Almost certainly apocryphal, but illustrates some good points

[De_Franza]

This is one of those email forwards we get so many of, but it does demonstrate some great self defense issues. I copy it below in its entirety.

{begin copied material}
Please read this, a new twist on kidnapping, a very smart survivor.
About a month ago there was a woman standing by the mall entrance passing out flyers to all the women going in.
The woman had written the flyer herself to tell about an experience she had, so that she might warn other women.

The previous day, this woman had finished shopping, went out to her car and discovered that she had a flat.
She got the jack out of the trunk and began to change the flat.

A nice man dressed in business suit and carrying a briefcase walked up to her and said, "I noticed you're changing a flat tire. Would you like me to take care of it for you?"
The woman was grateful for his offer and accepted his help. They chatted amiably while the man changed the flat, and then put the flat tire and the jack in the trunk, shut it and dusted his hands off.

The woman thanked him profusely, and as she was about to get in her car, the man told her that he left his car around on the other side of the mall, and asked if she would mind giving him a lift to his car.
She was a little surprised and she asked him why his car was on other side.
He explained that he had seen an old friend in the mall that he hadn't seen for some time and they had a bite to eat and visited for a while. He got turned around in the mall and left through the wrong exit, and now he was running late and his car was clear around on the other side of the mall.

The woman hated to tell him "no" because he had just rescued her from having to change her flat tire all by herself, but she felt uneasy {emphasis added}.

Then she remembered seeing the man put his briefcase in her trunk before shutting it and before he asked her for a ride to his car. {emphasis added}

She told him that she'd be happy to drive him around to his car, but she just remembered one last thing she needed to buy. She told the man that he could wait for her; she would be as quick as she could be.
She hurried into the mall, and told a security guard what had happened; the guard came out to her car with her, but the man had left.
They opened the trunk, took out his locked briefcase and took it down to the police station.

The police opened it (ostensibly to look for ID so they could return it to the man). What they found was rope, duct tape, and knives.

When the police checked her "flat" tire, there was nothing wrong with it; the air had simply been let out. It was obvious what the man's intention was, and obvious that he had carefully thought it out in advance.

The woman was blessed to have escaped harm. How much worse it would have been if she had children with her and had them wait in the car while the man fixed the tire, or if she had a baby strapped into a car seat.

Or if she'd gone against her judgment and given him a lift. {emphasis added}

Send this to any woman you know that may need to be reminded that the world we live in has a lot of crazies in it.... better safe than sorry.

PLEASE BE SAFE AND NOT SORRY! JUST A WARNING TO ALWAYS BE ALERT AND USE YOUR HEAD!

{end quoted material}

So basically what I'm trying to point out is what people who know more about self defense than I always say: Trust your instincts. Stay out of trouble in the first place. Stay Alert-be aware of all the details of any unusual situation. Actual fighting skills are only a very small fraction of self defense.

Gichin Funikoshi, who introduced karate to Japan, (and arguable, from there, the world) said that avoiding bad neighborhoods and running away screaming are valid forms of self defense.

So stay safe everyone.

[DragonMind]

That story actually dates back over 100 years. See http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/hairyarm.asp

[Erik]

Barry, how on Earth did you come up with that?

[De_Franza]

Well, I'll be dipped in poop.
I knew it was "fake" but I still think it points out that it's important to listen to your gut.

[DragonMind]

Snopes is the first place I check when I get one of those heavily forwarded "you gotta read this" type emails. I usually email back the sender with the link showing its fake and remind them that they are wasting people's time forwarding garbage.

Although there is sometimes a germ of truth or good info in them, more often than not they have unintended consequences that just make them not worth reading.