What was the most dangerous situation you've been in....

[Zookeeper]

that you didn't realize was dangerous until you were in it?

[PaddyBlueEyes]

1. 9/11

standing under the South tower after the North Tower was hit...kinda wasnt expecting another plane.

[SeattleGirl]

2. Hi Paddy. I heard you were coming on board.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

I cannot even imagine what your experience must have been like that day. Glad you made it through okay.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

3. Hey The famous

Queen of the Java Junction!!! Ive heard alot about ya, all of it good.....It was a really, really bad day..I'll tell ya about it sometime..

[SeattleGirl]

4. Ha! Queen of the Java Junction!

I'd like to hear about that day, from your perspective, when you feel like telling me.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

7. Let me know when youre

up for it......

[SeattleGirl]

14. Will do.

You can PM me about it when you have enough posts to do so.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

18. Yeah

How long am I in the penalty box 4....

[SeattleGirl]

20. Gosh, I can't remember how many posts you have to have in order

to PM someone. Just post a lot, and then try to PM.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

22. LOL

Im gonna go post some nonsense words just to get my total up.....

[SeattleGirl]

25. Word association thread are ALWAYS good for that!

:rofl:

[SPKrazy]

5. Shit!

just shit


I'm so sorry

:(

:patriot:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

6. What are you sorry for

Im here....Lots of others arent, I'm lucky as hell....

[SPKrazy]

11. Just

how hard that must have been for you is all...

the whole damned thing pisses me off because I believe that it was allowed to happen either by incompetence, or ... I hate to say for the purposes of the neocon agenda.

I'm more inclined to vote for incompetence, but sometimes, I just wonder.

I'm just sorry that you had to go through that, no one should have had to in my opinion. I know that we don't live in a world where nothing will ever happen. I live close enough to Oklahoma City to remember that mess, and who knows how many other events will happen in our lives.

Just sorry, is all.

:shrug:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

13. It was incompetence

and bad luck.....

[Haole Girl]

8. I'm sorry...

... It was a horrible day. And, it sounds like you are extremely lucky
you did not get physically injured. :hug:

And, welcome to DU, also!:hi:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

9. I got hurt

but not severely broken bones, minor burns etc....Thanks for the Welcome!!!

[Haole Girl]

16. I'm glad it wasn't severe.

Someday, I too would like to hear your account of 9/11. When you are up to it. I have some stories of my own, since I work for an airline, and worked that day. It's odd, isn't it, how we can find inner strength in times of crisis...in the most difficult of times? And, even more odd...I think...how little stresses and strains, of life, can overwhelm us. Well...I didn't mean to turn melancholy on you...I will stop now.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

17. Hey dont stop

Its ok....shoot me a pm and we can talk about it. I cant PM anyone yet, I dont have enough posts...

[Haole Girl]

34. Thanks...we will talk more...

...right now, though, I think you are too new to receive pm's!

:rofl:

Seriously, I got this message:


That user cannot receive private messages yet.

If you have any questions, please contact the site administrator.
Click here to go back to previous page.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

42. Im still in the penalty box

that sucks.....

[auntAgonist]

37. welcome to DU Paddy!

hope to see/hear more from you in the coming days.

:hi:

aA
kesha

[PaddyBlueEyes]

43. Thanks AuntA.....

You rock....

[Zookeeper]

47. Oh my, Paddy...

now that is a life-altering event.

I'm glad you are here with us....:hug:

[myrna minx]

130. Welcome to DU, Paddy.

:hi: I can't even imagine what you went through that day...
:hug:

[uppityperson]

151. Welcome to DU!

[auntAgonist]

10. 1979

A semi truck blew a front tire, plowed through the median, rolled over on top of a small car killing one occupant. The semi landed with the trailer on top of the cab trapping the driver and a passenger a nine year old boy. I was first on scene. For 7 hours we worked to get the boy out of the overturned unit. The driver was removed about an hour into the ordeal. He died a week later. I was able to dig my way through debris to be as close to the child as possible while cranes and recovery vehicles secured the trailer, there was danger of it crushing the cab and the child ... and me. I couldn't /wouldn't leave the child, he kept calling for his mommy. Jason survived the crash with a badly broken arm and some frightening nightmares. I saw him the next day in hospital. I never saw his face all the time he was trapped. When they got him out and onto a stretcher he was so filthy dirty I couldn't really see his features. At the hospital, walking to his room I recognized his voice, and he mine .. he was a sight for sore eyes. We kept in touch until just a few years ago .. he's married now and living somewhere on the east coast of Canada, free of nightmares I hope :)

I was told later that I had put myself in danger. Well, I survived, you'd have done the same thing.

aA

[PaddyBlueEyes]

12. You are one brave lady.....

nt

[SeattleGirl]

15. Wow, aA. What a wonderful thing you did.

Your story gave me goosebumps. Bless you for helping this boy to survive. :hug:

[Zookeeper]

48. That's truly heroic, AuntA....

it sounds like you did exactly what needed to be done for that child.

I'm glad there are people like you in the world!

:loveya:

[BluePatriot]

80. Bravo! You are a hero.

[leftofthedial]

121. you rock!

:toast:

[Truthiness Inspector]

19. Too many

I guess if you are a cop around here it doesn't count. Sometimes people forget there is a population (cops) who gets paid to deal with the scariest shit 24/7 most people see once in a lifetime.

[auntAgonist]

21. who says it doesn't count?

I for one am thankful every day that there are policemen/women and firemen/women, first responders who jump at the first bell to help someone in need. My nephew is a firefighter, my friend is a cop ..
it counts, don't you forget it.

thank you!!

aA
:hi:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

23. Nephew is a smokeeater

and friends with a cop....bet you have some good retirement/promotion party stories...

[Truthiness Inspector]

30. Thank you for your thoughtful reply, n/t

[SeattleGirl]

24. While there are some bad cops, just as there are "bad" whatevers,

I get my hackles up when I hear people refer to ALL cops as fascists, bad people, etc. I used to live with a friend who was married to a cop, I dated a cop, and I hung out with a lot of them. A couple of them were jerks, but believe me, that's a trait of the person, not the profession.

I don't think I could do it, but I'm sure glad that other people CAN.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

26. Apparently you know my

cousin pretty well....He is the biggest jerk of them all. (kidding)

[SeattleGirl]

28. You, sir, have just earned yourself the patented SeattleGirl,

Reverend High Priestess of the Church of Ethereal Pleasure, 100% certified spankin'!!!!! (And I don't usually dole them out to n00b's)!!!

:spank: :spank: :spank: :rofl:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

29. YAY!!!!

I heard about those too...But I heard I really had to work for them. I guess I lucked out....

[SeattleGirl]

33. Indeed you did.

Even your cousin hasn't had a public spankin' from SeattleGirl! :rofl:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

35. Ohh I cant wait

to bust his balls.....

[SeattleGirl]

36. ROFL!!!!!

I am SO gonna hear about that! :rofl:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

41. He deserves it....

telling everybody he is better lookin than me......Those are fightin words.

[SeattleGirl]

44. Well, I've seen HIS pic, but not yours, so I cannot judge which

of you is the better lookin'. :P

[PaddyBlueEyes]

52. Ok OK Ok....

Hi Seattle Girl!!

[SeattleGirl]

56. Oh. My. Gawd!!!!

*thud*!!!!

So, are you gonna be in the calendar too????

And BTW, I think it's a draw.....

[PaddyBlueEyes]

60. LOL

Nope thats the cop calender....I wouldnt lower myself.....(kidding) My cousin took that one for some magazine thing, she talked me into entering. Needless to say, I didnt win squat.

[SeattleGirl]

61. Needless to say??????

Holy shiite! What was the criteria???? Were the judges BLIND?????

[PaddyBlueEyes]

63. Dunno

I guess I wasnt what they were lookin for.....

[SeattleGirl]

64. Then I would say that they have some weird views of what

"hot" is. :crazy:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

65. Oh geez......

:blush:

[SeattleGirl]

67. Silly you!

You're as bad as your cuz! :P

[PaddyBlueEyes]

68. Im better......

LOL

[SeattleGirl]

69. That remains to be seen.....

:rofl:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

70. So what you're saying is you want

action.....

[SeattleGirl]

71. I'm not tellin'!!!!

:rofl:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

72. Your silence

speaks volumes.....

[SeattleGirl]

73. Not necessarily......

....did you notice my sig line?

Oh wait.

Never mind.


:hide:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

74. ROFL....nt

[SeattleGirl]

75. Bad, bad Leeroy Brown!

:rofl:

[PaddyBlueEyes]

76. The baddest man in da whole

damn town....

[SeattleGirl]

77. Oh yeah!

Gotta love that Leeroy!

[PaddyBlueEyes]

78. LOL.....

[MnFats]

116. almost got shot by a cop once....but it was my fault for being stupid.

long story short: used to work in Wis. late nights. leaving the office, there was a one-way alley that led away from the nearest main street. If you took it the legal way, it added about 60 seconds or so to get to a street that would actually take you somewhere. so everybody leaving at night took the alley half a block the wrong way. nobody ever said a word until one night....
I was leaving and a squad car pulled in opposite me, blocking my wrong-way path. I knew some of the local officers and was hoping I could talk my way out of a ticket. I started to back up as the first guy was drving aggressively toward me....when a second squad appeared behind me, boxing me in. I still imagined this was some kind of wrong-way beef. one of the neighbors complained or something.....

let me say I was very tired and not thinking too clearly ..... I was wearing an old leather bomberr jacket and I got out of my car....with my hands in my jacket pocket.....instantly the cop driving the squad pulled his weapon....these were the days most cops were carrying .357 revolvers, before trading up for pistols with 15-shot magazines....
He pointed the gun at my chest. He was about 12 to 15 feet away.
"Get your hands on the car!" he shouted. He didn't need to say it twice.
"Who are you? What are you doing here? cops all around me now. shouting questions, my mind finally concluding that this involved more than a traffic beef. I couldn't see much but I'm pretty sure there was a cop with his pistol trained on me, and another a few feet over holding a shotgun.
I told them who I was. One officer pulled my wallet from my back pocket and tossed its contents on the hood of my car. fortunately there was a picture employee ID and business cards for the business we were standing outside of.
my heart was pounding. I told them I worked there. "I'm just going home! I work here!"
my voice had gone up about six octaves....

finally the truth came out. up in the north end of town, somebody had robbed a convenience store at gunpoint about 20 minutes earlier. the description of the car --- late '60s blue or green four=door GM product... fit my car to a 'T'.'

