Ever had a "close call" with regard to anything?
I used to ride my bike on a farm road at night. It was a one-mile, paved stretch with hardly any traffic. I rode at night because it was too hot during the day.
I would do six miles on this road, up and back three times, with the last two miles being sprints.
Anyway....one night a low-rider car passed me, going the opposite direction from mine. I rode for a while and then looked back over my shoulder. Just as I had feared, they had driven up the road and then had stopped in the middle of the road. I just *knew* that they were arguing about whether to turn around and come back 'for me'. How did I know? I just *knew* - ESP, female intuition - whatever.
And sure enough, they turned around in the road and came back in my direction. I freaked, because when they had passed by me originally, I could tell the car had at least five guys in it.
This farm road was surrounded by farm fields - newly ploughed-up earth, that I would 'not' be able to ride across with the kind of tires I had on my bike.
I rode up near the one farm house, because though it was uninhabited, there was a bright light there. But then I realized I would be trapped. So I rode back out onto the street and finally found a small, flat foot-path across one field that my tires would be able to handle. I got away, because a low-rider would never have been able to follow across a ploughed-up field or via a small footpath.
You may think I'm exaggerating the danger I felt that I was in. But never in my life has my 'sense of alarm' been so acute. And I've travelled all through South America by myself - so it's not like I'm a 'fraidy-cat'. I 'know' I would have been gang-raped and murdered...possibly as part of a gang initiation.
I thought it was a 'very' close call.
Anybody else have a 'close call' with regard to any kind of situation? It wouldn't have to be a safety matter...it could be wrt 'anything' at all.
Thanks for any replies.
Carol
I would do six miles on this road, up and back three times, with the last two miles being sprints.
Anyway....one night a low-rider car passed me, going the opposite direction from mine. I rode for a while and then looked back over my shoulder. Just as I had feared, they had driven up the road and then had stopped in the middle of the road. I just *knew* that they were arguing about whether to turn around and come back 'for me'. How did I know? I just *knew* - ESP, female intuition - whatever.
And sure enough, they turned around in the road and came back in my direction. I freaked, because when they had passed by me originally, I could tell the car had at least five guys in it.
This farm road was surrounded by farm fields - newly ploughed-up earth, that I would 'not' be able to ride across with the kind of tires I had on my bike.
I rode up near the one farm house, because though it was uninhabited, there was a bright light there. But then I realized I would be trapped. So I rode back out onto the street and finally found a small, flat foot-path across one field that my tires would be able to handle. I got away, because a low-rider would never have been able to follow across a ploughed-up field or via a small footpath.
You may think I'm exaggerating the danger I felt that I was in. But never in my life has my 'sense of alarm' been so acute. And I've travelled all through South America by myself - so it's not like I'm a 'fraidy-cat'. I 'know' I would have been gang-raped and murdered...possibly as part of a gang initiation.
I thought it was a 'very' close call.
Anybody else have a 'close call' with regard to any kind of situation? It wouldn't have to be a safety matter...it could be wrt 'anything' at all.
Thanks for any replies.
Carol
Comments
I stopped about 10 feet away... they asked for directions again. The place they were asking about was a 1/2km away, completely visible from where we were. I said "it's right there" and pointed at it. The guy in the passenger seat says "oh, well do you know where the Mac's store is?".
**** that. I hopped on the bike and pounded those pedals like crazy out of there. They did a quick 180 and drove after me, but I crossed the road and went down through a big hole in the chain link leading to a path we always used.
I'm certain if I got within arm's reach of these creeps, I'd have had them both up my ass and wound up dead. I don't trust anyone anymore... I don't even let my wife answer the door during the day. That has made me paranoid for life.
Oh, and my wife was 5 days late with her period once. Almost as scary.
I think my friend just ran off; but I don't remember the end of the story very well, because I was so shocked when I heard the first part. Pretty awful, huh?
Well.... I was there for a conference, and late at night (about 1am) decided I wanted to go for a walk. Riverwalk was really crowded all day, and the mall areas were still hopping, so I felt utterly safe.
Until I went too far upriver.
