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Was Anyone Intimidated at the ASA in New Orleans in 1996?
By Dr. Monroe
Shades of the Barbary pirates! Was anyone else besides me
intimidated at the ASA conference last year?
The young men's hustle went something like this.
Hoodlum: Hey, you! How about a shoe shine?
Anesthesiologist (trying to walk try the hustler quickly):
No thanks, my shoes don't need to be shined
Hoodlum: I bet I can guess where you bought your shoes.
(At this point the hustler walks quickly towards the unsuspecting
anesthesiologist and throws something filthy on his shoes. He then proceeds to
shine the shoes, even though the request to shine them has been denied)
Anesthesiologist (standing by helplessly as the hustler
cleans this filthy substance off of his shoes): Hey! I didn't ask you to shine
my shoes.
Hoodlum: (reaching up a large hand and looking very
intimidating, while his friends do likewise from nearby) You owe me twenty
dollars for the shoeshine.
Anesthesiologist (sweating): but, I didn't ask you to
shine my shoes.
Hoodlum: (looking even more menacing) You owe me twenty
dollars. Pay up or else.
Anesthesiologist: (pays the twenty dollars and walks
away.)
Why should we as a specialty continue to book our convention in a
place like New Orleans, known for its street confrontations with tourists, when
other beautiful spots with less crime are available?
Dealing With Big Ugly Guys at the ASA Convention
By Martial Artist Dave McNeill
Refer to the article above by Dr. Monroe for the awkward
situation that you could find yourself in at the ASA convention.
Now I want you to imagine that you are in that predicament. You
have come to the annual meeting of the American Society of Anesthesiologists in
(fill in any city in America) and want to see the sights, blow off a little
steam and have some fun. But now you are standing on one foot with
a bad tempered NFL lineman attached to your shoe, demanding $20.
And he looks like he expects to get paid Well, they didn't cover this in medical
school, did they? So before the real world comes let us review some basics.
A series of things had to happen before Mr. Big-N-Ugly got hold
of your foot. First, you are in a strange place and you did not ask any of the
locals what to watch for in different parts of this city. The hotel staff knows
the area and would be glad to steer you to the right location and away from the
wrong one. The taxi drivers can get anything your little heart desires and they
are very aware of the bad parts of town and could also give you a quick course
on some of the scams that are popular at the local tourist traps. The city law
enforcement officers are there to make is incident free and that their city's
murky reputation is not further darkened. Talk to the street cop, he knows
what's going on. After you have gathered some "intelligence" on the sights to
see and the flavor of the night life, make an informed decision of what you are
going to do for the fun part of your convention.
Second. If this adventure is happening to you and you are by
yourself, then you have made a big, BIG mistake. Don't, repeat, don't go
anywhere by your lonesome. You might not come back Or if you do come back you
could be missing some body parts and some valuables. Going out with a group of
people does not insure your safety. The meanies could swarm the whole group and
in effect turn you into a collection of individuals; you are all by yourself in
a group of friends that are all by themselves. So if you are with other people,
act like it. Pick one of the intimidators and all of you start protesting the
situation and make a lot of noise. The bad guys don’t like noise or a bunch of
tourists turning on them.
Third. Alone or with other people, the nasties were allowed to
get too close. In any self defense situation distance is your best friend Your
nasty acquaintance got way to close. He used distractions to close the range and
you fell for it. If you don't know them, don't let anybody within touching
distance. If they step forward, you step back Hold a hand up and tell them to
stop, that you don't like people getting close to you. If they keep coming after
you told them not to, then you know that this is not going to be a friendly
encounter.
Fourth. Unless you have been using too much of the product that
you administer in the hospital, you have had at least one uneasy feeling before
all of this got out of hand Obey your instincts. If something doesn't feel
right, it isn't. If something doesn't look right, it isn't. That little warning
may be just a fleeting uneasiness, but pay attention to it. Your natural
preservation alarm just went off. You are now in a bad situation because that
alarm went unheeded.
At least four things went wrong to get you to this moment, but
here you are. Now what?
First. Pay up. If you are dangling by your foot from some
gorilla's mitt and $20 will stop it, then cough it up. Money is just money, it
is seldom worth blood, spit and teeth on the pavement. But, like a mad dog,
these guys smell fear and indecision. It is an aphrodisiac to them, like blood
in the water to sharks. It might not be stopped with just money. So we come now
to the "bottom line": defend yourself.
"Do no harm," doesn't apply here: The guy at the end of your foot
never heard of the Hippocratic Oath and he has no intention of walling away
without your money or your life. What ever happens now is going to hurt. You
and/ or he are going to be hurting at the end of the day. The secret is to make
sure that your put a lot more hurt on him than he puts on you. Civilization has
taken a time out and you are on your own.
I have been studying Goju-Shorei Karate since 1971 and currently
hold the rank of 8th degree black belt. In 1977 and again in 1982 I was rated as
fighter of the year in the state of Nevada. And before I studied the martial
arts I was quite good at boxing. I'm not telling you this to impress you, but to
make what I am going to tell you next more meaningful. I will use a weapon on
that piece of trash that has grabbed me. I will use the weapon without
hesitation and without remorse afterwards. The weapon will be legal and will be
in plain sight the whole time.
I am not going to make the fight fair. He won't. I will not stop
until the danger is past. He will not show any mercy to me and I will not show
any to him. This is the court of last resort.
The weapon is the lowly walking cane. It can, and has, been taken
with me everywhere. It can, and has, stopped problems before they fully
developed. Since I have trained to use this weapon, this fight, I believe, is
going to be over quickly.
You will never have to use self defense if you use common sense
and caution and have a good supply of luck. But the realities of the latter part
of 20th century are that bad things happen to good people and the good people
are seldom ready for it.
My last piece of advice is to find someone to train you in the
use of the cane. I would suggest that Goju-Shorei Weapons System offers the most
practical systematized, reality based instruction in the use of the walking cane
and I would suggest that you will find no better anywhere.
For further information contact:
Master Dave McNeill, Soke
1309 Sanden Lane
Minden, Nevada 89423
775-267-2506
FAX: 775-267-5526. |
