Post by woodyz on Apr 4, 2016 18:09:10 GMT -7
If you look vulnerable, you look like a target
This one’s related to all the rest, and has been alluded to already, but it deserves to have its own section.
Whether you’re concerned about being the target of criminal activity or of some enemy force, you have to consider that sometimes you just won’t be able to blend in completely but you can still try not to stand out. There was certainly no way I blended in in the jungles of Africa, for example.
The obvious example is not wearing expensive jewelry or that nice watch I mentioned above, but it’s more than that. Certain things you do or wear can make you more inviting to an enemy that might have otherwise just passed you by.
Did you know that wearing that gray hooded sweater’s hood up can make you a target? Those hoods block your peripheral vision, and not only keep you from seeing behind and to the side – it LOOKS like you can’t see around you. Subconsciously you look more vulnerable even if they don’t realize it.
Same goes for headphones. When people are wearing headphones, they’re usually zoned out. People catch onto that and will assume (again, sometimes unconsciously) that you’re not paying attention – and are more vulnerable. When’s the last time you interrupted someone at a coffee shop or a park who was reading or typing while wearing headphones?
I work a LOT in coffee shops in my job, especially now, and I can definitely tell you, I RARELY get interrupted if I’m wearing them. If you look lost in your own world, you look like you’re not paying attention to the world outside – because you probably aren’t.
Here’s one of the biggest things that will make you stand out as a target for those looking for a victim – TEXTING. Just as with headphones, people who are staring into their cell phones, texting away about their day are not paying attention to the world around them – especially if they’re walking. What makes it harder is that if you occasionally look up and around while you’re texting so you don’t look like a target – now you just popped up on their radar if you weren’t previously. People don’t normally do that.
Unless you absolutely have to, lay off the texting if you’re trying to blend in and keep yourself safe. The only real trick I know that works is to be walking with someone else who appears vigilant (but not overly-so) while you tap-tap-tap away on your phone.
graywolfsurvival.com/133872/the-art-of-blending-in-5-tips-from-a-counterintelligence-special-agent/
This one’s related to all the rest, and has been alluded to already, but it deserves to have its own section.
Whether you’re concerned about being the target of criminal activity or of some enemy force, you have to consider that sometimes you just won’t be able to blend in completely but you can still try not to stand out. There was certainly no way I blended in in the jungles of Africa, for example.
The obvious example is not wearing expensive jewelry or that nice watch I mentioned above, but it’s more than that. Certain things you do or wear can make you more inviting to an enemy that might have otherwise just passed you by.
Did you know that wearing that gray hooded sweater’s hood up can make you a target? Those hoods block your peripheral vision, and not only keep you from seeing behind and to the side – it LOOKS like you can’t see around you. Subconsciously you look more vulnerable even if they don’t realize it.
Same goes for headphones. When people are wearing headphones, they’re usually zoned out. People catch onto that and will assume (again, sometimes unconsciously) that you’re not paying attention – and are more vulnerable. When’s the last time you interrupted someone at a coffee shop or a park who was reading or typing while wearing headphones?
I work a LOT in coffee shops in my job, especially now, and I can definitely tell you, I RARELY get interrupted if I’m wearing them. If you look lost in your own world, you look like you’re not paying attention to the world outside – because you probably aren’t.
Here’s one of the biggest things that will make you stand out as a target for those looking for a victim – TEXTING. Just as with headphones, people who are staring into their cell phones, texting away about their day are not paying attention to the world around them – especially if they’re walking. What makes it harder is that if you occasionally look up and around while you’re texting so you don’t look like a target – now you just popped up on their radar if you weren’t previously. People don’t normally do that.
Unless you absolutely have to, lay off the texting if you’re trying to blend in and keep yourself safe. The only real trick I know that works is to be walking with someone else who appears vigilant (but not overly-so) while you tap-tap-tap away on your phone.
graywolfsurvival.com/133872/the-art-of-blending-in-5-tips-from-a-counterintelligence-special-agent/
