I was reminded of this one a couple days ago.

I believe it was Greg Hamilton of Insights Training that said your choice in how to behave in a self-defense situation, often involving the question if you should get involved, if you should draw your gun, etc., should be based around your ability to maximize your beer and TV time.

Let’s say you’re at home. You hear a noise outside and see someone breaking into your car to steal your stereo. Even if your local laws would allow you to go out there and use (deadly) force to defend your property, is that the best course of action? Perhaps. According to the maxim, perhaps not. If you ran out there with a baseball bat or with guns blazing, you might stop the theft. You might end up with a lot of bullet holes in your car, which now you have to repair (and explain). You may end up with a mess of a legal situation on your hands (look at Joe Horn). You may end up being arrested. All sorts of things could happen that could be rather a mess to deal with. Or, you could take a picture or video, get a description of the perp, if they’re in a car perhaps describe it and get a license plate number, and report it to the police. You do have insurance on your car for just such an occasion. And then, you can go back to watchin’ the game havin’ a Bud.

Let’s say someone comes up to you and your wife on the street. They ask for a cigarette, you don’t have one. They glance around, then out of nowhere they grab your wife and someone else comes out of the shadows to grab you. Yeah, you probably want to draw your gun… because coming out of this alive instead of being found dead at crime scene #2 is probably what’s going to maximize your future enjoyment of TV and beer.

As you think through scenarios, as you consider yourself in situation and ask “What would I do?” “Would this be the right place to act in such-and-such a way?” consider using the ability to maximize your TV and beer time as a guideline. It may not be appropriate in all cases, but it should help you along the decision-making process.