REalizing I wasn't their guy, they dashed back to their squads.
"You WERE going the wrong way down the alley," one of them shouted at me.

they left me there, my hands shaking....my knees had taken a vacation.....

wondering what my parents would be told after i was shot to pieces by police....

[myrna minx]

129. Thank you for your service.

:hug: I have had a few profound experiences where the police have truly protected me, so I am forever grateful. :hug:

[lildreamer316]

180. Screw that thinking. THANK YOU for what you do.

I can't imagine.
Bless you.

[devilgrrl]

205. Is the brunt of a cops work domestic dispute situations?

Sorry for the naive question, as an average citizen I would imagine that domestic disputes often can be categorized as "scariest shit" so I thought I'd ask. :shrug:

[Haole Girl]

27. There are so many...it is really hard to choose one..

Probably, though, the most dangerous situation was when my two younger sisters and I ended up alone in Taiwan, due to a mechanical problem on board a flight, and were put up in a hotel overnight. The airlines took our passports (it was standard to do that, if you didn't have a visa, at that time). We were instructed *not* to leave the hotel. My two younger sisters wanted to go out shopping at night. Now...I'll have to set the stage here. I was 14 yrs. old, my sisters were only 10 and 8. Both of them had very blond hair...and it was very apparent...as they took off into the night that they would probably never return if I didn't at least go with them. And...believe me...I pleaded with them to stay in the hotel, as we were instructed. But, they wanted to buy music...and off they went..."with or without me." We went to the shopping district with little or no trouble, but as the night grew late, and my anxiety grew stronger, I began to worry about how we'd make it back (alive and in one piece) to the hotel. We got in a cab and I showed the driver the matches I'd picked up...and said the name of the hotel. He gave a rather long stare at the 3 of us and started to turn his cab the other direction. In my strongest and most serious voice, I very loudly screamed, "THAT WAY!" He looked startled and turned the cab back in the right direction.

Now...I'll never know, for sure, if the cab driver was just trying to hike up his fare or if he was taking us to be sold as sex slaves...or what. But, I promptly informed my parents that I would *not* travel alone through a foreign country *without* one or the other of them accompanying my younger sisters...EVER...again!!

The end.

[PaddyBlueEyes]

31. WOW

Thats pretty frightening. You are a quick thinking woman....

[SPKrazy]

32. That is a scary situation KC

That would frighten me as a parent, and it would have been frightening as a child I'm sure.

glad nothing more serious happened out of that situation.

[Zookeeper]

49. Gasp!

Good thing you were in charge and so assertive!

I'm familiar with that kind of situation where you don't know for certain what would have happened "if," but you're glad that your instincts kicked in, just in case.

What did your parents say when they heard the story?

(I'm the parent of three and my heart is still racing after reading your story...:scared: )

[Haole Girl]

50. I never told them the story...

..I just told them I would no longer be responsible for them and that they were out of control (which they were).

[sakabatou]

38. My seizure

[auntAgonist]

40. I cannot imagine how scary

that must have been. :hug:

aA

[sakabatou]

93. I don't remember it

[Zookeeper]

51. That's scary....

I hope you are OK now, sakabatou....( a big hug for you. )

[sakabatou]

92. "I'm getting better!"

[RoyGBiv]

39. Got kidnapped ...

This is how a lot of those "how the hell did that even happen" situations happen. I was young and stupid and had no clue what was going on.

It was around 1992 or '93. I was working at a convenience store, and this guy started hanging out there and talking at me. To make what could be a novel-sized story a bit shorter, I ended up hanging out with him a few times, the first due to our mutual appreciation of video games. That is we hung out at "his apartment" (I learned later he was crashing in someone's place who'd been duped for reasons similar to those in my own situation) playing video games. After that we'd hang out occasionally on weekends at the local clubs. Mostly he just came to where I worked and talked my ear off.

We never got close. He was a drinking buddy, at best. I mostly found him obnoxious, but it's sometimes the obnoxious people that can be the most entertaining when you go out to the clubs.

So one night we were out at the clubs, and he told me what he did for a living and why he'd been hanging around me. He was a bounty hunter, and he was after my roommate. My roommate, according to him, was friends with drug dealers, and those dealers were hanging him out to dry to save their own necks. He said he *wanted* to take down the real dealers, but he was willing to settle for my roommate if that didn't work out. (The only reason this farce went as far as it did was because he was right. Only problem was I don't think, now, he actually knew how on target he was.) He wanted my help bringing in the real criminals.

And I knew I was in deep shit, but didn't know how to get out of it right then.

My roommate and I had become rather close friends over the past few years, and I knew he'd once been into some bad stuff and associated with some bad people who were into worse stuff, but he'd worked his way into a legitimate life. I trusted him (and still do) and believed he was genuine about cleaning up the mess that surrounded him. If any part of what this guy was telling me was true, I was certain it was related to some of his former troubles, which went all the way back to 1984-85 and some trouble he'd had with the police at the time investigating a murder. (See _The Innocent Man_ by John Grisham. My roommate is mentioned in this book, actually, but not by name and wasn't actually involved in any of those events directly. Still he got harassed.) So, not knowing at the time this guy was full of shit and reacting to how on-target he was with some of my roommate's former troubles, I opened up, trying to protect my friend.

Again to make a much longer story a bit shorter, I ended up agreeing one night to accompany this guy to a few bars in another county, posing with him as someone who wanted to acquire a rather large amount of pot. Because I knew people, I knew his "target" was a legitimate one -- meaning a legitimate drug dealer -- and so I had no real reason to suspect at the time he was so completely full of shit as he turned out to be. I did question my role in things, but I was younger and much more naive at the time than I am today, and I cared about my friend. I truly believed if I did not help him, my friend would end up in jail for no good reason. (Again see Grisham's book. Once the cops in that town decide you're guilty, you're guilty even if you're not, and I knew this and knew that one of the detectives there had a hardon for my roommate.)

So, I went with him, only we had barely made it out of town before this guy told me we were going someplace else, more specifically to Hugo, Oklahoma, which was about 120 miles from the place where he had first told me we were going. I questioned this, and in response, this guy started allowing me to know what he was really all about. He pulled out a gun, finger on the trigger, pointed in my direction, but resting on his lap as though it weren't really pointed at me and told me we were going to Hugo ... period.

And of course then I knew I was in a trough of shit deeper than the Pacific ... and even more clueless about how to get out of it.

While on the way there (in the middle of the night, btw) he talked a lot, and I figured out where all the previous several months of bullshit had originated. He actually was a bounty hunter of sorts, a new one. He'd worked for a bail bondsman on one job and ended up helping capture a bail jumper who was wanted by my county law enforcement. They and the bail bondsman had paid him a bounty for finding the criminal, which inspired a new career. After helping local police capture this individual, he'd talked to some local detectives and the DA, and they'd off-handedly given him names of people they'd like to catch at something they could use to throw them in prison. My roommate's name was among those names, as were the details surrounding his past.

Unfortunately for this idiot, he had problems of his own ... like a string of bounced checks he'd written from here to eternity in the expectation he'd be making billions and billions of dollars hunting down criminals. I of course didn't know this at the time, but it turned out to be my salvation in the very end. We got to Hugo, went to the police station there (think Mayberry with a bunch of racist Barney Fifes), and I witnessed a cop there tell him he needed to get out of town for just this reason.

We did so, but the guy's hormones were getting the better of him, and he wanted to stop by a girl's house. One final time, to make a long, long story just a wee bit shorter, that's when I escaped him.

Got back to town (with is wallet and a checkbook in my car) and went to the cops, not truly realizing at the time the level of corruption in the department. Turned out he had warrants out for issuing forged instruments, and my complaint made them unable to ignore it.

He was never charged with kidnapping (the didn't consider it kidnapping because I went willingly ... the false pretenses weren't important to them), but he did spend time in jail for the bad checks.

He's now in jail for aggravated assault and attempted murder of the girl he made me take him to visit.

[Zookeeper]

53. Young and trusting....

been there, done that. It can take awhile as a young adult, to really "get" that there are crazy, scary, criminal people who should be kept at arm's length. If one is easy-going and "tolerant," it can be inviting to people who don't have your best interests at heart. But, you know that now and luckily you survived learning it!

I'm glad you're here and thanks for sharing your story! :pals:

On edit: I will find that book. It sounds like a very complicated story, Roy.

[fishwax]

54. wow!

that's quite a story, roygbiv! I haven't read the book, but being familiar with the corruption of the police in small town Oklahoma, I can understand much of it just the same.

Damn. Glad you made it out to tell the tale, unscathed :wow:

[RoyGBiv]

58. Me too ...

To tell you how clueless I was, I didn't really conceptualize the level of shit I was in until well after it was over, specifically when the copes came to me for the second time (the first time referencing the bad checks case) to offer testimony against him. And that was a year later.

He had a gun, and that inspired me to do what he wanted me to do and to think of abandoning him at his "girlfriend's" house as an escape, but even then I still didn't "get it." I "got it" when the cops showed me the photographs of his girlfriend's face, after he'd beaten her half to death one too many times.

As noted, that was a year later, and when that happened, a cold chill fell over me that still persists. I then felt lucky to be alive.

Grisham's book is good, mostly. I can expand on it in ways he probably didn't for fear of being sued. It was really weird reading it and coming to terms with the fact, yet again, that all this crap that had happened in my life was related. I'd actually blocked it to the point of not consciously remembering a lot of things until I read that book. Ada was a nasty place.

[fishwax]

62. that naivete is understandable

I mean ... just ... wow!

I don't think my notes can exactly compare, except to say that, when we lived in Oklahoma, my wife simply WOULD NOT stand for me deviating from I-35, unless we had a specific destination in mind. Corrupt cops were more her fear than whacked-out bounty hunters, but even so ... That's a corrupt freaking system, no doubt. I've been in bad situations, on foot and behind the wheel, in some very big cities, from Newark to Chicago to San Francisco, but the corruption once you get off the main roads and big cities in Oklahoma is something to fear.

