How to escape an ambush

My old boss when I was a computer consultant in college, he was an ex-Marine. He didn't play around. When in life you have a boss, try not to have one that's a Marine. Although, if you're big into efficiency and productivity, marines ain't bad to work for.

Anyway, I was talking to him one day, and he was telling me about ambushes. The thing about an ambush is that if you try to run away, there's no escape. The "kill zone" extends along routes of escape, so even if you run away, you're still going to die.

The only way to escape an ambush is to charge straight into it. If you think about it strategically, it makes sense. You expose yourself to only one attacker rather than crossfire. But it's scary as shit, huh? Who charges into an ambush (other than marines)?

But the funny thing about life is that it's pretty much the same. There are things in your life that will simply jump on top of you and fuck you over, and your best bet for surviving it is to charge straight at it and try to kick its ass. And so, that was my approach to units. The unit in the hospital is the proverbial kill zone.

And there's nothing so horrible as having multiple patients trying to die at the same time, and looking around the place and realizing that I am the one person responsible for all of their lives. And running away is no good. So, all you can do is charge straight ahead.

1 comment:

Em said...

Heh, that sounds a bit like med school now, or board exams, except perhaps much much easier than what you're going through.

I am suddenly not looking forward to real life.

:-o

I hope things get better for you. Just remember, the best coffee beans are the ones that have been roasted to perfection. :-)