As an exercise in awareness, ever since my daughter could talk we would play a game everywhere we went where we would walk into a mall or diner and immediately try to determine what was goin' on in each little cluster of people, we'd invent different scenarios.
Maybe the couple walkin' with the little kid are just innocent people out shoppin' at the mall, maybe they were a family of terrorists or the two guys runnin' toward the door , maybe they robbed a store, maybe one guy's chasin' the other guy 'cause they just had a fight, one guy's hand is in his pocket, is he grabbin' a gun or his keys, where would ya go to hide?
As we'd go from store to store, I showed her what the markers for fire extinguishers and what the exit signs looked like and then we'd play a game how many extinguishers can ya find, point out where an exit is, who's wearin' a red hat, what kinda car do ya think that guy drives, is he married, why or why not.
Kids are sponges they have an infinite amount of virgin memory, don't underestimate 'em, every day was a learnin' experience, a day of role playin' deductive reasoning and information retention, memory games all the time, this all took place over 18 years and I knew it sank in when we went to Europe a few year ago and as we got on the plane she was touchin' each seat and talkin' to herself, when we sat down Iasked her what she was doin' she said she was countin' how many seats away from the exits we were.
Teach your kids their skills young and make it fun/a game and they'll remember it as they get older, also I agree with the other posters who stress awarness, that is an important skill.
The people who grew up on the streets, (I was a street rat growin' up), we knew all the abandoned buildings, all the storm drains where ya could hide from the cops, how to navigate the tracks, trails and trestles to get around the surroundin' towns.
We learned camouflage hidin' from my buddies drunken Old Man in his backyard, we also learned E&E skills sneakin' outta the same friends house when he was supposed to be grounded or when into the movies.
We bartered usin' our skills for things we needed for our shacks, whether it was for sleepin' bags or furniture, hell we used to shovel out the liquor store's sidewalk for a bottle of brandy, we were 15.
We built shacks in the woods, had stashes all over the place with food & drink, (booze and water) all those skills were a necessity out on the streets as kids, they were really just practice for survivin' an urban disaster. We hung out all night some nights in the cold snowy weather, rain, scorthin' heat, we learned to layer our clothes, we always had several ways to start fires, we always recycled garbage and debris we found in the woods.
I guess all I'm tryin' to say is teach yer kids these skills and if you were lucky enough to get a street survival education as a kid than you already have those skills you'll need to survive an urban catastrophe.
Things are much differnt out in the weeds of PA a whole new skill set had to be added and learned.
Remember ya never stop learnin.
, candy (if I'm hungry 
) whether or not they are on task with what we are working on, etc... I am always trying to keep up with them as they come up with new and creative ways to screw around. But they are great kids. Keeping me on my toes.
