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  • 2017-01-09 (xsd:date)
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  • Is Ordering an 'Angel Shot' Potentially Life-Saving for Women? (en)
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  • One of the more common genres of modern folklore involves code or tricks that people in the know can employ against potential abusers to furtively summon help, exemplified most recently by a spike in chatter about the purported life-saving abilities of angel shots — a surreptitious device by which women who feel threatened by their dates can signal their need of assistance by issuing a code phrase under the guise of ordering a drink. Multiple news outlets promised to teach women how to use an angel shot to get out of a dangerous spot, and countless social media users shared the advice: Redbook and Good Housekeeping were among those promoting the concept, the latter writing that: We have not been able to verify the claim that angel shots are a trend that is sweeping bars, nor was that claim supported by examples provided in these viral articles. According to reports, this plan has been implemented only at a single venue in St. Petersburg, Florida, but the (hardly new) concept was represented as an escape hatch available to all women in any dangerous situation anywhere. Moreover, even the bar in question said no patrons had ever made use of the concept: The angel shot concept as broadly applied seems to have some less thought-through aspects. For one, issuing a clandestine call for help would generally only be necessary if a woman were within earshot of the individual she felt endangered by; otherwise, she could openly and directly ask for help instead of having to depend upon the chance that the bartender on duty knew the meaning of the angel shot code and that venue staff were trained to respond to it effectively. Another issue is that the viral online spreading of a piece of a lifesaving advice that depends (at least to some extent) on its covertness makes that advice equally available to putatively scary Tinder dates who might react to its attempted use with anger, thereby prolonging or worsening a bad situation before help can intervene: Another issue is that the viral online spreading of a piece of a lifesaving advice that depends (at least to some extent) on its covertness makes that advice equally available to putatively scary Tinder dates who might react to its attempted use with anger, thereby prolonging or worsening a bad situation before help can intervene: Unchanged: The angel shot concept as broadly applied seems to have some less thought-through aspects. For one, issuing a clandestine call for help would generally only be necessary if a woman were within earshot of the individual she felt endangered by; otherwise, she could openly and directly ask for help instead of having to depend upon the chance that the bartender on duty knew the meaning of the angel shot code and that venue staff were trained to respond to it effectively. Another issue is that the viral online spreading of a piece of a lifesaving advice that depends (at least to some extent) on its covertness makes that advice equally available to putatively scary Tinder dates who might react to its attempted use with anger, thereby prolonging or worsening a bad situation before help can intervene. Items of this sort touch on the prospect of clever workarounds to escape dangerous scenarios, with previous examples including the Black Dot campaign, asking Siri to charge my phone to 100 percent, calling 911 and pretending to order a pizza, and leaving a phone off its cradle to summon police. All these notions exhibit the same weak points (i.e., scant reliability, widespread exposure) with little evidence that they have ever helped anyone to safety. (en)
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