Choosing a urinal

Intro

Awareness is not necessarily something you consciously think about; it is merely a state of mind. Awareness is noticing things around you as you move through life and consciously or subconsciously evaluating them as to whether they are possible dangers.

An example

Everyone has used a public restroom in such places as in airports, concerts, or sporting events. Since they are public facilities, it means all levels of society use them; some people may be rich, some poor, some homeless, some law-abiding, or some may be criminals. When you enter a public restroom, you are faced with a choice; for females, it is which stall to use, for males, it is usually which urinal to use.

Let us say as you are a guy and are the first to enter a public restroom during the intermission of a movie, knowing that a crowd of guys will soon be coming in behind you. As you enter, you notice that:

There are six empty urinals in a row along a wall.
On the other side of the room, there are sinks with mirrors that face the first two urinals.
There are stalls across the room in front of the last three urinals.
The last urinal is next to the back wall.

From a safety standpoint, which urinal would you choose to use?

Let us analyze the situation.

First urinal

If you select the first urinal:

You may have one person standing next to you.
A person at a sink behind you may watch you in the mirror and wait for an opportunity to accost you.
You do not have a stall behind you where a person could wait for an opportunity to accost you.
Everyone who enters or leaves the facility will pass behind you.
You are surrounded by people and do not have a clear view of the room.
If something happens, you are nearest to the exit.

Second urinal

If you choose the second urinal:

You may have two people standing next to you.
You have a sink behind you.
You do not have a stall behind you.
Everyone, except the person at urinal one, who enters or leaves the facility will pass behind you.
You are surrounded by people and do not have a clear view of the room.

Third urinal

If you choose the third urinal:

You may have two people standing next to you.
You do not have a sink behind you.
You do not have a stall behind you.
Everyone, except the persons at urinals one and two, who enters or leaves the facility will pass behind you.
You are surrounded by people and do not have a clear view of the room.

Fourth or fifth urinal

If you choose the fourth or fifth urinal:

You may have two people standing next to you.
You do not have a sink behind you.
You have a stall behind you.
Everyone, except the ones at urinals one, two, three, or four who enters or leaves the facility will pass behind you.
You are surrounded by people and do not have a clear view of the room.

Sixth urinal

If you choose the sixth urinal:

You may have one person standing next to you.
You do not have a sink behind you.
You have a stall behind you.
Only the person using the stall behind you will pass behind you.
You are not surrounded by people and you have a clear view of the room.
If something happens, you are furthest from the exit.

Which urinal would you choose?

After considering all this, which urinal would you choose?

Urinals one and six are good choices in that you only have one person standing next to you, but urinal one has a sink behind it and everyone will be passing behind it. Urinal six has the best observation of the room and a wall beside it so no one may approach from that side, but it has the poorest escape possibility. Urinal three does not have a sink or a stall behind it, it has fewer people passing behind you, and you have good escape possibilities, so urinal three would seem to be the better choice.

If there is already someone at some of the urinals, then your choice will be affected. To play a urinal game in which you choose the correct urinal given different sets of circumstances, check out this link

Are you serious?

Is choosing a urinal something to think seriously about? It could be! If a criminal, who is intent on committing a crime, is present and evaluating which person to attack, your choice may affect the rest of your life.

We all make these types of choices every day without really thinking about them or their consequences; they are made instantly with little thought. However, a martial artist has one advantage, he or she is aware that choices made in life may be the difference between life and death. This does not mean that the martial artist stands in a restroom and consciously thinks through all the choices, it just means that, when faced with a choice, there is a state of awareness in the martial artist's thought process. When you are aware, you have a better chance of survival in any situation than would a person who was not aware.

An example of a person who is totally unaware of his or her surroundings is a person talking on a cell phone. For a pickpocket or purse/bag/laptop computer snatcher, people talking on cell phones are sitting ducks; it may be hours before they even realize they have been robbed. One day, I was cycling on a greenway and a man was approaching on my side of the greenway. He was walking looking down at his cell phone. I waited for him to notice me and move over, but he just kept coming, so I stopped and waited. He was one step away from walking into my front wheel when he finally noticed me. Then just moved over and walked past me. As he moved over, he walked in front of bikes approaching from behind him.

Contrary to what some “masters” may say, you cannot develop some sixth sense that allows you to “feel” or know when someone is behind you and is ready to attack you. However, you can develop a state of awareness where you consciously or subconsciously are always aware of your surroundings, always evaluating the information, and making choices accordingly.

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