I don't mean that as a post bashing Oklahoma. And it doesn't compare to what you went through (:wow:). but damn! Grisham's book must be the tip of the iceberg. I'll definitely look into the book.

:hi:

[RoyGBiv]

66. Bash away ...

I've written a review of Grisham's book (that has been rejected by everyone who is anyone), and my major criticism is that he didn't go far enough. In truth I think he relied on stories told him by editors of the _Ada Evening News_, the family of Ron Williamson, and maybe a few other people who have a vested interest in not disclosing the *real* story. Even so, he dug down pretty deep, but he missed a lot ... a helluva a lot.

As a small example, Bill Peterson, the Pontotoc County DA who is one of the villains of the book, was one of my customers for years, when I ran a liquor store. He was/is an exceptional ass, and I treated him like one. I wanted him to go elsewhere to buy his booze, but he seemed addicted to my store. I eventually found out the reason for that, and that reason, along with several other things Peterson let slip/bragged about when in the company of people he thought he held power over would have made good additions to the thesis Grisham presented.

Not trying to make that about me. This sort of thought comes to mind because of the number of people I noticed Grisham referenced without naming. I gathered he didn't talk to them and so didn't mention their names for legal reasons. If he *had* talked to them, they would have given him an even better/worse story than the one he told. My roommate is one example. My mother is another. In her capacity as the secretary to a psychologist, she wrote one of the reports reproduced in the book that Grisham interprets in ways that, according to my mother, are inaccurate. The weird part is that the words of the report aren't damning in the way Grisham makes them, but my mother (or her boss who provided the information that went into the report) could have given context that would have made those words more damning than Grisham presented them.

I shut up now.

[auntAgonist]

85. how very lucky you are!!!!

I'm glad you survived that horrible time. I'm about to start listening to "innocent man" on cd at work this week ..

real happy you're ok

:hug:
aA

[mainegreen]

122. Crap. That is bad. Scary. nt

[ellisonz]

45. The Los Angeles Freeway System.

:sarcasm:

[Zookeeper]

59. That's a given as far as danger! n/t

[SPKrazy]

46. Well? Wrong way down the interstate

driving the wrong way down the interstate was a bad one. Drunk and shouldn't have ever been driving. I figured it out I remember because I kept seeing "wrong way" signs. I don't have any idea how far I went, it was down I-35 in Oklahoma. Scared me to death. The only good thing is that it was around 2 or 3 in the morning and I don't think there were many people around.

Hell, that's a dumbass one. I have a number of dumbass stories like that.

:blush:

[Zookeeper]

57. I have that kind of dumbass story, too...

Many years ago I drove my huge used 1969 Pontiac on curvy mountain roads in the wee hours after my resort job shift and too many cocktails. The good news is that I was always the only car on the road and I didn't have an accident. But, I am embarrassed by how irresponsible it was. :blush: :blush:

[SPKrazy]

98. Ohhh, That is dumbassed!

no more so than mine

here's another:

canoing down the Illinois river in the spring. River is up pretty high. Me and my college roomate were also pretty high. Drinking beer too. Just floating in a calm part of the river in his cheapo fiberglass canoe. We are floating along and bump. We are up against a pile of sticks around a tree trunk. The water is racing around this obstacle (I later learned that one calls this a "strainer" in river navigation lingo) So we try to move the canoe. No dice. It won't move. Then, it starts getting sucked down in the middle and breaks in half! There we are climbing on top of this pile of sticks around the tree trunk. Water rushing all around us. We pull and tug, and spent probably 30 min or more (save the beer, save the pot) trying to salvage the canoe. No way. So we end up floating and swimming downstream about a quarter of a mile. Then we see an aluminum canoe tied up. We yell and no one is around. So we jump in the canoe and take off. Later in retrospect I think about how much we struggled with the canoe and how much force there was. If we'd have fallen in, we'd have been trapped under that pile of sticks too.

duh

[fishwax]

55. with most of my most dangerous situations, I knew they were dangerous going in

according to conventional wisdom, anyway ...

[BluePatriot]

79. Taking the bus to the wrong side of town

realizing I was lost, and then getting out to call a cab...on the wrong side of town.

I hung out under a church, I figured no one would bother me there, but it was a bit scary.

on edit: alone and female at 19, in case it sounds wimpy :)

[Zookeeper]

109. Very scary. Especially for a 19 year old.

Sounds like you kept your cool, though. :hug:

[Deja Q]

81. The day when one guy was real chummy and nearly

stole my car...

I haven't gone into Minneapolis since.


The jury's still out on the suicide attempt. :rofl:

[LaurenG]

82. There was an older mall in Denver in the 90's

called Cinderella City (Denver DUer's probably remember it). There weren't many stores still left as it was undergoing demolition and restoration. Anyway I had gone to a store at one end and my husband went to the comic store at the other.

I had finished shopping and was walking back to where he was when I noticed two men walking the other direction on the other side of the walk, one was wearing a panama hat making me notice him. Within 10 seconds I see my husband about 50 yards away running full speed toward me and at the same time I hear a male voice say, "Uh oh, won't be this one this time", so I turned to see who had said that as it sounded like they were talking in my ear and these two men (panama hat and his side kick)who were on the other side of the mall moments earlier were now running away, now on my side of the walk and against the flow of walkers.

When my husband got to me he asked if I saw what they had done. I only knew they ran away but, as my husband was walking to meet me he saw me and then watched the two men cross the walkway and get right behind me, it appeared to my husband they they were about to grab me, one on each side when they saw my husband running toward them and then they ran like hell the other way.

There had been two reports of rape within the last two days of this event that took place in the mall underground parking garage. I think I know who was doing it.

[Zookeeper]

148. What a close call, Ohio!

It sounds like there was no doubt that you were in danger. :hug:

[Nikia]

83. 13 shots of alcohol at a fraternity party

It was only the second time I had ever been drunk. I was around 115-120 pounds then.
All the shots were consumed in less than an hour, maybe almost all under a half hour. Everyone was egging me on.
Since I was consuming the drinks so quickly and had not really had experience with heavy drinking, I did not feel very drunk. In high school health, we were told that alcohol is absorbed quicker than water so I thought that I must have a high inborn tolerance. Then the alcohol finally fully hit me. I was lying on the floor and everything happened in slow motion. When I finally got up, it was hard to walk. My legs felt heavy but like noodles. Perhaps luckily, I vommitted. Then I was lying on the couch and crawled to the bathroom to vommitt again.
I could have had physically worse things happen to me, drinking so much alcohol in so little time. It could have been dangerous in other ways too, because there becomes a point that one is so drunk, like I was, that one is pretty much at the mercy of the people around you.
As far as being in the "wrong place", I ran often in high school and college and ended up running through the "bad section" of town in a couple of cities. I didn't get harassed though and I don't think that it was that dangerous.
As far as in real danger of dying: Coming home from work one day, I started sliding on the icy road going 45 mph and spun quickly 5 times towards a utility pole before stopping half way in the ditch right next to the pole.

[Zookeeper]

149. Ooooh. You were lucky, Nikia.

That is a very dangerous situation that many young people underestimate. If you don't mind, I will share your story with my kids, especially my daughter. :hug:

[Nikia]

182. Yes, please share it

I was lucky. I wouldn't want others to be unlucky.

[mike_c]

84. I was in Chiapas during the early days of the Zapatista rebellion...

...in 1994. My ex and I were in Ocosingo just a couple of days before the Zapatistas took it over-- federal troops everywhere, a real ugly mood, and we were just blithely eating breakfast on the square. When we got back to the U.S. we saw news reports of the places we'd been just a few days earlier, all shot up. We had no idea what was going on-- typical clueless gringos.

[Zookeeper]

111. Wrong place at the wrong time....

Glad you made it home safely, Mike!

[CactusJock]

86. i could have DIED in a safari park in india

I was travelling around india and had gone out exploring on one of those little 50cc scooters when i came across a (really cheap looking) safari park. I paid the entrance fee to the gatekeeper guy and in I went to see the 1 tiger, 1 python, various hyenas and baboons they apparently had.

anyway I drove around for hours in which time I saw a few deer but no other human being, and the road went from a dirt track to the point where I was just picking my way across a rock-strewn plain like the surface of the moon. anyway I saw a sign coming up so I made my way towards it, threading my way through the rocks at like 3mph. I got to the sign and looked up, it said "Warning. Stay inside your vehicle at all times". luckily there wasn't another living thing for miles around so I just turned around and meandered my way out again, but I'd kind of assumed they wouldn't let me in on a scooter unless the really scary animals were in fenced off area.

ok my story doesn't look that scary now i've re-read it but at the time I was very nervous!

[auntAgonist]

91. geez I got nervous just reading that!

You were lucky :)

:hi:

aA

[CactusJock]

119. yes, but sorry it was a bit of an anti-climax

i guess its the least dramatic dramatic-thing that has ever happened to me!

[bertha katzenengel]

87. I was anxious as hell, but didn't realize how over the edge she was until

she pulled out this tiny little gun and held it to my temple. It looked a little like this:



It was smaller and all silver.

Happened 25 years ago.

[auntAgonist]

102. OMG!!

:hug:

aA
kesha

[bertha katzenengel]

104. I still have nightmares about her just showing up wherever I am -- as she

frequently did for years after I broke it off -- with this insipid grin on her face, like I should be pleasantly surprised to see her. 20 years later her behavior would be called stalking.

Fortunately I no longer have nightmares about the murder-suicide thing. Which she did twice. Once with the gun, once while she was driving.

I'm okay. :hug:

[Zookeeper]

167. Bertha...

Check out Bicentenial Baby's post down-thread.

I'm glad you are OK.

:hug:

[hijinx87]

88. I forgot my wife's birthday.

that was pretty goddam dangerous.

[Zookeeper]

112. But, you lived to tell the tale....

;-)

[hijinx87]

117. true.

but I don't think I have ever been that unhappy before. :evilfrown:

[fudge stripe cookays]

89. Traveling alone before my MS diagnosis was confirmed.

I had planned my genealogy research trip to the Midwest months in advance, and was so excited that I was going to get to find tons more facts, and hang out in Madison, Chicago, and St. Paul (my perfect vacation).

