Sadly, times have changed. And valor tends to be punished in the here and now. You have given much to protect and serve over the years. And being careful in these crazy years does not diminish your inner good self.
My wife has made a house rule of "Don't be a hero." She knows my first instinct is to help people. But, after I broke my left elbow while helping a woman who was stuck on ice in Dallas traffic, she said no more. And, with the way our legal system is now, I have to agree with her.
We have become Balkanized as a result of the progressives demonizing everything good and decent. Where, once, we wouldn't hesitate to aid those in need, now we must run a cost / benefit analysis for every social interaction. While a tragic modification of my behavior, I have determined that my good intentions, chivalry, and courage are reserved for me and mine, as I have neither the finances nor the inclination to enter into a protracted legal battle to defend my motivations for stopping to assist a stranger.
Worse than the potential of physical harm is the financial jeopardy that could make you and your family paupers, lose your house and anything you've worked for. Which is an indication of how to arrange things if you're inclined to man-up. Check with a good lawyer, just putting things in your wife's name is probably not enough protection.
Modern times. Things aren't as they used to be. I get it. Nowadays, folks may be inclined to calculate the ramifications of doing the right thing, where the right thing might help another but at the expense of your life going into the crapper. I can remember 35 years ago, I was driving along with my young daughter and spotted a woman with children trying to change a tire with one arm in a cast. I stopped 30 feet away and had my daughter exit the car with me and offered to change her tire. There was a frightened look on her face and she declined, with the tire iron in her good hand. I left. Still, you kind of do what habit and upbringing taught you to do, the right thing. But now with a dose of "what if?" as if you were walking point in some urban mall in the big city. You help where you can, with prudence. I live in a state where every non-felon over 21 can carry a concealed weapon. If I hear gunfire, am I going to run to it? I dunno. Too old to run, not trained in land warfare, don't want to get shot by the police or an armed citizen (not so much worried receiving incoming from a bad guy), would be concerned about collateral damage, arrest, a lawsuit, jail...There! Just solved my dilemma...having inadvertently played the "what if?/second-guessing" game, the gunfire has stopped. I can go on my way. Still, you kind of do what a lifetime of habit inclines you to do: the right thing, with thoughtful diligence. I'm more optimistic now. The pendulum might be swinging back in the right direction.
*If Rita isn’t with me, I will not stop to help a female stranger, or children. I will call local law enforcement and have them sent there, but without Rita being present I will not offer aid on my own. That goes double if there are children involved.*
Ah, the infamous "Mike Pence Protocol".
Y'know, the one the Left finds offensive in the extreme, even though (or perhaps more correctly, *because*) it keeps good and honest men out of trouble.
Be the porcupine - a benign attitude, mainly interested in going about your own business but will defend & damage as needed if there is no other recourse...
As a Former LEO myself....I understand and have given the events mentioned thought.
The quote below helped me.
Kelley
“Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please—this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.
(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)”
My CCW instructor put it succinctly. You are not obligated to involve yourself in a gunfight unless it directly affects you. You can choose to get involved, but if anything untoward happens, the consequences fall on you
Sadly, times have changed. And valor tends to be punished in the here and now. You have given much to protect and serve over the years. And being careful in these crazy years does not diminish your inner good self.
My wife has made a house rule of "Don't be a hero." She knows my first instinct is to help people. But, after I broke my left elbow while helping a woman who was stuck on ice in Dallas traffic, she said no more. And, with the way our legal system is now, I have to agree with her.
We have become Balkanized as a result of the progressives demonizing everything good and decent. Where, once, we wouldn't hesitate to aid those in need, now we must run a cost / benefit analysis for every social interaction. While a tragic modification of my behavior, I have determined that my good intentions, chivalry, and courage are reserved for me and mine, as I have neither the finances nor the inclination to enter into a protracted legal battle to defend my motivations for stopping to assist a stranger.
Worse than the potential of physical harm is the financial jeopardy that could make you and your family paupers, lose your house and anything you've worked for. Which is an indication of how to arrange things if you're inclined to man-up. Check with a good lawyer, just putting things in your wife's name is probably not enough protection.
Modern times. Things aren't as they used to be. I get it. Nowadays, folks may be inclined to calculate the ramifications of doing the right thing, where the right thing might help another but at the expense of your life going into the crapper. I can remember 35 years ago, I was driving along with my young daughter and spotted a woman with children trying to change a tire with one arm in a cast. I stopped 30 feet away and had my daughter exit the car with me and offered to change her tire. There was a frightened look on her face and she declined, with the tire iron in her good hand. I left. Still, you kind of do what habit and upbringing taught you to do, the right thing. But now with a dose of "what if?" as if you were walking point in some urban mall in the big city. You help where you can, with prudence. I live in a state where every non-felon over 21 can carry a concealed weapon. If I hear gunfire, am I going to run to it? I dunno. Too old to run, not trained in land warfare, don't want to get shot by the police or an armed citizen (not so much worried receiving incoming from a bad guy), would be concerned about collateral damage, arrest, a lawsuit, jail...There! Just solved my dilemma...having inadvertently played the "what if?/second-guessing" game, the gunfire has stopped. I can go on my way. Still, you kind of do what a lifetime of habit inclines you to do: the right thing, with thoughtful diligence. I'm more optimistic now. The pendulum might be swinging back in the right direction.
*If Rita isn’t with me, I will not stop to help a female stranger, or children. I will call local law enforcement and have them sent there, but without Rita being present I will not offer aid on my own. That goes double if there are children involved.*
Ah, the infamous "Mike Pence Protocol".
Y'know, the one the Left finds offensive in the extreme, even though (or perhaps more correctly, *because*) it keeps good and honest men out of trouble.
A.E.E.
Avoid
Evade
Engage
Be the porcupine - a benign attitude, mainly interested in going about your own business but will defend & damage as needed if there is no other recourse...
LawDog,
As a Former LEO myself....I understand and have given the events mentioned thought.
The quote below helped me.
Kelley
“Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please—this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.
(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love
My CCW instructor put it succinctly. You are not obligated to involve yourself in a gunfight unless it directly affects you. You can choose to get involved, but if anything untoward happens, the consequences fall on you