My Philadelphia Eagles play the Washington Commanders today in a game that decides which team will move on to the Super Bowl. As a long-suffering Philly fan, I've always kept my expectations in check, as we always had a habit of losing games we were expected to win and winning games we were expected to lose.

That 2018 Super Bowl win was a lifetime in the making and lifted the entire region.

I can still remember the bitter feeling of seeing Tom Brady get the ball back in the red zone with two minutes left on the clock. The entire room gasped, as with his accurate arm, there may as well have been two hours left on the clock.

I remember explaining to my British friends why so many of our fans were hopeless in the situation, as playing against what is arguably the best quarterback that ever lived, was like trying to win a fistfight against Superman.

However we went on to win that game, and with it (backup quarterback and all), the Super Bowl as well.

Sometimes the Goddess of Fortune knocks at your door and sometimes she flips you off and walks on by. That time she knocked and we answered.

So good luck to my Eagles! And if the Goddess doesn't knock, at least we have that one bowl win to savor.

Expectation Management

I've shared with you guys how I was swept overboard at night during a storm at sea while in the navy. Hanging on to the railing with one hand, my body extended in the air everytime our Destroyer listed to port.

Unable to swim and with no one hearing my calls for help, I knew I was done unless I could figure something out. So locking any panic away in its own little mental room and keeping expectations in check, I used logic to get myself out of a life-threatening situation. Otherwise I wouldn't be here to write this post.

No one was coming to save me. I had to save myself.

And often that's how it is in life, especially here in America where they will stand by filming someone in distress instead of taking action to help. You can't expect anyone to do anything for you here

Here, the area is so dangerous that I've noted the main arteries that the police cars tend to travel on and the stores where they buy their coffee and donuts. On the rare occasions that I have to go out at night, I stick to these routes to maximize my chances of encountering a police officer should anything go down.

In America (at least here), its dangerous to live with that pie-in-the-sky-everybody's-good-at-heart mentality. That'll get you killed. Instead I've got my head on a swivel just in case.

Seeing the uncensored video of the mass shooting at the supermarket in Buffalo, NY, reminded me to always have a plan in mind. At many of the local businesses, I've mapped out where the emergency exit doors are as well as the fire extinguishers (to use as a last-ditch weapon).

I know the best places to sit in fast food joints that allow me to observe, react, and escape in case a mass shooter enters. While it may be unlikely, its a good thing to have on deck in the front of your mind.

Nobody in Buffalo saw that guy exit his car with a gun in his hands trained on the people entering and exiting the market that day. One guy WAS armed and shot back hitting the shooter, but unfortunately he was wearing body armor and the man was killed.

You have to Save Yourself

Keeping thoughts like this in mind and knowing how voyeuristic my fellow Yanks are. I spoke to the head of security on campus and learned how to properly lock the tricky lunchroom door in case of a shooter on campus (this would give me time to smash open a window so that I could escape).

I've long considered this "shelter in place" akin to confining students and staff in a room like shooting fish in a barrel. If a shooter is coming from the west end of campus, I'm not sheltering anywhere, and will escape east.

These ideas were reinforced when I attended university in Germany. There they have what appear to be decorative ledges outside the classroom windows which the instructors explained to me were actually a way of escape in an emergency.

I thought it was smart and made a mental map, as here in the states the windows don't even open, so you have to smash them with a chair, and with no ledge outside, you better hope your class isn't on the upper floors.

I'll leave you with this.

I was ten-years-old in the 5th grade when a sixteen-year-old also in the 5th grade (who'd stayed back multiple times) was offered a chance to join a gang in class. He was told that in order to become a member, he had to beat up the most innocent kid in class, and guess who that was?

So he warned me that he was going to attack me in two weeks on the last day of school. Despite going to the teachers, the Principal, and my own alcoholic mom, none of them believed me. In fact when that day came, I was actually sent to the principles office because I was afraid of him as this was the day.

Knowing that he was six years older than me while being bigger and stronger, I knew my only hope was getting one good hit in.

And I got it.

I recalled during my research that a well-placed punch on the nose could cause an opponent to bleed. So with him making his move (remember, he's 16 and I'm 10), I acted once I had the opening to land that punch right on the nose which caused blood to flow out.

It reminds me of that movie 300 when an arrow shot by King Leonidas glances against the cheek of the invincible "God-King" Xerxes, wounding him.

The resulting blood showed his followers that far from being a God, that he was a man just like them, and that's what happened here. While I didn't win the fight (and was in fact left in a coma for 17 hours), his aura of invincibility was punctured with everyone teasing him for having being "beaten" by a 10-year-old.

I didn't have to "beat" him in order to neutralize him.

This 16-year-old who had AGAIN failed the 5th grade and nursing his bloodied nose, was picked up and deported back to his native Jamaica, where word spread that he'd been deported for attacking a 10-year-old who broke his nose as a result, and now he was the one being bullied.

Always keep your expectations in check. Remember, nobody's coming to save you, the cavalry isn't coming. Have a plan and be ready to strike while the iron is hot.