I'd had my MRI the night before I left (problems with the stupid receptionist at my doc's office...she was a FREAKING moron). I'd missed the first one because she never even told me she'd scheduled it.

So in my inimitable plucky fashion, I set out alone, and although I felt punk from time to time, I felt OK enough to travel although I did get very tired very quickly.

The night I got home, reprehensor picked me up at the airport, we went out to dinner, and then came home. I went to hug the dog, and suddenly my entire left side went searingly hot, then completely numb. My left arm pulled up into a claw next to my body, and I was freaking out wondering what the hell was happening to me.

We called 911, thinking I might be having a stroke, but according to my neurologist later, it was probably a "cramp" of sorts in my spinal cord area. Thank God I was not alone when this happened. I don't know what I would have done-- I would have had to have found the nearest medical center, sought emergency help, and probably cut my trip short. I cringe when I think of myself driving alone on the long drive from Madison to St. Paul...my car could have gone out of control and I could have hurt someone else...

:scared:

[auntAgonist]

97. Thank goodness

it happened at home. :hug: I cannot begin to imagine what that must have been like for you and for reprehensor. It certainly could have turned into a very dangerous situation had you been alone, driving .. any number of scenarios.

take good care of yourself please :)

:hug:
aA
kesha

[Zookeeper]

90. OK, I'll share now....

I have a lot of stories to choose from since I was a trusting, adventurous, young woman with a sense of invincibility and a highly inflated perception of my physical size and strength. And then there are your basic, "I missed being involved in someone else's major auto accident by inches," kind of stories. Let's just say I've been blessed with dumb luck.

Here's what caught me most by surprise:

When I was living in a college town, I befriended a man who was a friend of a friend. "Owen" was a really nice guy although I did sense "something" about him. I was in relationship and he was friends with both of us. When my SO and I moved to the west coast, our friend came out to visit and stay with us for a week. We stayed in touch sporadically and I didn't count Owen as a close friend.

On my next trip back to my old home, Owen and I met for lunch and decided to take a walk along the river afterward. We strolled and chatted for a while, and out of nowhere, Owen announced, "The police have been bugging me because they think I'm the guy who has been raping all these women lately."

My brain went into hyperfocus. I realized we were the only people in a very secluded park. There was a hospital about 1/4 mile away, up on a hill overlooking the park, but that was it.

I stayed very calm and acted like he had just announced that he'd bought new socks or something and casually changed our course back to civilization.

I never heard from him again, after I arrived home. I have no idea if he was the rapist or not and I don't know for sure that I was in any real danger. But, then again.... :shrug:

[Haole Girl]

95. It's a good thing you remained calm

It is very creepy, to be in a secluded place...alone with a man...and not now him very well. I shudder to think of the number of times I did that when I was young. I'm so glad you were able to make it out okay! :hug:

[The Magistrate]

94. Keeping Within Your Condition Of the Danger Being Un-Expected, Ma'am

Limits the matter somewhat, as most of my experience with dangerous circumstances has been knowingly and willingly assumed, after calculation of potential profits balanced against the risk undergone.

But once many years ago, hitch-hiking to Montreal to catch a flight to London, I caught a ride at the foot of the Detroit bridge from a lone man in an old car. When the Canadian customs people had him open the trunk, there were several rifles in it, and they got awfully excited. It took some fast and earnest talking to establish my complete lack of association with the fellow to their satisfaction. They eventually let me pass, but the man who picked me up seemed slated for a longer stay in the Great North than he had planned....

[auntAgonist]

96. geez you could have been slated for some

free room and board for a LONG time. You're very fortunate to have been able to get out of what might have been a horrible situation.

aA
kesha.

[The Magistrate]

100. A Silver-Tongued Devil, Ma'am, In My Adventurous Youth

"I'm just a constant warning to take the other direction."

[mark414]

99. both jumping off and getting locked in a freight train

2 separate incidents...the first one resulted in my collarbone snapping in half, around the baltimore area

i got locked in a boxcar in chattanooga, TN after i had hopped in it waiting for a terrible thunderstorm to pass, and fell asleep while i was waiting...took almost 2 days for anyone come near enough to the car (still in the train yard) to hear me bangin on the door

both stories make a lot more sense and sound a lot less stupid when i explain them...but there it is

and for the record, i am anxiously awaiting the day when i hop back on a train

[NMDemDist2]

101. some of my whitewater rafting got pretty hairy (esp the swims) but the worst

danger was probably the day I was on my lunch break in Downtown Stockton CA. I was sitting in a little alcove/doorway out of the sun reading and happened to notice a car go past me a couple times like they were driving around the block.

something just "told" me to MOVE and as I stood up and moved I noticed the same car with the same scary looking men parked just down from the alcove with the back door open with a guy standing by it and the other two men headed for my alcove.

luckily I had headed the other way and ducked into a cafe two doors up from where I was sitting. The men returned to their car and I didn't see them again in that area.

was I almost snatched? :shrug: dunno but it sure felt like it.

[Zookeeper]

107. I'd say it was pretty obvious that you were in trouble....

after seeing the men heading for your alcove. Good thing you had great instincts and awareness of your surroundings!

(Sounds like a close one, Cousin! :hug: )

[NMDemDist2]

110. yes, upon reflection later that day, I heard the passenger door shut

since they were out of my line of sight

[SoCalDem]

103. On an operating table, where they put 8 pints of blood into me..n/t

[EFerrari]

190. The operating table would be dangerous enough.

:scared:

[graywarrior]

105. Hell's Angel wedding reception.

[Zookeeper]

108. LOL! Please tell us more....

Please?

[graywarrior]

118. Was with "the band" who played the reception.

One of the HA's gave me shit, I gave him shit back, it resulted in fisticuffs (in the ladies room, mind you), I hit the floor, he turned around to leave, I got up and started running for him, my friends did an interference, I got dragged out to the parking lot, thrown into the back of a van and made to hide out for several weeks, (months, hell, I'm still hiding out).

[Zookeeper]

165. I choose you...

to be on my side if I'm ever in a fight! :headbang:

[graywarrior]

181. Deal.

[RetroLounge]

106. Walking down the aisle...

:scared:

RL

[Blue_In_AK]

113. Too many.

I guess potentially the most dangerous was getting stopped about five miles into California from the Oregon border back in 1972 by the CHP who claimed that they smelled marijuana smoke (!) emanating from the back of the U-Haul van we were driving. My partner at the time convinced the cop that what they must have been smelling was the patchouli oil, which he pulled out of his pocket to let the cop have a whiff. What the trooper didn't know was that, along with the hay, the five or six hippies, a couple of goats and some chickens in the back, we also had a couple pounds of weed and about 800 hits of orange sunshine. Thank God they didnt search.

After a comment about how we were all "really" dirty (we had just come off a wilderness commune in southern Oregon), and a warning to please don't take a bath in their county because they didn't want us to pollute the watershed, they let us go.

I don't think my heart stopped pounding for another 50 miles. :hippie:


P.S. I'm assuming there's a statute of limitations for this sort of thing. :scared:

[Zookeeper]

114. "Please don't take a bath in our county."

:rofl: Great story and a very close call! :hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

115. I know, I couldn't believe he said that.

Of course, we hadn't had a bath in anything except a river for the past three months, so maybe he had a point. :rofl:

[DemoTex]

120. First few night air combat missions over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos.

And later, the extreme danger to all aircraft (but especially my brothers-in-arms in the helos) around Tchepone, Laos during Operation Lam Son 719 in February and March 1971.

[mainegreen]

124. Wondering when someone would come out with the Vietnam stories.

It's amazing how our society has forgotten how many people still here have seen hell.

[DemoTex]

127. Those stories are out there in droves (good, bad, ugly). I'm writing one.

I am now writing a "book" on Lam Son 719*. It is based on interviews with participants, especially Lt. Phillip Smith (a star of Nolan's book and an old friend of mine .. who is now a country veterinarian), my own participation, historical books (William Keith Nolan & John Prados, for example), and historical records in the US and Viet Nam.

My "book" is for background for a screenplay about Lam Son 719. Why? Lam Son was as brutal, and much more useless than the battles that inspired "PLATOON" and "HAMBURGER HILL". The last definitive history (Nolan's) was written before the current government of Viet Nam opened much of the past

BTW: I would be very interested in interviewing any DUers or friends of DUers who served in Lam Son 719 in any of the following capacities:

1.US grunts who served east of the Laotian border on the QL-9 corridor.
2.US grunts or other ground ops who served west of the border (I know, I know! But you can tell all now!)
3.ARVN grunts from both sides.
4.US Army/Marine/AF helo pilots
5.Other CA/DCS combat aviation pilots
6.Local commands (nothing higher, please .. in the interest of truth!)


*Operation Dewey Canyon-II/Lam Son 719 (Lam Son 719 referred to the village where a Vietnamese folk hero was born, the year 1971, and the infamous highway QL-9 that ran east/west through Viet Nam's Quang Tri Provence and eastern Laos, bisecting the main arteries of the Ho Chi Minh Trail at the Laotian frontier village Tchepone).

[Zookeeper]

143. Demo Tex....

'Sounds like an important request. Have you posted this in other DU forums?

I'm glad you are here to write your book....:hi:

[mdmc]

123. In 8th grade, I was alone during a RIOT !!!

Nassau Coliseum, Iron Maiden "KILLER" tour.

Bottles breaking, car a'flippin, car on fire, fists a'flyin, me a'runnin

WILDTOWN!

[Zookeeper]

154. How did you happen to be alone?

'Sounds like you knew enough to get the heck out of the way! :thumbsup:

[Redstone]

125. Falling off the skid after getting shot might count as that.

Redstone

[Zookeeper]

158. "Falling off the skid..."

I'm not sure what that means, but getting shot sounds very bad.

