In the past 15-20 years what was the scariest or most dangerous situation you have been in? What did you do?
..some saw that I had posted and then removed this question a couple days ago..wasn't sure if anyone would respond, but I have been asked to repost..answer from a papercut to ..whatever..even if we have already heard about it, tell us again.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
QUESTION OF THE DAY
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Since '84? Hmm?
Riding my motorcycle down the yellow line on Hwy 101?
Telling my wife she looked great (from the front)
Lending my 18 yr old son a brand new car on his high school graduation.
Telling my boss exactly what I thought of him
Trying to take a 15 footer with a boogie board.
??
As I said, some of this might have been told before..I have THREE that stick out in my mind. The FIRST was while working on the road for Ames. Doing a store in Hanover, MA. A lot of my workers were either Italian or African American. Not a polite mix in southern Boston area. Also, most were from either, if you are familiar, Roxbury or Brockton. I was in the middle of (literally) several fist fights trying to break up the workers and get them back to work. That store was always a power struggle. One night, on the evening crew, out at 9:30 pm usually, one of the other supervisor had a huge mess happen at 9:25pm. As the lead supervisor for that shift, I made it clear that we could not leave the mess for the overnight crew. Through several grunts, groans, and complaints, the workers went back to clean up the mess. All except one, who had disappeared. I asked all where Mike (actual name, not protecting the guilty) went. No one would tell me. So I quickly told them that it was no problem 'cause I could figure it out. So I proceded to the front of the store and waited for him at the front doors. As I suspected, he had gone up to the office to clock out, because no one was going to keep him past 9:30pm. I (irritated from all the resistance at this point) asked him where he was going, always keeping my cool and professionalism. He walked right up to me within a foot and a half and told me he was going home. Now you're in MY space. It was at this point I realized that all of the other workers and the "green" supervisors that I had that night, had slowly followed me to the front of the store. When I told him, "No you are not going home, yet, because that is not fair to your co-workers..." he pulled a switchblade from his pocket and held it against my throat. A major line was being drawn in the sand here in front of all to see. NOW, let me interject here. Two things, ...when you feel the cold steel of a knife against your throat, you will react in one of two ways. Either you will freeze up,.... or you will (if anyone knows my attitude, especially before I had a family of my own to think about, you probably know the answer) get really, REALLY PISSED OFF!!! (sorry to the virgin ears) The second thing was that he was holding the knife in his right hand, against the left side of my neck/throat. I was seeing red at this point...I put my left hand up on his left shoulder, knowing that I would have a better chance of pushing his right arm away with mine, and did something very, very stupid...I leaned into his face within six inches, gave him the glassy eyed (no feelings look), and said just loud enough for him to hear, "You are going to put that knife away, go back up stairs and punch back in,.... or..." I leaned in closer, " Do you see those glass doors right there?" (He was dumb enough to say, "...yeah.." Looking him right in the eyes, I said, "..one way or another,...you're going through them." He froze for a split second. One could have cut the tension with a knife. He slowly turned, put the knife back in his pocket, and punched back in. Didn't here any more complaints that night. Should have fired him and had him arrested, but I didn't. For the next four days before he quit, he would bring me a bag from the bakery where his girlfriend worked. TRUE STORY! I'll post my other two stories later...
The scariest thing of the day: every where I looked, I saw nothing but smileys! First they were on Messenger, then I found that they had invaded Friend's Cafe! OH, THE HORROR OF IT ALL!! WHEN WILL THE MADNESS STOP!?!? It's like being surrounded by Texans! (hehehehehe)
Scariest time ever - the day David wrote on every surface of the couch with lipstick. I saw actual flames shoot from Cheryl's eyes, and David's life flashed before my eyes. I had to quickly get Cheryl out of the room while promising to take care of it while shielding him from her. To this day, I've never ever seen Cheryl so mad, and never want to again!!! Of course, that was many many years ago, so I think David is safe now anyway. And I was able to get the couch clean, though it took ALOT of cleaning and scrubbing.
