On stun guns and pepper sprays...

My kind neighbor approached me this morning as I was going to work. She told me to be careful at night when I go home because there's this hold-up incident at 2am in our street. The victim was hit in the head by 4 men.... I got a text message this morning... my cousin... telling me to ride the tricycle instead of walking home from the kanto.

Then it made me realize na ganito na ang panahon ngayon... Hard times make people do the 'kapit sa patalim' thing. Buti sana if only the belongings are taken but sometimes when luck isn't there, your life can also be at stake. I dunno what happened to the victim but this made my reason for buying self-defense weapons stronger.

I've always thought of buying those stun guns and pepper sprays -- especially now that I'm practically alone and can't accomodate judo trainings anymore (since masyadong gabi -- anyway, at least I know the basics of throwing and choking and the technique they taught, seio-nage and tai otoshi worked for me during randori/close combat ). I've done a little research on the said items and they could certainly give you ample time to escape and get help (or better yet, beat the crap out of them). I'm not sure on the prices yet but one of my colleagues (si Irma, yung nakasama ko din sa Judo; she'a a proud owner of a gun) said that the stun gun costs around P1,000. I saw some pepper sprays that wouldn't go beyond P500.

In times like these... you need.... no! not a juicy fruit gum... but something to defend oneself from the masasamang elemento ng lipunan. Better safe than sorry.