Ever Vigilent

One would have to be blind, deaf and dumb now not to figure out we are in a recession, headed rapidly to...or already in a depression. The ship is sinking... albeit slowly... and we are all trying to find ways to plug the holes in our individual ships. Some are still in smooth sailing.... but most of us are trying to stay afloat in a sea of diminished investment funds, foreclosed homes, diminished property values, increased property taxes, lost jobs, and dashed dreams.

Not all is lost however.
These are not Titanic times just yet.
As long as we walk this planet and control our thoughts, instead of letting them control us, we can stay afloat, we can get through it.

Survival of the fittest  is a concept inherent in every species through time. The strongest always survive, the weakest filter out and fade away.
The weak ones are the ones who scream of falling skies and spew negative energy.
There will always be weak ones.

The good news is there will always be stronger ones. It is the order of things. That challenge lies in maintaining the balance between the two.

There are more of us good guys, than bad ones out here.
But the bad ones are very good at being bad. Sometimes we don't know them until after they've taken off their friendly masks and the real demon has revealed itself. We investigators are trained to see behind those masks.

Child predators, sex offenders, kid killers, family destroyers.... they all talk of watching potential "marks" or subjects, day in and day out. When I worked as an Investigator for the Public Defender, many of these predators were my clients. I've also done a little studying on the subject.
These people don't get better. 
They move in and out the criminal justice system's revolving doors.

Sex to them is power... they have none... that is how they get it.
The feed on others' emotional blood.
So they sit in their parked cars... pretending to read, to talk on the phone or lay under trees in parks, school yards, fields. They can be jolly uncles at a family outing, coaches on school teams or a guy with a puppy he wants to share.
Children are fish, predators use lines and bait to get  in their boat
Now I no longer represent bad guys. I’m a civil investigator, on the side of the victim.

And often, in my travels, I recognize the patterns of predators I use to defend on my daily rounds. Because I too sit in parked cars between cases, I often park in places I feel safe... near school yards, shopping lots, community centers, parks, schools, churches.
Places where it's secure to pull off the road, pull out notes, make calls, email someone, focus or just chill for a while as I am forever on the road.

Sexual predators of children watch recesses and after school activities much like lions do on the Sahara. They lay in wait and watch the herds. Always, in that herd, there are big ones and small ones. Groups, cliques, and the little isolated, single ones. The outcasts.... the rejects...the ones on the periphery... often those are the ones they target.

I use to speak at schools. Tell children how they could rub their fingers in their hair, which has natural grease they can use to write license plate numbers on rocks or windows, if they see a child abducted in a car.

I use to tell parents to teach their kids.... if they were locked in car trucks.... to never, ever give up. To pull at every panel, expose every wire, unplug everything and that would pull out a brake light, headlight, turn light and trigger a police stop.

I use to tell children if they were riding their bikes and a stranger in a car pulled beside them and grabbed their arm, to hold onto to the bike and scream. They couldn't pull the kid and the bike through the car window.

And I use to tell everyone I could... never, ever, get into a car with a stranger who pulls a gun on you and says "get in. " I say t attempt fight and/or flight  --   try to run, scream,  or risk getting shot rather than get in that strangers vehicle. Anything that results from an escape, including injury...  gives you a chance. Once you are taken and abducted, your chances of survival diminish exponentially. 

I used teach a lot things.  Especially to my own children, who lean a bit on the excessively cautious side. I do not know if this is a bad thing. I am sure it is a safe thing
Bottom line, I think the most we can be these days is financially conservative, fully realistic and ever vigilant.

People always ask about my safety when I tell them I am Private Investigator. I am much more worried about the children in the living rooms of people I am investigating. I could possibly survive an on the job injury. Most little kids can't survive an abduction. If they do, they lost their childhood.

So, we must all keep eyes open for each other.
Next time you are someplace public, where people gather -- an airport; train station; community center; playgrounds -- watch the people watching the people. This where you pick up aberrant behavior.
This is where you may be able to make a difference.