Well, the only two things that come to my mind at the moment is first when I was a young teen and I was dropped off at home from school and nobody was home, and everyone in my parents church that I called didn't seem to be home either... I thought the Lord had come and left me behind. The second was when we lived in Texas and we had a tornado hit 6 miles from our house. I was working late at Winn Dixie (a grocery store) and the electricity went out. I was worried about Brian and the two kids at home. We had to find flashlights to get out of the store, the wind blew my Winn Dixie hat off and I wasn't about to go after it. I got home and there was Brian, putting up our artificial Christmas tree by candle light. He was totally fine, I was the wreck...:)
The SECOND time was when the gas pedal stuck flat on the floor of the firebird in 4th gear on the spaulding turnpike. (go back to previous posts to get that story)
The THIRD time was in 2001 when I had decided to pay for a guided bear hunt up north. After a week of not seeing anything, I almost didn't sit saturday afternoon, the last day of the hunt. I wanted to salvage what was supposed to be a vacation. I never knew that bear baiting and hunting could be so much work and so difficult. However, I decided to stay for the final day. I sat all afternoon and saw nothing but a rabbit in the final twilight hours. As I was walking out in the grayness of the evening, I heard a shot close by. Must have been the elderly man that was dropped off just before me. The guide came rushing up the old dirt logging road in his truck, and luckily saw me and picked me up. Those northern maine woods can get MIGHTY dark. Together we made our way to "Charlie", the elderly man. He had indeed shot a bear. He told us it was only about 125lb. By the time we got into the woods after gathering flashlights etc, it was very dark. The blackness ate up what little light the flashlights provided. I shined the light up ahead and saw two eyes glowing back at us. This is actually a good sign. It is when the bears eyes are closed that you need to worry, because he is not dead. We cautiously approached the downed bear. As we got closer, she definitely grew. We studied the situation thoroughly. Suffice it to say we determined the bear to be dead due to the wound. We spread the back legs with our foot to determine the sex. It was a very large female. (she later dressed out at 256lbs.) The guide, who was not normally a bear guide but rather a flyfishing guide, went back to the truck to get his stretcher for carrying the big bruin out of the woods. Leaving Charlie and I alone with the big bear with only two flashlights and my .45 caliber handgun. (which legally I could not shoot after dark, but I figured rather be safe than sorry.) Five minutes or so later, the guide came back with the stretcher, and said, "let's load 'er up boys". Now for some reason, I can not explain to this day why I said, "Wait! Let's make sure she's dead first." I think God put those words in my mouth. "Kick her a couple of times to check her..." So the guide agreed and hesitantly and quickly pushed her on the shoulder with his foot, and jumped back. Nothing. He got on her a second time, but a little harder this time. Still nothing. All of us are very confident that she is very dead. Now feeling very secure and confident, I can distinctly remember the 26 year old guide hitching up his pants, sniffing his nose, and approaching the bear in a confident manner. At this point all was in slow motion. Now we were all only standing within three feet of this dead bear when he started really pushing on her shoulder repeatedly. All I remember is that the fat on her was rolling back and forth. WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN.... (all in one motion) she roared this hellacious roar which still gives me goosebumps, and I remember this huge shadowed head, a back which was above my waist while on all fours, and a six to eight inch paw swiping at us (me) less than three feet away!!! What had seemed to have been a mortal wound to the back of her head (not the place to hit any animal in my opinion) turned out to be a mere scalping. She was PISSED!!! AND VERY MUCH ALIVE!! We all immediately backed away and the guide, who was legally able to dispatch the animal after dark, put her down for good after 5 shots, and what seemed an eternity, from his .357 magnum. I can guarantee you that we all stood there for another twenty minutes after she stopped breathing not wanting to volunteer to "nudge" her this time.
