Intentionality

>> How not to do it

I spent four years as a volunteer in church security back in AZ. That role wasn’t just standing around and chit-chatting with a handgun and Taser on my belt to look important but active involvement to protect those coming in to the church. Because I strive to be the best at any job I put my hands (or mind) to, I invested in training. Drilled into us in class was to develop the ability to profile people; an early intervention is always the best. You could be looking for a bad guy, a sad guy, a mom in need or someone with an emergent medical issue. As they would remind us “Everything is fine until it isn’t.”

This past Saturday morning I was on a 6AM flight to southern CA and nodding off. There was nobody in my row. Then a sound jerked me awake; there was suddenly a new passenger across the aisle who was ripping off a piece of plastic taped over the window. He had something hanging from the corner of his mouth. After observing him a bit longer, I realized it was drool. He was then holding his hands frozen in space as if to grab something. I counted off 120 seconds when he didn’t move them – or blink. That exceeded my red flag action limit.

So I headed aft to the galley. (I also wanted needed some coffee so hey, an optimized trip.) I mentioned to the stewardesses that I thought the guy in my row was having a neurological issue. They were hesitant to believe me but eventually I convinced them with facts and they called up for the steward. He performed a pupillary response test with a penlight on the dude¹. The steward wouldn’t tell me what the result was but I sensed it was abnormal. They asked if I wanted to return to my seat and I stated “yes” so I could keep an eye on this cat.

Then things went pear shaped.

Like a Shiba Inu, Drool Guy suddenly became fixated on the seat in front of him. By this time the flight attendants had cleared all the rows next to him. He got his fingers around the edge of the plastic and started prying the seat apart.

At this point I knew two things:

1. Zip tie handcuffs were in this guy’s very near future

2. I’m glad I travel with a proper leather belt because it was wrapped around my right palm, you do the math

Soon, Things Escalated

Drool Guy climbed over the seat to attack it from the other side with his Hulk-like strength.

As the slo-mo destruction of the seat continued unabated, the steward attempted reason and de-escalation. Both noble but unprofitable because whatever world this cat was in, it wasn’t ours.

The focused destruction continues as his understanding of leverage also does.

This was around the time everyone decided this was just enough and Wreck It Ralph needed to be restrained.

So out came the knives. Just kidding. But a couple of real serious dudes were recruited.

I know, the guy in the white shirt has Operator written all over him. The direction via “hand knife” motions was the tip-off.

In two minutes, Drool Guy had his hands and feet in zip tie cuffs and he was lashed to the seats in that row by short seatbelts which the stewardesses produced. He never said a word and didn’t resist at all. Like I wrote earlier: same planet, different world.

This is how we landed 25 minutes later, him buckled in to seat 27C. Cops from LAX boarded the plane and one just shook his head, not in a mean way but perhaps in pity.

This was truly a strange occurrence. Was I ready for it? Somewhat; I took a CQB class once but it was with firearms and that is totally different than fists in the craziness on an airliner. Heck, it wasn’t even Economy Plus! I am pleased that no innocent person was injured.

Ultimately I felt compassion for this guy. He made a poor decision prior to a 6AM flight – likely involving drugs – and it caught up with him. I’m sure he’s currently in a world of legal pain and straight up punishment. But I do hope he can find some rehabilitation in his journey; we tend to demand justice for others until we screw up and then we’re suddenly longing for mercy ourselves.

Please do your best to pay attention to people around you. The fancy phrase is “situational awareness.” Protect yourself so you can protect your family and others.

Dan

1. You’ve seen this on TV: docs and EMTs shine a penlight into someone’s eyeball and look for the pupil to contract as a response to the brightness. If it doesn’t it indicates a poor cognitive state.