Suddenly, the shops were gone, the malls were gone, and the *EXITS* were gone. I was looking at endless sidewalk in front of me, with a wall of hotel glass on one side of me, and the river on the other.
That was when I noticed the five guys behind me, about 100 yds back.
Lovely.
So every time I rounded a corner where they couldn't see me, I sprinted for a while to try and add a little distance each time. Well, the distance wasn't getting any wider... they were doing the same thing, obviously. Every time I went out of sight, they were running to catch up without me noticing.
It turned into this bizarre race, where neither team was seeing the other exert.
Finally I turned a corner and saw a bridge to the other side, and a walkway up to a street a ways ahead of me, so I just all out sprinted for it. I went up the stairs to the street level... and watched the guys sprint below me, griping to themselves.
I sprinted another two blocks, randomly, then stopped in front of a dance club, and tried to figure out how the hell to get back to my hotel. Took me a while... I'd covered a couple of miles.
Originally posted by murbot
I almost got kidnapped when I was about 9. Two older guys in a car stopped to ask me directions to a grocery store. I was on the sidewalk on my bike, and I was sitting on the seat, stopped, talking to them. One of the guys asked me to come closer because he couldn't hear me, and I started to get a little cautious.
I stopped about 10 feet away... they asked for directions again. The place they were asking about was a 1/2km away, completely visible from where we were. I said "it's right there" and pointed at it. The guy in the passenger seat says "oh, well do you know where the Mac's store is?".
**** that. I hopped on the bike and pounded those pedals like crazy out of there. They did a quick 180 and drove after me, but I crossed the road and went down through a big hole in the chain link leading to a path we always used.
I'm certain if I got within arm's reach of these creeps, I'd have had them both up my ass and wound up dead. I don't trust anyone anymore... I don't even let my wife answer the door during the day. That has made me paranoid for life.
Oh, and my wife was 5 days late with her period once. Almost as scary.
Wow, murbot. That's really awful. You're right, you 'would' have ended up dead. It's amazing that a nine-year-old would have such a good sense of danger. But I guess they had warned kids at your school? Or was that before schools started warning kids about 'stranger danger'?
And yeah, the pregnancy 'close call' rings a few bells. Whew.
Originally posted by Kickaha
Suddenly, the shops were gone, the malls were gone, and the *EXITS* were gone. I was looking at endless sidewalk in front of me, with a wall of hotel glass on one side of me, and the river on the other.
That was when I noticed the five guys behind me, about 100 yds back.
Wow. Really scary. And you were trapped. Isn't that just the worst feeling? Damn!
And FIVE guys? They weren't just out to get a wallet. *You* would have been their 'sport' for the evening. Gives me shivers. I used to have dreams about being chased. What happened to you for 'real' sounds just like some of my dreams. Shudder.
And yeah Carol, those guys probably would have made a woman out of you.
That story is pretty wild Kick, I had basically the same thing happen to me (as weird as that sounds) last time I was in Vegas. Only 2 guys, but it was still an adventure. I think I'll keep my Vegas strolls to daylight hours next time.
I used to walk around downtown Seattle at 1-3am all the time, by myself, so I'm kind of blase about such things, and usually pretty aware long before a situation gets me into trouble, but that night I just spaced.
You guys are both pretty darned lucky.
When I saw the title, I thought Carol meant close calls like car wrecks, accidents and such, not human problems!
The weirdest thing about that was that I could see crowds of people in the hotels, but no windows were open. I could have yelled or screamed my damned head off, and no one would have heard me. It was really surreal.
On a more serious note: one of my students was abducted last year when she was 11. Some guy grabbed her at a bus stop, got her into his car, blindfolded her, took her home, handcuffed her hands to the headboard of the bed and had his way with her. At least he didn't kill her.
She hadn't spoken in class for the first seven months of this school year, but finally just in the last two weeks she has started to raise her hand and ask questions about classwork.
They caught the guy, btw. Child molesters used to get their comeuppance in prison; but now, in my state, the sex offenders are all housed together, away from the rest of the prison population, for their own protection. The creeps.