[Redstone]

196. No matter, I had a flak jacket on. But the falling off part didn't work out too well.

Redstone

[krispos42]

213. Sounds like Redstone almost fell out of a helicopter n./t

[hyphenate]

126. Well, there were two

the first was in 1980, and I was walking home and two guys tried to mug me. I had 49¢ on me, but when they asked for my wallet, it meant something to me, so I didn't want to give it to them, so instead I ran. When one of them asked me where I was going, I said, "home!" and ran like crazy. I turned around quickly, and noticed one of them was reaching for something, but didn't know what it was. Got to a friend's house and I stayed in the doorway, and eventually they left. Found out later it was a gun he was reaching for, and that I could have been killed.

Second time I was in a bad situation was really supposed to be a good time. I was with some friends at a lake for a long weekend, and we were doing some innertubing. The boyfriend of my friend's niece took his boat out, and another friend and I did the tubing from his boat, and eventually, as with most innertubing, we got dumped. When I hit the water, though, it was like a pane of glass, and it hurt. Thankfully, it only resulted in some good sized bruises, but the guy had been driving the boat so fast, that if I had landed in a different way, I could have broken my neck. We never had him drive again when we went out.

[Zookeeper]

145. I saw people innertubing last summer...

I didn't realize it was so dangerous (or popular) until someone mentioned it. Although, it was pretty obvious watching from a distance. I'm glad your neck is intact, Hyphenate!

BTW, your robbery story reminds of an experience my DH had leaving a very loud Grateful Dead concert in S.F. He was walking home alone and was suddenly knocked down from behind. A couple of guys were standing over him yelling. He finally figured out that his ears were ringing from the concert, so he didn't hear them coming up behind him yelling, "Give us your wallet!" He lost his wallet, but was otherwise not injured.

It sounds like your reaction to your assailants caught them off-guard. Good instincts!

[jrandom421]

128. Two of them

Oct 25 1983- Not fully realizing that those pretty green and red lines coming up from the ground were tracers, until 2 of them hit me in the vest.

Jan 30 1991, went out to get some ice cream, found myself face down in the gutter with 2 LAPD issue 9mm to the back of my head, and voices whispering that they wanted me to twitch and give them a reason to spread my brains all over the sidewalk. Turns out they were looking for a robbery suspect 5' 1" 120 lbs (i'm 5' 11" 200 lbs), left handed (i'm righthanded), and didn't speak english (that ain't me).

[Zookeeper]

163. Where were you in 1983?

I'm glad you survived your encounter with the LAPD!

[jrandom421]

178. Operation Urgent Fury

Alpha Co, 1/505th Inf, 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division.

[Zookeeper]

187. Well, you've inspired me to research a subject...

I didn't know much about.

From what I found on-line, I'm guessing you were near Port Salines. (?) Were you a paratrooper? Were you surprised by the resistance you met?

I apologize for my profound ignorance about things military.

I'm glad you made it home safely! :hi:

[Left Is Write]

131. Going down the old Murphy-Hanrehan road in March of 1986, in a car

driven by my drunken boyfriend (and no, I did not know that he was drunk or even that he'd been drinking at all).

[Zookeeper]

147. I had the misfortune to be in a car driven by a very...

drunk driver, who came within 3 feet of running into the back of a semi-truck on a freeway.

I grabbed the steering wheel and moved us into the next lane. Which he thought was terribly rude.

Oh, and then there was the time "the dad" was drunk driving me home from babysitting his kids, took a shortcut across a school yard and ran into a pole on the basketball court.

We're survivors. ;)

[Left Is Write]

170. It's hard for me even to think of that day.

The road was gravel, and he was driving too fast. A car came towards us from the other direction, down the middle of the road. X swerved to avoid hitting that car, and because he was going so fast on gravel, he lost control of the car during the swerve. We left the road, flipped over in mid-air, and landed at the bottom the ravine. The car was on its side, driver side down. It was terrifying.

[Zookeeper]

172. That must have been terrifying!

Were you injured? How about the driver?

:scared: :hug:

[Left Is Write]

173. We were both able to walk away from the accident, but some

of my memories of the first few minutes after the accident are kind of fuzzy. The passenger side window was completely shattered, and my first thought was to get out of the car in case the gas tank exploded. I braced my hands on the opening and pulled myself up and out the window. I didn't notice until later that I cut up my hands on the broken glass and was bleeding everywhere. X was unconscious for just a few minutes, but I kept shouting at him that he had to get out of the car because I was sure it would blow up. I do not remember how he got out of the car or if I helped him. We climbed/crawled up the ravine and flagged down another car.

X was afraid the police would be called to investigate the scene of the accident, and that's when I realized he was loaded. He didn't want me to go to the hospital because he was afraid of getting into trouble. I don't really remember anything after that until we were at his sister's house hours later. I had not been to the hospital, but my hands were bandaged. I don't remember how we got to his sister's or who had bandaged me or if anyone had called my parents (I was only 19).

[Phillycat]

132. I'm a recovering alcoholic...

ALL my situations were ones in which I didn't realize how much danger I was in until later. Going to a hotel room with 4 Marines comes to mind...

[Zookeeper]

150. That last part....

:scared:

Glad you are OK!

[idgiehkt]

204. I can identify

going camping with six guys in college, myself being the only female. That was probably not wise. Getting lost and being 'rescued' by some hunters, one of whom proceeded to leer at me for hours while I lay shivering by the campfire, unable to stop shaking because I had hypothermia. That stupid decision got me 2 weeks in the hospital with severe double pneumonia. And that is just the stuff I remember.

[Aristus]

133. When I was a tanker in the Army. We were doing live-fire crew qualifications.

We just fired a round from the main gun, the breech lowered automatically and there was a brief flare-back of flammable material from the combustible shell-casing. Flarebacks into the turret can be extremely dangerous, especially if the ammo compartment door is open at the time. It wasn't and we were okay. But we had to report it to the tower and got pulled off the qualification course for a debrief.

[Zookeeper]

168. Did the gun malfunction?

Or is that a regular risk from that piece of equipment?

I'm glad you weren't injured!

[Aristus]

174. It was a kind of a malfunction. But it was really due more to the fact

that excess carbon had built up inside the gun tube which we had not had a chance to clean off. The combustible casing stuck to the carbon in some places and failed to burn up entirely when the round was fired. The remaining material flared back into the turret when the breach-block dropped open.

[never cry wolf]

134. Morocco, 1979

Not sure if this qualifies but I was scared shitless.

I was enrolled in a U. of Ill. architecture program for a year at their campus in Versailles. Part of the program was that for 4 weeks each semester they'd kick us out and tell us to go forth and explore europe and come back with an independent study project.

My roommates and I had bought an old VW van to accommodate these trips. One trip we took was through Spain and then down into Morocco. While at one of the open markets there we decided to try to score some hash. We found a seller, bought a goodly amount and hid it in the van. Well, we were returning the next day and as we pulled up to the border check before the ferry we noticed all sorts of police checking cars with drug sniffing dogs. By the time we noticed this there were cars behind us so we couldn't turn around and the cops were too close so we couldn't toss the stuff.

Now, I had just seen Midnight Express a few weeks earlier and visions of a Moroccan prison danced in my head. We get to the head of the line, the dog takes a brief tour of the van, we show our passports and they send us on our way, sweating blood and shaking. When we got back to school and tried out the hash we discovered that the gullible american college kids had been ripped off by a savvy Moroccan who sold them crap. I thank that crook daily.

[fudge stripe cookays]

135. DAYUM!

You win.

[Zookeeper]

152. ....

I'm sorry, I just had to laugh. You qualify as a very, very lucky person! I'm so glad you were ripped off....:hi:

[alarimer]

136. Being out in a boat in the middle of a thunderstorm

I should say it was a small boat (22 foot with outboard motor).

It's dangerous mainly because of the lightning. Also, storms can whip up very high winds and seas in a split second. I was in the bay, not offshore but it was still very scary.

[Zookeeper]

155. That sounds like....

something I would do on a fishing binge. (It can be an addiction, you know.) :spank: :+

Edited for sleepy spelling.

[alarimer]

185. Well it was for work but still

These storms can pop up suddenly- you can't always tell from the forecast although we check it religiously (and it isn't always accurate either).

But I have seen people launching boats in the middle of a thunderstorm or right before a front comes it, when it is clearly (to me) very dangerous to go out.

[KurtNYC]

137. The LAPD/Rodney King Riots

I was here in NYC during 911 but the LA riot of 1992 was worse by far. 3 days of lawlessness and gunfire. The smell of burning buildings (toxic crap, wiring, tar roofs, lumber), smoke rising and filling the air, the sound of machine gun fire, helicopters, mayhem. Stores closed for days, guarded by vigilantes with any kind of weapon they could find, shotguns mostly. National Guard deployed. Tanks on the beach.

At 1pm they announced the verdicts and at about 6pm the shock and sadness turned to anger and violence that raged for 3 days. The 5 hours in between sort of lulled people into thinking nothing would happen.

[yurbud]

139. I lived downtown and we went on roof to watch fires. Cops stopped by, said go inside or get shot

[Zookeeper]

166. Your story reminds me....

of the movie I saw yesterday, "Children of Men." If you haven't seen it, please do.

Did you consider moving away from large urban areas after that experience?

[KurtNYC]

171. I left Los Angeles within 3 weeks

but settled in NYC about 6 months later. I'm not against urban living -- it is more the gunfire / lack of police/order thing that freaks me. And plenty of rural areas have gunfire and a lack of lawfulness. A big part of LA's problem was the adversarial relationship between the LAPD and all the "civilians" in Los Angeles.

[kwassa]

176. I did the Northridge quake and the LA Riots in '92 .... neither

scared me that much, although I was quite close to the rioting and witnessed some of it. I got thrown out of bed by the quake. Quakes don't scare me, or there isn't any point in being scared, because there is not a damn thing I can do about it. LA is no more lawless than many other cities in the US, really. The police just felt like taking a vacation.

My near-death experiences mostly involve coming close to drowning in different ocean incidents, even though I am a pretty good swimmer.

[LSK]

138. I was in a trailer and a tornado missed me by maybe 100 yards

[Lindsey]

142. 13 years ago...on Martin Luther King Day-The Northridge Earthquake...