You and Charlie in the woods!?!? That IS scary! I remember once in Mr. Brown's class, we were passing a note around on purpose, because he hated that, and when he took it and found it was not only a joke, it had a piece of abc gum in it, he was pissed, and he drug me out of class with nostrils flaring, wanting me to hang for that one. THAT was a scary moment.
Cheryl in labor with David was scary. One minute she was hot and I would wipe her forehead with a wet washcloth, next minute she'd grab it and throw it at me, muttering curses at me. That was scary! The other two were pieces of cake, though, compared to the first. At least for me anyway. ;)
Sliding off the ramp at exit 8 many years ago in my dad's truck, and ending up backwards in a ditch was a little scary. They had salted the highway, but hadn't gotten to the exits yet, we were out plowing, and the exit was like glass. That wasn't too scary, though.
I can't think of any "wetting the pants" type scary moments. Most have been pretty mild, but I guess I'm not the scare easily type. If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to comment.
stick with me brother, stick with me.
The scariest moment for me....was coming home from work..."when I also worked as cocktail waitress" at 4" am....driving through a back alley of Troy NY....heroin city...and being stopped by a gang....they looked at me and all walked over my car...I sped away as fast as possible to get home....only to find my neighbor had played russian roulet and killed himself and my street was barricaded.
Ouch. Double Whammy there, Ruth! One of my customers' stepfather did that not too long ago, only playing Russian Roullette with a shotgun doesn't leave much room for chance. Never a good thing.
Cocktail waitress, huh? I guess that would automatically make you the official FC Bartender then! ;)
are you serious donna? ok, everyone, donna purposefly told me the wrong direction in New Jersey. I once again out witted her and found my way.
as for the hurricane ... are you still crying about that? man ... you never hear us New Englanders crying about the 10 feet of snow and ice with sub zero temperatures we get on a daily basis!
Hi all, just saw Ben's question, and thought I'd introduce myself to all of you :) I was talking to Ben the other day, and we got to reminising about the good ole' SENHCA days, and he told me about the Friend's Cafe. Shaun sent me an invite (by the way, thank you Shaun :), and here I am. I've really enjoyed reading all of your posts and catching up on what's been going on in everyone's lives. To answer Ben's question, one incident that comes to mind is one of the few times I've worn a bikini in my life, and we decided to go barefoot waterskiing that day. Not being one to sit on the sidelines, I thought "What the heck, if I lose the suit, I lose the suit." Thankfully all went well and I returned to shore wearing everything I'd left the dock with :) Had things gone differently, it would have been one of the scariest days of my life :) By the way, Shaun, I've only barefooted off a boom. From your pictures, it looks like you can do a deep water start. You'll have to come down and teach us how to do that sometime. I was at Cypress Gardens in FL last month and they have some great barefoot skiers.
There you are, Jill!! I knew you'd come back! See, we really aren't all that bad, at least most of the time. Let me introduce myself, I'm the insane but friendly one of the bunch, despite rumors of crankiness, and Ben is my cohort in crime around here. My wife is Cheryl (Gum) - I don't know if you remember her. She did, however, show me a picture of you in the yearbooks. (No, I didn't laugh.) ;) Anyway, you can check out our family blog page to get a little more history, but in the meantime, WELCOME TO THE CREW!!!
Don't worry "justhavingfun", I here that you are not alone. I heard from a very reliable source, (what Donna, no I haven't told them who) that Shaunzie likes to wear the occasional bikini as well. Just that thought along with the horrific mental image ranks right up there for me.
why yes i can (do a deep water start)!! barefooting has to be one of the most exciting things a person can do - dude, you're skiing with just your feet!!!
Thanks you for the kind welcome graybeard :) I was hoping no one would look up those old year book pictures. Those were rather geeky years for some of us. Anyway, I've tried to post some pictures of the Guptill Gang, so that you can see our little crew, but I'm not having any luck. I may have to subcontract my picture posting out to one of you :) I have never had any trouble posting to other sites. Maybe it's a punishment for past infractions during my SENHCA years. Maybe Mr. Dahms is secretly monitoring the web sit :)
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