Just my opinion.
Originally posted by Kickaha
Oooooh, Vegas is another fun city.
I used to walk around downtown Seattle at 1-3am all the time, by myself, so I'm kind of blase about such things, and usually pretty aware long before a situation gets me into trouble, but that night I just spaced.
You guys are both pretty darned lucky.
When I saw the title, I thought Carol meant close calls like car wrecks, accidents and such, not human problems!
The weirdest thing about that was that I could see crowds of people in the hotels, but no windows were open. I could have yelled or screamed my damned head off, and no one would have heard me. It was really surreal.
Hey Kicks - I *did* mean 'every' kind of close call - not just human problems. Though I suppose 'they' are the most scary, most threatening, and most dramatic of close calls.
I was assaulted once - grabbed from behind. But I've already mentioned that on some other thread here - can't remember which one.
Just thought of another: when I was 22 and married, my husband and I wanted to drive as far 'south' as we could get, and take a few months to do so. We got as far as Guatemala before turning back north.
But at the beginning of the trip, when we were in northern Mexico, we had pitched a tent off to the side of a road late one evening. In the middle of the night, we heard voices and saw flashlights shining on the tent. When we zipped the tent open, we saw rifles pointed at our faces. It was the Mexican 'federales' (federal police), asking what we were doing. Fortunately, I speak Spanish, and with a good accent. I answered that we were only sleeping and would be travelling again in the morning. So they left us alone. I think they were so surprised to find someone who spoke the language so well, that that threw them off their stride.
I think that could have been a pretty close call - if you know anything about how the federales used to be. I think Vicente Fox has tried to reform them. Don't know if he has met with much success. But a few years back - scary prospect. 'Nuff said.
PS - I think murbot and I were both lucky; but he was in greater danger than I, because his predators were more determined. The guys that came after me were opportunists; the ones that came after him were true, lethal predators. What a traumatizing thing to happen to a child. Jeez. At least I was an adult (more or less). And he is still showing the effects of it.
We'd go there all the time to grind the curbs and do rail slides and such. Well at the time I had long hair, and my friend had a mowhawk. In Lincoln, NE we'd catch flack a lot (him mainly) from "dipshits in pickup trucks". People shouting "cut you hair faggot!" stupid stuff like that. Got in a few fights over it.
Well that night we were out there skating around, minding our own business as usual on a weekend, when this old beat up van pulls up. Backs up the alley in fact. The back doors open and out jumps 4 or 5 guys with chains and bats. I seriously think they meant to do us some good damage, they looked like they meant business. Luckily we had some pretty decent distance between us and them, so us skinny little skate punks ran like the wind. They shouted at us and gave a little chase before turning back for the van.
Once out of site we took some evasive manuevers though yards and made for a big hill we liked to do downhill runs on to put more distance between us. We saw them once before we reached the hill but they didn't see us. That part was kind of fun actually. Once we hit the hill we had escaped and we never saw them again. We even went back the school the next day (in the daylight) and skated.
It makes me sick to my stomache to relive it.
Driving back to Philly from parent's house in SC on 95 for 9 hours coming into the last toll in Maryland, when I uncharacteristically just slow down and wait in the longest line. After about three seconds, I come to my senses and pull out from the line just before I hear the breaks screech behind me and SLAM. The car that was in front of me in line is totaled; the driver gets out but doesn't look happy....
It literally happened in one moment, I pulled out and the accident occurred simultaneously.
I have a feeling I caused the accident...
I was seven with my brother and sister in DC during a fellowship meeting my dad was attending. My mom went shopping and left my sister in charge, who then prompted to run out of the hotel room and up the many various escalators in the hotel. My brother and I followed suit and modified to game to involve climbing up the down escalators... After about 15 minutes we caught up to my sister who hurried us into our hotel room for what I suspected was fear of getting caught by our mom. It turns out that she had seen the hotel security follow us around the escalators and saw them when they stopped the creepy guy who was also chasing us albeit not as efficiently up the escalators...
Criminy, I guess my high school counselor's inscription in my senior year book was spot on: "Why are you still *alive*??"