Arbitrary Airport Awareness

Currently I'm sitting at the airport at an undisclosed location.

I'm scheduled to fly international today. About to cross continents. Actually, I'd say that makes my flight more of an intercontinental one. Whatever. International, intercontinental. It really doesn't matter.

What matters is the poor position that I'm sitting in at the moment, and how I had to debate certain pros and cons for sitting down where I sit. Right now, I'm sitting by a bench near the gate. The bench is a so-called 'charging hub' or whatever you like to call it. It has both power sockets and USB outlets for people who need to charge their phones and other electronic devices. And since I don't possess a power bank, I'm left with seeking out spots like these.

I'm grateful that there are such spots at the airport. Otherwise, my life would have been very difficult.

What I'm not grateful about is how I sit.

Due to practical reasons, I'm forced to have my back facing the hallway where people walk up and down.

Fortunately, I'm staring at windows. Which means I have sort of a poor man's mirror to survey what's going on behind me.

But it's not ideal. I would like to face the other way with my back against the wall so that I could have gotten a nice overview over what's going on behind me. However, since I'm in the concourse after security, it means that there likely aren't that many people with bad intentions here. So it's a calculated risk. I know that I could have easily overpowered anyone in my immediate presence. Still, it's uncomfortable.

If I were in a restaurant in the middle of a city or somewhere else where there's a lot of people and no security gate to enter, I'd walked elsewhere.

Not because I'm paranoid. But because I choose my health, wellness and safety above all else.

There are people with bad intentions out there. Denying it won't make it go away. Criminals, just like disease do not discriminate. Especially not the lunatics.

Situational awareness is one of the most important 'preps' or measurements that you can take. Practice it every day. Work on finding out who is the person that presents the biggest danger to your safety. That doesn't mean you have to stare, you only have to peek around gently and spot the one you need to keep an extra eye on. It also means placing yourself at locations where you can easily run away if something happens. And believe me, bad stuff does happen every now and then. However, I need to have as much battery life on my phone when I land. That's why I'm taking the chance.

Ain't no way these tourists and sloths around are going to harm me.

And there's no reason for why you should let it happen to you either. Always consider whether you're better off not taking the chance or not. And remember, the more you look around you, the more suspicious you appear to others.

And that can attract bad people to you.

However, common sense always prevails. Don't sit down at a prone spot where there's a lot of shady people.

But you already know this because you're smart.