25 Lessons in the art of practical situational awareness.

1. Situational Awareness
A Primer for the Oblivious

2. Definition and Origins
Situational awareness (SA) involves being aware
of what is happening in the vicinity, in order to
understand how information, events, and one's
own actions will impact goals and objectives,
both immediately and in the near future.
One with an adept sense of situational
awareness generally has a high degree of
knowledge with respect to inputs and outputs,
i.e. an innate "feel" for situations, people, and
events that play out due to variables the subject
can control.
The concept has roots in the history of military
theory—it is recognizable in Sun Tzu's The Art Source: Wikipedia
of War, for instance. The term itself, can be
traced also to World War I, where it was
recognized as a crucial component for crews in
military aircraft (Press, 1986).

3. But That’s Not Why You’re Here

4. 25 Lessons
How To Avoid this Face

5. Lesson 1
There Are Others on this
Planet.

6. Lesson 2
Inside Voice, Dumbass.

7. Lesson 3
I Am Uninterested in Your Cell
Phone Conversation

8. Lesson 4
If You Are Wearing
Sweatpants at the Airport,
You’d Better Be a Goddamned
Athlete

9. Lesson 5
McDonald’s Is an
Inappropriate Place To Have a
Family Fight.

10. Lesson 6
As a Matter of Fact, Yes, We
Can Smell Your Farts.

11. Lesson 7
Children Do Not Need To Hear
Your Sexually Explicit Insults.

12. Lesson 8
Stopping Abruptly in Heavy
Pedestrian Traffic for No
Reason Causes Cancer.

13. Lesson 9
Driving: You Should Probably
Travel Above Walking Speed.

14. Lesson 10
Driving: But Below Warp
Speed.

15. Lesson 11
Mouthwash, Motherf*$!er.

16. Lesson 12
Personal Space & You: Why
Standing So Close that We Are
Touching Is Rude. (And
Creepy.)

17. Lesson 13
Yes, Your Religion Is Just As
Weird As That Other Nonsense.

18. Lesson 14
Since You Assumed I Go To a
Church, I Hope You Won’t
Mind Me Asking Which
Mosque You Attend.

19. Lesson 15
It’s a Thin Line Between Self-
Promotion and Shrieking
Narcissism.

20. Lesson 16
I’ve Declined Your Offer Seven
Times. Perhaps It’s Time To
Realize I Am Not Ever Going
To Accept.

21. Lesson 17
Your Broken
Childhood/Marriage Is Not My
Business, Here, Across the
Restaurant.

22. Lesson 18
Saying That a Movie/TV
Remake “Rapes Your
Childhood” - Yes, Victims of
Sexual Abuse Might Find that
Insensitive.

23. Lesson 19
Pick a Lane. Pick a
Goddamned Lane.

24. Lesson 19b
NO, Do NOT Try To Turn
Right from that Lane.

25. Lesson 20
Ask Yourself: Twenty Years
from Now, Do You Want that
To Still Be on the Internet?

26. Lesson 21
No, I Don’t Need To Know
What You Had for Breakfast.

27. Lesson 21b
Unless We Are Married, that
Goes Twice as True for
Whatever Random Shit You
Dreamed Last Night.

28. Lesson 21c
And Speaking of Shit...

29. Lesson 22
We Board by Zones. It’s
Printed on Your Ticket. You
May Want To Look at that
before You Crowd To the Front,
Mr. Zone 5.

30. Lesson 23
It Is Not the Service Industry
Employee’s Fault that You
Failed at a Basic Task.

31. Lesson 23b
Or Failed To Listen To Basic
Instructions

32. Lesson 24
No More Stoplight Bone-
Rattling Bass for Me, Thanks.

33. Lesson 25
That iPod Came with
Earphones for a Reason.

34. Situational Awareness
A Primer for the Oblivious