I was living five miles from the epicenter. The only way to explain it is like I was in a box and the Jolly Green Giant was shaking the box as hard as he could. I remember thinking, "this is it, I'm going to die." It happened at around 4:30 in the morning and my bed literally was moving all over the bedroom with me in it. The closet door opened and things were flying all over the room...and then there were the aftershocks.....

[Zookeeper]

164. At one time I would have thought....

that was pretty exciting.

But, after experiencing straight-line winds and/or a tornado over a year ago, you have my sympathy. :scared:

[CharmCity]

140. Driving w/ speed demon brother-in-law in Andes

at night, in the fog. As the brother-in-law fought with his girlfriend.

There are no guard rails in the Andes. In fact, aside from the roadside memorials, there's nothing to stop you from heading straight down. And it's a long way down.

Occasionally a cow or donkey would appear out of the fog.

My daughter, five at the time, was asleep on my lap. Finally, I insisted that we STOP -- I was willing to sleep in the car at the side of the road.

But there actually was no side of the road. We just had to keep going. Finally we ended up in Ambato, where my husband and brother-in-law went out drinking, leaving daughter and I alone in the hotel.

When my husband reappeared, I punched him for scaring the crap out of me.

[Zookeeper]

153. That sounds hellish...

especially with your child in the car. I hope you punched your BIL, too.

[bicentennial_baby]

141. Hmmm...When my Ex tried to kill me?

He bust into my parents house when I was in the backyard, he ripped the phone out of the wall, and then proceeded to come after me to shoot at me with his 12 gauge. I ran like the devil into the swamp behind our house, and eventually his new gf was able to get him out of there, and they left. I was unscathed. :)

Wow, that seems like forever ago...1998, I think?

:)

[Zookeeper]

157. Hmmmm....

Check out Bertha's post upthread. It sounds like you two have something in common.

Glad you are OK, BB. Thank Goddess for new girlfriends!

[madrchsod]

144. bad drug rip off

gun drawn....cooler heads prevailed

[KitchenWitch]

146. I was set up on a blind date with a guy

I did not hit it off with him, thank goodness, and did not go out with him again. Fast forward six months found him murdering his girlfriend and lighting their house on fire, trying to hide evidence.

[Zookeeper]

156. Did you ever discuss it with...

the person who set up the date? I suppose a better question is: did you ever talk again to the person who set up the date? :wow:

[KitchenWitch]

159. I pretty much did not speak to her again.

The guy happened to be a "good friend" of her boyfriend's.

:yoiks:

[raccoon]

216. Did you sense that he was abusive and dangerous, or was it

just that you didn't hit it off? (thank goodness for that)

[Evoman]

160. I lived in a pretty bad neighbourhood growing up.

Anyways, me and a friend were walking down an alley, not too far from our house, when we saw a group of people running from another group of people. About 10 feet away from us, the one guy turned around and pulled a knife. He stuck one of the other guys with the knife, and a brawl broke out between the two groups (about 4 guys on each side...probably a gang thing).

Me and my friend ran as fast as possible between two houses back to my house (about 2 blocks away). Luckily, nobody paid much attention to us, or were to busy fighting to notice to kids watching. I didn't want to leave the house for about 2 weeks after that, because I was afraid some punk would recognize me.

We did hear cop sirens about 5 minutes after we got home, so I'm sure the fight was broken up. But I was so freakin scared.


Then there was this other time when I was at a supermarket, and I noticed two odd guys standing near my mother and I. I knew they were hiding something, and that something bad was going down. I asked my mom if we could leave, and we went to wait outside for a cab. While we were waiting for the cab, the two guys ran past us carrying guns and jumped into a waiting car. Apparently, they had just robbed a money van/security car. We had to go down to the police station and give statements.

[BarenakedLady]

161. When I was around 7

and my 17 year old neighbor took me into the woods...

[KitchenWitch]

162. damn that sucks!

x(

[enigmatic]

169. had a gun pulled on me a couple of times

Never shot at, though.

[BikeWriter]

175. Texas City Disaster 1947, sitting there in my high chair, hell...

broke loose.

[Zookeeper]

200. Thank you!

I knew nothing about that tragedy until your post. Wikipedia has a page about it.

Was your home damaged? How close were you to the blast?

(I am learning so much from this thread...)

[BikeWriter]

210. We were within less than a mile of ground zero...

We were in one of the closest homes to the dock. Our home was completely demolished, and Dad had insurance, but the company went bankrupt.

[yellowdogmi]

177. I guess there are threee occassions that fit.

The first was me on a wind surfer on an inland lake when a storm rolled in. I can sail a boat. A board is another story altogether. The sheriff's boat sped by and didn't stop. They just yelled at me through their bullhorn. I ended up swimming and pushing the damn thing across the lake. When I got back to the landing I launched from my mother was in tears thinking I had drown. I never did learn how to steer the damn thing and sold it after several more attempts.

The second was a spurned woman who pulled a gun on me. I can tell you I never want to be on the wrong end of a gun again.

The third was snorkling in the Bahama's. I learned that you need to be able to identify what a baracuda looks like before you go in. :scared:

[Pacifist Patriot]

179. I can be really fucking stupid.

Honestly, I couldn't tell you what the most dangerous situation is that I've been in. I have a tendency to tempt fate when I don't even realize we're in the same room.

[Zookeeper]

189. LOL!

"I have a tendency to tempt fate when I don't even realize we're in the same room."

That's wonderful! Why aren't you using that as your sig line???

[lildreamer316]

183. I dunno. I can be really fucking stupid also.

I've been very lucky to get myself in and out of potentially dangerous situations without any detriment. Nothing in particular stands out at the moment; except the day my fiance died--he was on the motorcyclye we had bought for me. I was supposed to ride with him but at the last minuite they called me into work. If I had been on the back of the bike I would either be dead or have been seriously injured.
I've driven over ice and spun out--no harm.
I've gone out and home and alone into hotel rooms with ppl I should not have. I emerged unscathed.
The last---I invited someone I met online into our house last year. He gave me the creeps like no one I've ever met before. Fortunately; he got the clue to leave and husband would have made sure he did anyway.
He LOOKED like a vulture. I think something is seriously seriously wrong with him. I am glad he left.
However; I cried for days about how stupid I am about that.


Now; I know someone who has been through many many experiences that could have ended in death. When he was seven a doberman tore off one of his arms (unprovoked). It just happened that there was a limb re-attachement confrence at the nearest hospital. Reattached for FREE. Today he has full function of his arm.
He was hitchiking across the country when he was picked up by a guy in a pickup truck. Taken back to the guy's house; he took a nap. Woke up to the guy and his partner (both in biz and life) having a knock-down drag out. They were coke dealers. The guy loaded up his truck with coke and said he was gonna leave. My friend jumped in 'cause the guy said he'd drop him off in town. Guy was upset and messed up on drugs and came tearing down the mountain from the house; and ran off the road directly into a tree at about 60 MPH. The guy was killed instantly. My friend walked away without any broken bones or internal injuries and no charges.
MY friend also worked for a particular person who will remain nameless in a particular southern town. He was (my friend) homeless when he went to go apply for a job at a place this person owned. The guy gave a job,clothing, and food,but at the price of being.....a collector. If you know what I mean. With firepower.
My friend does not like to talk about that much.
He also became deluded from lack of food when he was on a long drive home from one state to another; and was by himself. Thought he was in a totally different state than he was. Fortunately; a kind cop figured out what was going on and got in touch with his family.
OH! And he woke up three seconds before his ex-wife (who is now confined) was about to bash his skull in with a baseball bat.

There have been other times; but these are the ones he's talked about.
He's a golden child; obviously here to do something with his life; that's for sure.

[Zookeeper]

192. Yes, it's hard to figure out....

Like I said upthread, I've innocently (Stupidly? Arrogantly?) been in a lot of situations that could have turned out badly and I tend to attribute that to dumb luck. But, sometimes I think that the world is not as dangerous of a place as we are led to believe.

Then something happens to someone else to make me think that's not true either.

I'm sorry to hear about your fiance, Lildreamer. How heartbreaking!

As far as your friend, it's hard to tell if his luck is good or bad. I'm not sure I'd want to spend a lot of time with him, just in case.



:hi:

[mentalsolstice]

184. We were carjacked at gunpoint by a 12 year old...

...and two of his friends who were a little older. That gun was pointing right smack in the middle of my forehead!

My thoughts (I was closest to the car and the weapon):

1. A 12 year old doesn't appreciate the meaning of life
2. I hope my husband doesn't do something stupid and get himself killed, because I couldn't bear to witness it...please, Lord, let them shoot me first.
3. The usual life-passing-before-my-eyes...and my poor parents...
4. And just focusing on that fecking little black hole, and my life is totally dependent on what does or doesn't come out of it.

At one point I backed away from the car, and the little shit screamed that he was going to "blow my fucking brains out"...

Anyway, the rest is history, and DH and I lived to tell about it!

edit for punctuation

[Zookeeper]

193. That sounds like the middle of a very interesting story....

a 12 year old with a gun threatening your life.... :scared:

[mentalsolstice]

201. Oh it was...

...in that same night, they pulled "the" gun on on an Asst. DA (lived a couple blocks from us), pulled the trigger, and the gun misfired. So, b/c of DAs and Family Court judges recusing themselves (because of their relationship to the Asst. DA), we were only involved in the prosecution on of the oldest child, who was 16 at the time and was held as an adult. He was held between .5 years and a year, in an adult jail. He had no priors, however, his mother did...drugs. When it finally got time to prosecute, the Asst. DA wanted to send him to adult prison, but we agreed to his defense atty's plea to juvenile boot camp (I have to add here that I'm a non-practicing attorney). There was a hearing...I broke down, and he did too, a lot of tears. There was no concrete identification of the other two boys, just him, but he wasn't the one holding the gun. It was his eyes (they were as soft and scared as I can imagine ours must have been), and I was able to pick him out of a lineup...I can remember those eyes in my dreams, to this day. I knew he was acting on the 12 y.o.'s orders...he must have really got the short end of the stick. We finally got our car back, it played into a much larger liquor store bust...but we were minus an auto for several weeks, as it was compounded for evidence.

We felt good about our decision...but about 2-3 years later, the DA's office notified us that he was in trouble again. Oh well...

