Saturday, July 12, 2014

Never Get Outta the Car

If you've ever seen the movie Apocalypse Now, you may remember the encounter with the tiger that has two G.I.s running for their lives back to their river boat. One of them is yelling, "Never get outta the boat. Never get outta the boat."

I once had a job in a toxic work environment, and a co-worker -- who is now my barber -- took a cue from that film. He always warned me: "Never leave the office." And when I did, sooner or later some co-worker would try to count coup on my soul.

Maybe your work environment is happy and fulfilling, and probably you'll never run into a tiger on the prowl. However, you may someday find yourself driving through an area of social unrest.

If that happens, let me give you a little advice. NEVER GET OUTTA THE CAR.

2 comments:

sam_awry said...

Under those circumstances, regardless how the justice system might later misconstrue it, I don't see anything wrong with running them over! Do you?

Craig Mutton said...

Hey Sam,

Good to see you're still with me.

The answer to your question is that it depends. Every situation has its own tactical issues.

In a case like this, your life could be ruined no matter what you do. Sitting tight could get you and/or your passengers killed or maimed. Trying to move forward slowly and nudge people out of the way could leave you open to attacks through broken windows with baseball bats, pipes, bricks and other weapons. If you gun your engine and try to peel out of there, you leave yourself open to later charges of reckless endangerment, assault with a deadly weapon, etc.

If you choose the latter action in order to get people you care about to safety, then you must realize that may well be giving up your life for them. Not dying immediately in combat, but slowly, day by day in a prison cell.

Under the right circumstances, I think that could be a legitimate choice to protect the innocent from violent people. If you make that choice,however, and if God's providence allows your trial and imprisonment, I hope your heart is right with Him and open to His grace for the trials that will surely be ahead.

If you're familiar with the original Karate Kid movies, I think Pat Morita's Mr. Miyagi gave the most agreeable solution to a situation like this when he said, "Best defense; no be there."