Not a Ninja by Nature

Still working, and on top of that it is raining today. Looks like Holland to me. It's been a dreary week, with all this rain.

 

Constant rain

 

I got this e-mail from work:

 ‘As you may know and as previously circulated to all staff that the crime rate by the end of 2012 was 30% higher compared to 2011 in general (all level of crimes; Abduction, Armed Robberies, Assault, Burglary, Theft….) and for this year 2013, additional increase is noted in terms of figures and based on the current assessment.’ 

 

Then I read in this week’s paper that ‘muggings across the country topped Friday’s police reports’ .

 And on top of that this blogger followed right after with some more uplifting news.
 

Probably the only good news is that the Boston Bomber is not an Arab. We all sighed in relief. And Dagestan, where’s that anyway? 

 

Elderly lady with a home-made rain coat

 

This reminds me think of a rather dubious statement that former Interior Minister Marwan Charbel made some time ago, when he basically accused the Syrian refugees of causing this increase. ‘The crime rate in his country has gone up by 50 percent and attributed the increase to the surge of Syrian refugees,’ he was quoted. I wonder where he gets his figures from. (source)

 
I don't buy that. I thought the petty crime rate in general was related to the economic situation in the country and the overall respect people have for authority. I am not complaining about my economic situation, but my respect for the ‘powers that be’ is rather low, I’d say.

 

Mind you, a 30% increase should be read in relation to the overall crime rate, which is rather low in this country. We score high on the corruption chart, but in terms of violent crimes, we do pretty well. Even the American government thinks so, and that says a lot (to me, at least) :

CRIME: The crime rate in Lebanon is moderate, and both car theft and burglaries occur. Violent crime and sexual assault are rare, although the Embassy receives regular reports of domestic abuse. Petty theft -- such as pick pocketing and purse snatching -- is common in crowded public areas. (source)

 

Jumping the gutters

 

But it did get me thinking (even though I have never ever been robbed or mugged in this country, and I have been everywhere and often alone), and so when a friend sent me an invitation to a Senshido Personal Safety  Seminar -  ‘We offer tactical, physical, physiological, emotional and mental training to individuals allowing them to deal with all forms of violence'  – I thought, “Well, maybe it comes in handy one day.”

 
It was an interesting experience. A short, stocky youngster, not your typical Rambo, taught us in very colorful language how to basically avoid getting mugged, robbed or raped. He had some dubious theories on mini-skirts, I might add, but if – due to your own stupidity (according to him) -  you do get cornered, there are some very simple methods to get away.

 

Apart from running very fast, I basically learned that – although not a ninja by nature – I can inflict serious damage to my attacker’s eyeballs in various positions, and if that doesn’t help, a little knee in the private parts might give you some extra time to run.  Because running is – in the end – going to save your ass. “You do not stand a chance against a guy with a knife and bad intentions.”

 

Learning how to get rid of this guy :)

 

I guess I have been lucky all these years, or you could assume that Lebanese are in general people without bad intentions. I like that last statement better. But if all this does not make you feel any better, I think they're having a re-run of the workshop, so check them out.

 

Ninja at work