[hedgehog]

186. When I was about 5, my mom was talking to the neighbor lady

while I played on the swingset. The lady's kid did not want me on the swing set, so he went and got his daddy's gun to chase me off! I had no idea that real people had guns and thought it was a fake, but the neighbor lady practically had a heart attack when she saw it!

[EFerrari]

191. holy cow.

:scared:

[EFerrari]

188. A 300 lb psychotic person was holding my head over an open fire

and I thought, "Hmm. Bad boundaries."

There was another time, too, when a burglar/rapist was doing a hot prowl in our home. I threatened to kill him with my not really there gun and he ran like a sissy. And, we caught him.

Edit: I found out he already had two rape convictions.

Don't EVER mess with a woman and her fake gun.

[Zookeeper]

197. "Hmm. Bad boundaries."

Well, at least you maintained your sense of humor in a crisis! It sounds like you did some quick thinking during the burglary. Good job, Sfexpat! :thumbsup:

[EFerrari]

199. Maybe that's the idea.: don't ever get between yourself and any idea you need

to manage. :)

[lildreamer316]

206. You.

HAVE BALLS THAT CLANK.
wow.

[EFerrari]

208. I don't think so. I shook for the next two days and didn't hear anything.

lol

[Danger Mouse]

194. Dating a seriously emotionally unstable girl...like seriously psychotic...

ah, the fun times i had...

[Zookeeper]

203. Well, there's something to be said for....

finding out what you DON'T want. :hi:

[Danger Mouse]

207. Yeah...when I look back on it...

...it amazes me that I made it out of that whole mess relatively unscathed...except for all the emotional trauma...heh...

[Redstone]

195. Oops. Already answered once.

Redstone

[dropkickpa]

198. Manager at a video store, BUSY Friday night,

and two guys come in (armed, ski masks, etc) to rob the place. This was the 3rd robbery I'd been through in 7 months, so I was an old hand. But, when I told them I couldn't get the safe open, I found myself staring down the barrel of the guy's gun, and he's freaking out on me. I calmly explained that the safe was on a time lock that WOULD NOT open until after a certain time, and then there would be a 5 minute wait. They herded me and the cashier who was up front with me to the back of the store with the guns to our heads with all of the customers and the other employees, and I swear to god I thought I was gonna die. They took off and, as soon as they were out of sight, I ran up and locked the doors, called 911, and the screamed "WHAT THE FUCK?!?!?!?!?". I felt bad, because there were kids in the store, but I had to release somehow. I called corporate, got statements, dealt with the cops, etc. Then I went home (after stopping and buying a fifth of Jack), squeezed my daughter til I thought she'd pop, put her back to bed, and then proceeded to get mind numbingly drunk, emptying the entire bottle and the six pack in the fridge to boot. They caught the guys 3 days later after a botched home invasion when the guy who'd held the gun to my face and then head shot someone. It took over 2 years to get our case resolved (the case was continued 6 times, and, at the end, the DA was down to just me and one other witness because of the fucking around). They each got 15 years on top of their home invasion, drug, and weapons charges. I was treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, but I still won't go to certain types/layouts of stores, especially video stores. Netflix was a godsend.

Needless to say, I will never work fucking retail again.

[Zookeeper]

202. It sounds like your staying calm may have saved...

not just your life, but others as well. I've always thought working a night shift at a convenience store looked dangerous, but a video store on a busy Friday night? Geez.

I'm sorry you had such a traumatic experience. 'Glad you made it through safely. :hug:

[dropkickpa]

215. Thanks

I thought it was odd, but, in the four years I worked for that company, there were something like 11 robberies in our district. I was lucky that I didn't actually get hurt, some people at other stores weren't so lucky. One girl was raped and beaten, and a guy was knocked unconscious. Friday night, lots o' cash, open late, it made sense after it happened to me. Although one of the robberies that I dealt with was at noon on a Tuesday :shrug: That guy only got $65, which is dumb, because it was the second time he'd robbed me and I got a positive ID on him because of it, wouldn't have otherwise. Dumbass.

[QMPMom]

209. 1978 when I was in Israel and the PLO killed Senator Abraham

Ribicoff's niece on the beach we were driving past and then blew up a bus in front of us.

[Zookeeper]

219. Terrifying!

Did you stay in Israel after that?

[QMPMom]

221. We had to. The borders were closed. We stayed the length

of time we had planned and then went back to Jordan for our flight home. By then, the borders had been opened, but it was scary.

[Kutjara]

211. When my first real girlfriend asked me...

...if I thought a particular outfit made her butt look big. I answered honestly.

I've never been so terrified.

[Zookeeper]

220. LOL! n/t

[Manifestor_of_Light]

212. I have dim memories of this first one, vivid ones of the second one

I was about four or maybe five years old. Mom was driving a Cadillac Fleetwood. A real tank, a 1955 model.

They didn't have seatbelts then. They didn't have anti-brat-bailout locks for car doors,either.
We had bench seats. I was riding shotgun.

She was stopped under a red light, to wait for it to change, and then make a left turn, because this was a busy T intersection. There was no left turn lane or left turn arrow.

I had been messing with the door latch on the right front door. I opened it, and while she was making the left turn, my door flew open, and I was hanging onto the arm rest, and mom said my feet were dragging the pavement.

She told me she reached over as far as she could to the right while driving, grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back in the car, and pulled over and stopped.
She shut the passenger door, and said I crawled in her lap and "we both shook and cried for about thirty minutes".

=========================
The other one was when my dad, sister and I were fishing at a spillway on an artificial lake. There was a road on top of the dam.

The spillway came out of a square concrete culvert and had a telephone pole set into the concrete on each side of the culvert. It was like a small but powerful waterfall into a lake.

We were standing on top of the gob of concrete around the spillway. I was standing there by one of the posts. The posts stuck up about a foot above the box culvert. I was seven or eight or nine years old.

I was standing on the concrete at the top. I slipped down the concrete next to the culvert, on my back, flipped over to my stomach, and grabbed the top of the post with my right hand, to keep from sliding into the water. All in what seemed like about two seconds.

Had I gone into the water, the undertow would have gotten me.
Needless to say, I was forbidden from going back there to fish, and so were my dad and sister.
I never liked fishing anyway.

[Zookeeper]

218. As a parent....

My experience has been that the biggest part of the job when my kids were toddlers and pre-schoolers, was just to keep them from killing themselves.

Glad you survived, Perragrande!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

222. Thanks, zookeeper!

I have made 51 years on this planet so far. No broken bones.

Didn't mention the almost-head-on hit and run collision I was in, in a 1976 Subaru. The drunk crossed two lanes of a four lane road to hit me. He was in a much bigger car, a Ford LTD.

I had on a lap and shoulder belt. I was banged up all over just moving around inside the seat belt and hitting parts of the car. I got a concussion from banging my left upper skull on the headliner above the driver's window.
If it wasn't for seat belts, I would have been dead.

[krispos42]

214. Three incidents. Car, boat, bullet.

1) Coming back from the drive-in movie with my then-girlfriend (now my impending ex) and her two cousins, like 10 and 6. Cruising down Route 8 in Connecticut at about 2am, we come across a silver Mitsubishi 3000GT that had just plowed into the concrete median. Car facing the wrong way in the left lane, front smashed nearly flat, driver and passenger dazed and confused, airbags deployed, glass and steam everywhere.

I pull the car over to the side of the road, turn on the flashers, call 911. My girlfriend goes to check on them, I grab a flashlight and go to help. The road's not too well lit, and like most Connecticut highways, narrow and curvy. So I would wave the light at any cars that came down.

A few cars drove past, then it happened. I was by the side of our car checking on the cousins when two cars came by. They both slowed as the passed the wreck, then somehow the first car (an SUV, actually) slowed even more and the following car didn't realize it soon enough. They hit pretty hard, the SUV looking like it was about to flip over as the car tried to slid up underneath it. The problem was this all happened as they narrowly (5 feet?) missed my girlfriend and scared the crap out of me because they could have hit our car. I quickly moved the car over into the grass area between the highway and the on-ramp until the police and ambulance came.

2) Shortly after moving to South Dakota, I was out fishing with my ex's uncle and her two brothers in a 16-foot powerboat. I and the youngest, let's call him 'S', were doing pretty well, and J and F were at zero.

After a couple of hours, the wind picked up and the chop got pretty bad. 2-3 foot waves and about a 35mph wind. J starts getting seasick, and with spray coming in over the bow we decide to head upwind back to the dock. Uncle F first heads the boat straight towards sure, running parallel to the waves, then, about a mile from shore (it's a big lake), turns into the wind to head for the dock.

So we're plowing headlong into the waves, J is in the bow trying to not barf, F is piloting, I'm next to him, and S is in the back. We're getting soaked pretty bad, the bow slapping the waves pretty hard. F decides after a few minutes to throttle back the engine, stop hitting the waves so hard.

Mistake! F pulls the power off, and the bow settles back down to something approaching horizontal. The next wave, instead of going under the bow, goes around it instead. Within seconds the boat is full of water with another wave looming. With a tangle of fishing gear, hooks, lines, and other stuff floating around, we were afraid of being caught if the boat decided to flip or sink. So, we bailed out.

We had all put our life vests on when it began getting choppy. They had fitted, nice vests. I had the 'extra' one, the horse-shoe shaped orange thingy. Great. 280 pounds of me in a life vest rated for 160. But that was not the worst part.

Uncle F had not clipped the emergency kill tether to himself when he bailed. Now we were in the water, floating with debris, while the boat was still under power, albeit much slower now that it was filled to the gunnels with lake water. Basically we were now in the water with a slowly-spirelling torpedo.

We frantically dodged the boat until the wind finally took the circling boat out of range. Then we started swimming. There was a lone cabin on the edge of the lake. Apart from some grain silos a couple of miles away, it was all we could see that indicated human life. It was midafternoon on a Tuesday, a work day, so we were essentially alone on this big lake in the middle of rural South Dakota.

I almost drowned during the swim to shore. By life 'vest' kept trying to leave me. A three-foot wave is huge and scary when the base is at your neck and it actually towers over you, and it is a terrifying feeling to have your head almost but not quite keep up with the swell of the water.

