When traveling, I always try to remember to "hope for the best, but plan for the worst." It's a great motto to recall when deciding what you need to pack.
But it can apply to home, vehicle, and workplace preparedness, too. After all, we never know when a normal day can become dangerous.
Where are the exits? The fire extinguishers? The first aid supplies?
Do you know?
Natural disasters, accidents, and violence can happen anywhere at any time. Sometimes we're forewarned, but sometimes we're given mere moments to react.
Reddit user Worried-Cycle-318 asked:
"What’s the most terrifying 'we need to leave NOW' moment you’ve ever experienced?"
Forest Fire
"Was part of a wilderness/camping trip as a 10-year-old kid—with a group of young camp counselors—up in the mountains. We had just set up camp, when all of a sudden people from higher up were fleeing down in our direction."
"Everyone was in a panic. There was a forest fire rapidly descending down towards us."
"The counselors basically threw what they could back in the vans and wrangled up ~15 kids and got us out. We ended up at some random restaurant."
"As an adult, I think about how terrifying it must have been for those young counselors responsible for a bunch of 10-year-olds' lives and to get us to safety."
~ notesm
Take No Chances
"I saw someone flashing a gun in a movie theatre lobby."
"I think it was fake, but I didn’t stick around to find out. Noped out of there as fast as I could."
~ xomoth
Predator And Prey
"Hiking in the mountains, sun was setting, and we heard this low, guttural growl that just vibrated through the trees."
"No idea what it was, but the hair on my neck stood up, and we booked it down that trail faster than I thought possible."
"Felt like something was hunting us, and it wasn't friendly."
~ damnbebe
Wrong Place, Wrong Time
"Decades ago, I was walking home alone through Shepherd's Bush in London a bit after midnight. Two gangs of men suddenly appeared outta nowhere and charged at each other, screaming taunts in rage."
"When I saw a few guys whip out knives, my brain pretty much screamed, 'RUN THE F*CK AWAY NOW' and yeah, I never sprinted so fast in my life and did not look back."
~ blad02887f
Eye Contact
"Years back, I was walking into a bank. As I pushed on the door, I locked eyes with a teller inside."
"She was looking at me shaking her head 'no'."
"I then saw a person with a gun was robbing the place. I quickly backed up, ran to my car, and called 911."
"Someone may have sh*t in my pants. Not sure who, though."
~ SMRogo
Workplace Safety
"20 feet deep in a slit trench with my buddy repairing drainage, banksman who's meant to monitor the sides (unqualified 16-year-old) repeatedly wandering off."
"I saw the soil shifting. Told my buddy, 'Out, now!'."
"We emerge and are arguing with the boss, who wanted us back in, just as the trench collapsed with tons of soil and rubble."
"Look on his face..."
~ Uhtredr
Russian Invasion
"I'm from Kyiv, Ukraine. February 24th, 2022. My parents wake me up at night, and the first thing I hear is 'pack up, the Russians are already here'."
"We expected them attacking, but we didn't expect them to get to Kyiv in a single night, which was only possible because they launched this attack from Belarus."
"After a few seconds of horror, an adrenaline rush followed."
"I barely remember anything that happened that day or the following 5 or 7 days that we were on a bus to the Polish border."
~ Crafty-Photograph-18
Mudslide
"Me and a friend were playing along a river bend in Michigan after a modest rain. The river curved at this spot and carved into the sandy hillside and the sand made this really nice almost beach like cove."
"So we are sitting there playing, making sand castles and such, and we hear this series of :snaps: and look up and the trees on the hill top are just sort of 'shivering'."
"We both just sorta panic bolted, not even understanding why, and about 5 seconds later the entire hilltop just sort of liquified and slushed down over the bank and into the river."
"I'm talking like maybe a 40 by 100 foot area, trees and all, just collasped."
~ MerelyMortalModeling
Gun Culture
"Heard shooting while on a walk in a park."
"Something about being in a group of people running in desperation really makes you feel like prey and your primal instincts just take over."
On The Menu
"I was staying at a roadhouse in the Avenue of the Giants. The roadhouse had an attached bar and restaurant and the locals were talking about possible mountain lions in that area."
"Early next morning, I drove a few miles north, stretched , and set out for my run."
"A few yards down, I heard what could be described as a child wailing. In the complete silence of the predawn, the sound was horrifying."
"I have never run faster in my life to get to my car."
~ AajBahutKhushHogaTum
Not Taking Chances
"Was in a busy public square in France, and a car drove by, slowed down, and someone threw something out of the window that landed with a metallic 'plink' sound about 20 feet from me."
"Lady sitting on a bench next to where it landed jumped when she saw it—it was a small Propane cylinder, wrapped in duct tape."
"I picked up my kid and ran."
"It didn't blow up, and police who arrived a few minutes later didn't make a big fuss, but it sure as hell looked like an IED to me."
~ snow_big_deal
When You Can't Escape
"Managed to find myself sat in the front carriage for a 60mph train crash. Which is about as fun as it sounds."
"After derailing, we came to rest on our side in a tunnel, can't see a thing, dizzy, ears ringing. You check your limbs are still in the right places, and start trying to grasp what just happened, but you realise smoke has started filling the carriage."
"Doors obviously didn't open, couldn't kick the windows out. Cue panic like you can't imagine, grown men losing their sh*t, hysteria, absolute bedlam. Half the passengers were strewn around the carriage, half were climbing over each other trying to get out."
"Figured that was me done. Once I realised our goose was cooked, I called the Mrs to say the train had crashed, there was a fire, I don't think I'm getting out and that I love her."
"The fire never really caught, we just stood huddled in the wreck trying to keep each other talking until rescue came."
"Life is good now, and somehow nobody died, so no dramas. Hell of a night, though."
~ FlammableBudgie
Storm Clouds On The Horizon
"When I was 11, we were at the beach and the day was good, but not exactly sunny. There was a rain forecast, but only for later in the day."
"Far away on the horizon, I saw a black line in the sky. I waited a few minutes and looked again. The black line was now a thick black bar, couple minutes later it was THE darkest storm cloud I've ever seen."
"I went to my parents and said, 'we need to leave now', and pointed at the cloud. Right when I pointed, we could see the flashes of lightning in the black cloud."
"We barely had time to get in the car, drive, and stop under a bridge when the town was hit with (according to the radio) 80mph winds and hail the size of eggs. Storm didn't last 10 minutes and the sun was back out."
"I felt bad for the people at the beach. The hospital was so packed with people in need of first aid for cuts and bruises that they installed a tent in front of the hospital for the smaller injuries."
~ Flyinpotatoman
Good Samaritan
"Passed out on the El in Chicago, on the Red Line heading south."
"A very old homeless guy woke me up and told me he was getting me off this train, walking me across the platform to go north again, and would stay in the car for the next 4 stops."
"He did and I got home safe and sound after a night of reckless partying."
"I've been grateful to that anonymous stranger for the last 2 decades."
~ YoureSoStupidRose
Political Unrest
"January 1979, Iran. I’m 9 years old. My mom is a low-level diplomat for the Iranian government."
"She comes home from work and says, 'We have 90 minutes to get to the airport to get out of the country'. She knew the Shah’s family was getting on a plane and that the overthrow of the government was days if not hours away."
"We got on the cargo plane with one suitcase between the four of us and maybe $500. Sure enough, next day was the overthrow and lots of people were killed or executed."
"That’s how I wound up in the United States."
"I am getting 1979 Iran vibes again in the United States right now. I can't believe I might have to do this twice in a lifetime."
~ ErrorOpposite9314
Have you ever had a close call or near miss? Did you barely escape or did something bad happen only after you left?
