I had a best friend in school, Greg. He was more like an older brother. A former Navy EOD officer and the reason I joined the Navy. He had many quirks and sayings. My favorite is, “if you have one you have none;” meaning that if something is important to have on a mission, you need to have at least two in case one malfunctions. His backpack was also a go-pack with everything he would need if he had to escape to the woods and needed to survive. He also never wore flip-flops. When asked he explained that you never knew when you were going to need to run or escape and flip-flops just don’t cut it.

Today I was trying to limp home in a 2003 Honda Accord with 205,000+ miles on it over the Pali highway from Honolulu to the windward side of the island where I live. This Accord, beloved as it is, has a history of powering itself down. Meaning that it will “of its own accord,” refuse to acknowledge any depression of the gas pedal and slowly roll to a stop. I have many a times guided it slowly to the shoulder of the freeway, turned it off, restarted it and gone on my way. Today was different however.

Today, the Accord was not only powering itself down but the accelerator was revving on its own when the vehicle was in park and drive. I wasn’t too concerned because it seemed to only happen at idle and I could quickly brake, put the vehicle in Park, and pull the e-brake. But the combination of the powering down, the unasked for revving, and the old, mountain road across the island ended up with me on the extremely narrow shoulder of the highway waiting for a tow truck.

Because the shoulder was so narrow and I was up against a 75 foot rock wall, I quickly concluded that I needed to grab my backpack with my laptop and my gym bag and proceed up the road about 200 meters where over the barricade there was a small clearing with trees. I had about an hour-long wait ahead of me for the tow truck. Feeling that I was safely off the highway but still pushed up against the mountain, I remembered my big brother Greg and reached into my gym bag to switch out my flip-flops for shoes. Just as I had finished tying one shoe I was startled.

A very scary looking man came down the drainage ditch behind me and started yelling at me. He was very large, shirtless, and told me I couldn’t be there. I scrambled. I apologized and tried to explain that my car broke down. He said he didn’t believe me and kept approaching me. I grabbed my backpack and my gym bag and jumped over the barricade. He kept after me. While booking it back to the car, I dug through my bag, somehow found my keys, and threw my stuff in the vehicle. I locked the door, started the car, and peeled out back onto the highway just as the man reached my passenger side door. My last image of him was him grabbing his belt buckle, shirtless, watching me.

Thank God my car started. Somehow I was able to limp it over the pass and to a repair shop on my side of the island. There were very few shoulders I could have pulled over again on and I was thankful to make it back. After calming down, I thought to myself thank goodness I am fit and fast and thank goodness I listened to my big brother and put my shoes on! Hopping over the barricade, carrying my gear, and running to my car would have been much more difficult if I hadn’t been prepared!

Even though I am a military officer and have deployed to Afghanistan, I have never been in full-scale combat. Only a damn few of us who serve in the military will ever be in a hand-to-hand combat scenario and fewer still will be unarmed when they are attacked. Sitting there next to the highway I was not in full kit, I did not have my body armor, and I did not have my M-4 assault rifle across my chest. I was unsuspecting and vulnerable; but I did do Crossfit and I was wearing shoes.

I never put much stock in worrying about self-defense because I am big and strong and am at all times armed with my cell phone. Like on the plains of Africa, I figured that the smaller weaker of my kind were more susceptible to attack. But the flaw in that line of reasoning is that it presupposes a rational attacker. Sure, if someone had their pick they probably aren’t going to mess with a 5’9” female with giant quads and shoulders. But, what about the irrational or the mentally ill? This man that came out from behind the mountain wall was not well and he was without a doubt dangerous. I do not claim to know his intent or what he wanted. But, being 2 feet between him and cars on a speeding highway put me in a very dangerous situation; one that I was thankful that I was fit enough to grab my stuff and run.

I know I will never have to go through anything close to what SEAL Marcus Lutrell went through in the mountains of Afghanistan. However, I do now know very clearly that normal everyday life situations can put you or your loved ones in danger. The best way to protect yourself is to be fit enough to escape the situation. So, next time you’re tired or don’t want to go to the gym, remember that you’re training for life. For you and for your loved ones. So go and get strong and be fast and wear shoes.

– Jasmine Scott