I quickly dumped my sneakers and one sock. The other wouldn't detach for the life of me until I was halfway to shore. About fifteen minutes into it, I went under and lost my stupid sun hat. I kept my $140 Italian sunglasses, though, but realized I had to lose my shorts. I was wearing a heavy leather belt, and I had no less than three pocket knives on me, as well as my wallet. So, with a tug on my belt, zoop, I was in my boxer briefs.

We spread out as time progressed. S had the highest lifevest-to-weight ration, I had the lowest. I had to swim with one arm holding down my vest. Eventually, Uncle F told S to swim ahead as fast as he could and get help from the house we were heading for while I guarded the rear.

The sheriff showed up. The people in the house had at some point seen our distress and called 911. Unfortunately he couldn't do anything except radio for fire-rescue, and by the time the local voluneer fire department had showed up, we were walking towards the house, me in my boxer-briefs, T-shirt, and $140 Italian sunglasses.

The lady there was kind enought to drive us back to the dock, where we got back into the truck and towed the now-empty trailer home. Uncle F pulled into the driveway of my house, and my ex and her mom came out. My ex thanked god as I started to get out of the truck because the drain for the washer had clogged and there was water in the basement.

I looked at her and very calmly said "I couldn't care less." It was at this point she noticed I was in my undies, and she asked me why I was dressed so, and where was the boat? "In the lake," was my tired reply.

I didn't realize how close I came to death until later.

3) Was hunting related. My father-in-law (may he burn in Hell) M and the aforementioned brother-in-law S were hunting deer, again in the middle of nowhere, South Dakota. We had just walked a tree line and were taking breather. S was eager, and M and I were enjoying our break, so we told S to go check out a little clump of trees in the middle of a cornfield. There was a little tear in the ground, so it went unfarmed and uncleared. M and I took up positions on either side of the tear while S went in there. We didn't think anything was there, so we were just kinda standing and waiting, when all of a sudden a shot rings out.

A deer darts from the clump of trees and takes off. I shoulder my rifle and take aim, then fire. I miss. S comes running out of the woods, kneels, and takes a shot. Miss. I work the bolt, take aim again, and fire. Miss. S shoots again. Miss.

By now the deer is moving fast up a hill, across a harvested field. At the crest of the hill is a fence and freedom for the deer. I aim again and take a third shot. Miss. S takes one last shot, and the deer is unharmed still, bounding over a barbed-wire fence, over the crest of the hill, and is gone.

Then there's the whine of a bullet cutting the air overhead, then the distant crack of a rifle. A bullet had just buzzed past us!

It turns out that while we were turning gunpowder into noise, two pickup trucks full of deer hunters, cruising just below the crest of the hill, had heard the gun shots and raced towards us, hoping to get a shot at a running deer. Apparently, one of the last shots we fired at the deer on the hill came real close to the pop-up hunters, and one of them popped off a shot towards us. Or maybe they took a shot at the deer and missed. Who knows? But it was kinda unnerving anyway.

[Zookeeper]

217. Wow! Three very scary close calls!

Especially, your adventure with the boat. As a person who loves boats and fishing, but can't swim worth a damn.......:scared: :scared: :scared:

[krispos42]

223. It was less than fun

Too bad, too. It was a beautiful day on the prairie. Blue, blue sky from horizon to horizon, a few puffy clouds, not too hot, low humidity... I think it was in June this happened. 'S' was rigging his and my lines. I had caught two walleye and he had caught two walleyes and two northern pikes. and a big northern we can almost caught before it ate through the line and disappeared. F and J had caught zilch! :-)

[Zookeeper]

225. Spoken like a true angler....

still thinking about the ones that got away....:D

[krispos42]

226. LOL! Well, 'S' was right about the whitecaps, too

He was concerned about the wind. He was only not quite 12 at the time, too. But he knew how to rig lines!

I prefer pheasant hunting, myself. The hardware is cooler :-)

[aaronbees]

224. Tornado chasing a couple years ago...

Going after a story to write. I kind of knew it would be somewhat dangerous and probably missed the tornado by an hour or two but still drove through a crazy rainstorm to get to an area where it hit -- backwoods, small town SE Oklahoma. Ended up driving through the small side streets of Broken Bow, Okla., after being guided by a local I met at the EZ Mart ... driving into a residential area outside of town that had just been whipped by the tornado with tree limbs, power lines and all sorts of farm and home debris littered along the roads and fields in the dead of night with the power cut off, no starlight and no streetlamps, just the beam shooting from my not-so-trusty Ford Escort. Perhaps not terribly dangerous, but a little foolhardy to rush into a disaster zone freshly destroyed and not knowing where I was going. It was worth it. I got the story.

[schmuls]

227. I was in my early twenties in Racine Wisconsin. Was trying to help

a friend find a phone to use (way before cell phones). We entered a house of a friend, where a guy we knew had a gun and was waving it around. This was an x-con troubled guy, but a great guy. When I asked if there was a phone there, he pointed the gun at me. We freaked out and left; a while later someone phoned at my folk's house that the guy shot himself in the head; he languished at the hospital for a few days before dying. I could have very well been killed and would not be here at this moment posting this message to you maniacs!

[Joey Liberal]

228. Had a guy try to hit me with his car

Had lot's of scary moments when I was doing security work. But seeing a car coming right at me was one of the scariest.

[noonwitch]

229. Frat House Tour

At the FIJI house. That's all I'm saying.

[mtnester]

230. Two incidents...first at 5 years old

I am a country girl whose nearest neighbor when I was 5 was about 2 miles down the road. I was visiting my grandma (she passed away when I was eight) and grandpa when they were living in the minister's house of a Methodist church in northeast Columbus, Ohio. It was pretty cool to come to the "city", with the houses that were so close and all the traffic and all the people around (not just your annoying little brother, and my sister was not born yet) and you could walk down the block to the store and the gas station and the school...etc... It was the summer right before I started kindergarten, and it was 1965. And sheesh, we were overnighting with GRANDMA for heaven's sake....every kid loves that!

So, with strict instructions not to leave the tiny scrap of front yard, not even to go down on the sidewalk (too close to busy street), I would sit for hours and simply watch all the cars and all the people. It was warm and sunny and June when the grass is still good and soft. (Amazing that I still remember this like it happened yesterday when it was more than 40 years ago).

Minding my own business, being fascinated by cars, when a car slowly comes up the street (from the north), slows WAY down, and pulls kind of to the curb. Inside, is a crew cut, plaid shirt kind of guy, maybe you know the type from the mid 60's...the very blue collar flattop kind of buzz cut..stocky set man, white, driving a tan colored Ford (one thing about living in the country, you learn your car brands quick when you learn to drive a tractor at age 5)...the typical squarish vehicle of the times. It was a 4 door. The back windows were up, the passenger window was down.

He pulled to the curb, leaned over so he could look up at me (the front yard was a kind of slope up from the street). He wanted directions to someplace, from a 5 year old mind you. I had stood up by that time, and was literally ROOTED in place, because, even as young as I was, the country girl in me smelled danger...yes it did. He wondered if I could come down to the car to show him on a map where this place was (I do NOT remember what place he was looking for...I was not from around there anyway and could not have helped him if I tried.) Still rooted to the spot, all the instinctual mammal survival bells going off in my head, I shouted down..."Let me go get my Grandpa, he can show you." I turned around and went inside to get him. Of course, when I told Grandma why I needed to find Grandpa, she shot outside like a pistol...and the car was gone.

Did I survive something? Probably. Did I realize at the time what could have happened that day? Not as much as I do as an adult. Neither Grandma or myself told my parents about this, cause we both knew that my mother would freak out, and my cop dad would have freaked out, and I would not have been allowed to stay in the city with my beloved Grandma again. As it was, I only had her for another not quite 2 years...I am sure now that the cancer that took her was working on her that day.

I did not tell my parents about this until I was over 40 years old...My dad still freaked out. To this day I firmly believe if I went down to that car, I would not be telling this story now.

2nd incident - I was raped when I was 20. I am alive to talk about it. No need to go into the details. No, he was never caught that I am aware of.

Sheesh...I had some scary driving moments when idiot friends drove like the idiots they were, and the time I was flying from Columbus to Chicago and lightening struck the plane...but somehow the two from above are the ones that stick with me the most. Did being in a plane when it was struck by lightning scare the living crap out of me? Oh yes. If that has ever happened to you, you know EXACTLY what I mean...pure silence in a packed plane full of people until the pilot came on to say "we're OK we're OK...so that is what getting struck by lightning in a place feels and sounds like folks.." Only then did a collective sigh go up through the entire plane. Everyone had been holding their breath, afraid to look out a window, afraid to look at anyone else on the plane.

If I were a cat, I guess I should be careful about the remaining lives I have :)

[Tracer]

231. Was dragged out to sea on a riptide.

I was at the beach, just playing around in waist-high water and diving through not-very-big waves.

I nice sized wave came rolling and and I dove through it, came out the other side and went to put my feet down --- and sank like a stone.

I was sooo surprised at sinking, that I inhaled buckets of water and came up to the surface gasping, choking and struggling. Looking around, I saw that I was a hundred yards from the beach and being sucked out to sea.

Luckily, my husband saw what happened and swam out (way off to the side) and screamed at me to swim parallel to the beach. Just seeing and hearing him calmed me down and i made it back OK.

I've certainly NEVER forgotten those life-saving instructions

[caty]

232. I was working

at a huge entertainment and bowling arena several years ago.
It was about 1am and I was working at the main counter which is located right in front of the main door. We close at 2am and I was straightening up the counter area when I stepped away from my computer to put some walkie talkies away. Just at that moment I heard gun shots and glass breaking. Someone had just shot a gun three times into the front door. Where the bullets hit showed that if I had not stepped to the side when I did, one of those bullets could have hit me in the head. I quit two months later.

:scared:

[leftofthedial]

233. random evening in GD

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

234. Life

There's a 100% chance I won't get out of it alive.

And to think nobody told me in advance... :cry:

[Dora]

235. Going to that dude's van at a frat party in 1986.

It was stupid of me, but I was unharmed.

Oh yeah, and then there was the Cherokee rollover in the Arizona mountains.