I have to question my own survival instinct. Sometimes I’m not as with it as I should be. But then I have a great excuse, I’m demyelinating but that’s a whole other topic. I just came from listening to Dr. Bruce Perry speak all day on childhood trauma and the developing brain. http://www.childtrauma.org
I should have trusted my own senses that something wasn’t kosher but instead just brushed it off like most of us do. The audience of about 1000 was one third law enforcement, one third mental health clinicians and the other third a mixed bag of crisis workers, social workers, and teachers.
My coworkers and I grabbed our seats among the stadium seating in a large church, the first two seats obviously being reserved (large bags in the seats). We chose to save the seat between the two reserved seats and my own by placing a personal item of mine and the conference gift (a large backpack) in the seat. About an hour after we arrived three people showed up to claim the two reserved seats. A rather interesting looking gentleman immediately started to take my backpack out of the seat leaving my personal item.
The man started to engage me that the backpack was his and the seat was his. I advised him the seat was empty when we arrived however this response wasn’t suitable for him and he continued on. After a five minute exchange, I offered him the seat anyway and he turned over the backpack. I placed it under MY SEAT.
7 hours later, before the Dr. Perry was done, the gentleman and his companions were absent from their seats and so was my backpack. I should have known better and should have trusted my initial instinct but denied it because of the company I was in. It was a nothing item to lose but an interesting lesson in trust. I really have to examine trust and survival instinct. What if this was an item I needed?
I have always looked both ways before crossing the street, even when there wasn’t any traffic but today I needed to examine what was next to me more closely.
