PATYS: Pay Attention To Your Surroundings
Some may say it’s too soon, but I disagree.
Watching the horrific footage of Iryna Zarutska being brutally murdered on a train in Charlotte, NC, I immediately noticed something that many would not. See, my brain works a little differently from some.
My time in the Army was mostly during peacetime, and I was never deployed to a war zone or conflict. I wasn’t an operator—not a door kicker by any means. I worked in the motor pool and mostly had a good time at the taxpayers’ expense. However, I learned so many great lessons and developed life skills through my training and mentorships.
One of the most important skills—or rather, practices—I learned (and constantly drill into my family) was this:
Pay Attention To Your Surroundings (PATYS)
Unfortunately, the world we live in is full of constant, potential dangers. You cannot assume everything is okay or that you’re safe just because you’re surrounded by people.
Iryna appeared to think she was safe—sitting on a public transit train, surrounded by others. She had just sat down with her earbuds in, looking at her phone, apparently believing there was safety in numbers. Or more likely, she wasn’t even thinking about safety. She escaped a war-torn Ukraine to the assumed safety of America.
Nobody can say for sure, but I believe that if she had been vigilant—if she had positioned herself so that she could see the people around her—she might have had a better chance at defending herself.
I am so saddened by her needless death. When I see that footage, I don’t just see a stranger—I see one of my children… or my wife… sitting on that train.
I hope and pray they would know, from Dad’s constant (and often annoying) lessons, to sit in that seat sideways—with their back against the window—eyes up and scanning.
I know it sounds insensitive. I know it sounds negative.
But we must assume that anyone around us is a potential bad guy.
Bearded Homeschool Mom 