Taking Care During the Christmas Season

The Christmas season is the time for prayer, thanksgiving and showing the people in our lives just how much we love them.  It is, unfortunately, also the time that the unscrupulous in our society take advantage of those who are most vulnerable--the aged, women alone and children. We need to be vigilant at the mall where we shop, in the parking lots and even at home. Below are some tips that I think are important. Read my book Living Agelessly for more valuable tips about protecting yourself and your parents from being scammed or harmed.

1. Tip from Tae Kwon Do:

The elbow is the strongest point on your body. If you are close enough to use it, do!

2. Confound Muggers.

If a robber asks for your wallet and/or purse, do not hand it to him. Toss it away from you. Then run like mad in the other direction.

3. If you are ever thrown into the trunk of a car, kick out the back tail lights and stick your arm out the hole and start waving like crazy. The driver won't see you, but everybody else will.

4. Women have a tendency to get into their cars after shopping, eating or working, and just sit (doing their checkbook or making a list). Don't do this. The predator will be watching you, and this is the perfect opportunity for him to get in on the passenger side, put a gun to your head, and tell you where to go. As soon as you get into your car, drive away.


If someone is in the car with a gun to your head, do not drive off. Repeat: DO NOT DRIVE OFF. Instead gun the engine and speed into anything. You may wreck the car, but your airbag will save you. If the person is in the back seat, they will get the worst of it. As soon as the car crashes, bail out and run. It is better than having them find your body in a remote location.

5. A few notes about getting into your car in a parking lot or parking garage:

•  Be aware: look around you, look into your car at the passenger side floor and  in the back seat.
•  If you're parked next to a big van, enter your car from the passenger door. Most serial killers attack their victims by pulling them into their vans while the women are attempting to get into their cars.
• Look at the car parked on the driver's side of your vehicle, and the passenger side. If a male is sitting alone in the seat nearest your car, you may want to walk back into the mall, or work, and get a guard/policeman to walk you back out.

6. Always take the elevator instead of the stairs.

Stairwells are horrible places to be alone and the perfect crime spot. This is especially true at night.

7. If the predator has a gun and you are not under his control, always run.

The predator will only hit you (a running target) 4 in 100 times; and even then, it most likely will not be a vital organ. Run, preferably in a zig -zag pattern.

8. As women, we are always trying to be sympathetic:

STOP! It may get you raped or killed. Ted Bundy, the serial killer, was a good-looking, well educated man, who always played on the sympathies of unsuspecting women. He walked with a cane or a limp, and often asked 'for help' into his vehicle or with his vehicle, which is when he abducted his next victim.

9. Another Safety Point:

If you hear a crying baby outside your house, call the police. The police have said that serial killers often use a recorded baby's cry to coax women out of their homes.

10 . Water scam!

If you wake up in the middle of the night to hear all your taps outside running or what you think is a burst pipe, DO NOT GO OUT TO INVESTIGATE! These people turn on all your outside taps so that you will go out to investigate. Then they attack. Call the police instead.