My wife does not have the most threatening job in the world, she is a Speech and Language Pathologist, dealing mostly with children with special needs (DD, Autism, etc.). However, she does a lot of home visits and sometimes must go to an area that is not so nice. If she feels too uncomfortable, she will not see the patient anymore (some of the more poor families do not have the ability or desire to travel to her office).
There have been occasions where she felt super uncomfortable (the guy walking around in a towel while she was treating his son), but we are thankful nothing bad has happened. Once again, if it is that bad, she does not go to the house again.
In the past few weeks she has been telling me she wants pepper spray. I guess another SLP carries around but I have been hesitant to get it for her, worried that it might actually cause more problems.
I’m assuming your wife has common sense and knows how to control her temper. Unless she has a history of flying off the handle and hitting people with any weapon she can find, I think pepper spray is a good idea.
I used to carry some around in my purse back when I was waitressing, because I would often have to take transit home late at night. Luckily, I never had to use it, and hopefully I never will. But I sure felt a lot safer having it as an option.
My wife definitely has common sense, and the only one who feels the wrath of her temper would be me!
I am sure she could, just like I could buy my own clothes, but she still gets them for me. Maybe she just trusts me to get the right kind. Maybe she wants my ‘approval’ first. Does it matter?
Alright, that was a little funny.
I thought about that. Because if she does spray someone, she will almost definitely get some sort of exposure to it, which hurts like shit (I had to get sprayed in the Marines).
My biggest concern with all of this would be her actually being in the situation where she has to use it. If someone sprayed me, I would just get pissed. Maybe the pepper spray could cause more damage to her than the person she sprayed. I even thought about a taser instead of the pepper spray.
It may not be a bad idea (for her, as she has the issue of walking into a dangerous area.)
I’d recommend against keeping it on her keyring though. A friend of mine had one of those keychain jobbies and it went off when she dropped her keys and stepped on them. And then her keys were pretty much useless, as they were coated in pepper spray.
Because I often ride a bike after dark, I feel safer carry some type of protection with me so I chose the pepper spray. Thankfully, I haven’t had to use it yet. I also got a vial for my purse, dropped it in and forgot about it - then had a lot of explaining to do the next time I was trying to get through airport security.
Get her some. Make sure it is the highest % you can find, and also has a marking dye. Get her a couple of dummy canisters to practice with while you’re at it. Make sure she knows that pepper spray just gives her an edge, nothing more. She still needs to scream, fight, run away or whatever if she ever needs to use it. I usually get my TAs canisters for Xmas. Their mothers often send me cookies in thanks.
Dude, you live in Florida. Y’all have a “Stand your ground” law. Fuck pepper spray. Get her a pistol, and see that she receives proper training/licensure.
I’ve seen pepper spray used pretty regularly over the course of the last 4 years or so, inside a maximum-security prison.
I think it’s a useful tool for a cell-entry team to use to incapacitate an inmate while reducing the risk to themselves.
However, first they flood the room with pepper spray. Then once the inmate appears incapacitated (and it can take a bit), they go in as a team, wear body armor, wield shields and batons, goggles, etc etc etc. Even so, I’ve seen some of them gasping and red-eyed because the spray went in unexpected directions.
I saw a video of one of my own patients, being extracted this way. He took a few direct hits in the face with the pepper spray, and his reaction was "hoo-ah! I love it hot! That’s good!. Then he slammed a chair up against the walls and the door for a minute or two.
So, pepper spray will not necessarily immediately incapacitate someone. But it will often piss them off. This could result in more actual violence directed at the sprayer, not less.
Pepper spray can be a useful tool, wielded by an informed user who knows the risks and the benefits and the strategies. But it’s a tool than can not only fail its user, but inflict unintended damage on them, too.
It does no good to have pepper spray (or any other defensive weapon) if it is not easily accessible to the user and they know how to use it in any given situation. I could never understand the number of women who say they carry pepper spray in their purses, thinking they are now safer. Too often the attack will come unexpectedly.
“Oh, excuse me, mister mugger. Hold on a sec while I grab my pepper spray from my purse. Hmmm. Is it in this one or not? …”
The best defensive is a strong offense. I suggest she take a self-defense course or two, not just to learn to physically protect herself, but learn to recognize the danger signals of possible dangerous situations before they might happen.
Pepper spray is a good idea. Most ranges and some locksmith shops will sell it, but I’m not sure about Home Depot. In truth, I’ve only had to use it twice and both times were against off-their-leash dogs that were in mid-attack.
FYI- worked pretty damn skippy, but don’t hang around as the effect does wear off fairly quickly. Aim high, as the spray drops significantly. Also, the advice to get used to the effects was a good one. First time it happened, the dog was after my brother who was under the dash of our car installing a new Crutchfield stereo (I was under the dash with my legs out the passenger side). My brother caught some side-drift and was fairly pissed at me…until I showed him the 5-hand-high Irish Wolfhound who had wanted his oysters and thighs for lunch. It was still rubbing its head on the ground when I pulled him the hell out of there.
PS- You are in Florida and Oakminster has a point. You do need to make her aware that if she pulls pepper spray on a person there, they may well shoot her. Still, its worth having, if only for stray dogs.
Honestly I think your wife would benefit from some assertiveness training rather then pepper spray. Someone walking around in a towel while she’s working with their son and she doesn’t say “Excuse me, please put on some clothes or I will have to leave” or something? I think if you don’t have the nerve to say something like that you probably don’t have the nerve to use pepper spray properly and it could be a potential danger for her.
Sorry, but I think you missed the point. It is not about my wife not having the nerve to say something to someone about them walking around in a towel. We are assuming something more could have happened, or might happen someday. My wife is a pretty smart woman and is not intimidated by much. But this is not about that.