeing a study done on this. It was something like 10% of people would actually interfere, 80% would follow the lead, and 10% would panic or not help.

 

Been a while, so those are just approximations of what the actuall results were.

 

On a side note, I had a friend that interfered in a situation where a guy slapped a girl with full force. He just walked up and punched him with a cross straight to the jaw. Knocked him out and the girl then jumped on my friend kicking and scratching.

 

So sometimes you have to be careful.

[Mark70Z]

Sooner: A simular thing happened here in Jacksonville, FL about a month ago. A fellow stood up for a woman and knocked the guy out who hit her. The woman didn't do anything, but when the guy woke back up, he went and stabbed the guy in the heart. I guess you have to face the consequeses if your willing to help. I hope I would help in these instances no matter what the consequences.

[ncole_91]

no offense to everyone but it maybe was not a kidnap , maybe a run away teenager, and parents want her back so they chased her down.... it could be anything...

[sAtelitte]

Nobody reacts because nobody else reacts. Ladies and gentlemen, this is why we study the arts. So we don't think and act like this.

 

I can imagine if it were me standing there and seeing the whole thing happening i'd probably be stunned as well, i doubt i'd have the reflex to immediately come to her aid. In those 10 maybe 20 seconds i would be surprised/stunned/shocked first. In this situation the women would be in the trunk already before i'd snap out of it. So i have my doubts your MA training would change your reaction in those first seconds.

 

Doesn't take away that those people who saw it should have called the police.

[Melody]

I can relate as a dumb a** bystander. I was sitting in my car outside of Burger King this past Friday, I was meeting a freind there. While I was waiting, a man and woman who worked there (I think they were seeing each other or something) came barging out the door. The man was trying to avoid her, and she was chasing him around the parking lot, using more obcenities in a sentence than I've ever heard in my life.

 

But anyway, she got in her car, and seemedd to be digging under the passenger seat. Well, I thought she was looking for her smokes or something (as she seemed very stressed) but to my shock, the woman pulled out a gun. And by the way she was holding it, I knew she knew how to use the thing. But I can say, I just froze! I was stone still. Thank God she didn't shoot. She just cursed some more and jumped in her car and sped off. But as a bystander, I can honestly say, that I was so shocked as to what was going on that I couldn't move a muscle. The guy called the police after she left. I just felt so stupid afterward though. I;m just glad she was able to control herself

[Logan]

It's interesting to hear people talk about what they would or wouldn't do in a situation like this. There are to many what ifs involved. Good or bad, you never know what you are going to do until the situation arises. There is no way to tell, even if a similar situation has occured before. You could be in a different mind frame, the surroundings could be slightly adjusted. Any number of things can affect your judgement, and ultimately your decision to act or not. So to answer the question what would you do? You'll know when it happens.

[White Warlock]

I've been in plenty of situations, and i agree with you Logan. In each and every case, i reacted differently. But, my training helped me to think quickly and effectively, looking for options, examining things to their consequences, and deciding to act when warranted.

 

Without training, people tend to simply watch, as they would a television screen. No consideration is given to "what can be done." The furthest that many think are, "oh my god!," "is this real?," or "not my problem."

 

One is shock and inaction, another is denial and inaction, and the last is indifference and inaction. All three end in inaction, whereas we train (or at least we should) to not be shocked into inaction, to assume that what occurs before us is real, and to care for our fellow man, or woman in this case.

[White Warlock]

Melody, there was little to nothing you could do in that situation. At most what you may have felt was powerless.

 

A very very long time ago, I believe it was the Jurassic period, i worked at a McDonald's. Of course, at that time they were called McPebbles and they served these really lame brontosaurus burgers. Jokes aside, as my fellow slave was directed to clean the bathrooms, i was directed to clean the outside, and dutifully went about my responsibilities, meager as they were.

 

After a time, i reentered the restaurant, swatting back a stegasaurus that mistook me for a tasty mcnugget (okay, not really that tasty, but don't tell that to the kiddies). Upon entering, the manager requested i check on my fellow slave, as he had taken far too long to clean those nasty little ivory-lipped water basins.

 

Again, i dutifully exited the restaurant, made a well-targetted swat on the nose of the stegasaurus that had been patiently waiting for me to return, and made my way to the bathroom... exit on the outside of the building (prehistoric times indeed). Granted, there was also an access entry, to the bathroom, from the inside of the restaurant, located right next to the cash box and dishwater, but none of us ever used that during open hours. For security reasons, no doubt.

 

Noting a few droppings i had missed, i went about cleaning as i whistled my way to the commode, oblivious to the plight of the little people, or the fact i still needed to get a college education. Finally, upon reaching the door, i pulled on it and was witness to my fellow slave... and two masked gunmen, thoroughly engaged in a somewhat hostile discussion with the manager, who had been coaxed into opening the inner access entry (forget the fact there were no guns during the Jurassic period, or humans for that matter, and stay with me folks).

 

For a split second i was shocked, but so were they. The gunmen saw me, did a double-take, and then one proceeded to point his gun at me while ordering me inside.

 

At that point, something inside took over. I can blame it on stupidity, or on the fact i had been practicing diligently in the arts for sometime by then, and had reached the enlightened state of clueless. Whatever it was, my reaction caught even me by surprise. As the gun turned to me, I yelled "no!" and immediately swatted it, then slammed the door on the barrel, growling as i heard the other yelling as well.

 

In the chaos of those few seconds, the manager was able to grab my fellow hostaged slave, and pull him in. He, along with a group of other slaves, forced the inner access door to close.

 

The gunmen were trapped in the bathroom, metal doors on each side.

 

But, i did not know the good fortune that had befallen the hostaged slave, and thus, after the gunman had succeeded in getting his gun free from the door jamb, i closed and secured the door, then ran across the street to a bar, where i proceeded to make a spectacle of myself... and the bartendress called police, to haul me out of there.

 

The two gunmen got away, the hostaged slave was furious with me, and the rest of the company called me a hero. To this day... i think i was just plain stupid.

[HumanTyphoon]

Wow WW! Good story, even though you could have done the safer thing.