Five Things Which Probably Should Have Killed Me

[alexxkay]

I approve of ladysprite's version of this meme, so am doing it myself.

1) Visiting a large water park at a tender age (8?): Part of the park had shallow pools that were almost entirely covered by large floating mattress-y things, meant to be an interesting walking-on-top-of experience. I noticed that their coverage was not complete, and one could hypothetically slip under one side and swim to the other underwater. Being a big fan of underwater swimming, I tried it. The 'island' overhead drifted, closing the gap I was aiming for, and I came close to drowning. I never told dad (who was meant to be watching me), since he would have freaked out. The more so, as he already knew about...

2) At that same park, they had a wave pool. Shaped more or less like a normal swimming pool, it had a mechanism in the back which would periodically send waves across the pool, from the deep end to the shallow end. At the shallow end, it was playful surf. When I'd had enough of that, I swam to the deep end. The waves here were much stronger, and I soon decided that this was a bit adventerous even for me, and started heading for a ladder on the side. I *reached* the ladder with little trouble, but ascending it was another matter. I'd get halfway up and a wave would knock me off. Climb climb cliSWOOOOSH swim swim climb climb cliSWOOOOSH swim swim climb climb cliSWOOOOSH... Eventually, I called for help (in a somewhat gurgly fashion), and a lifeguard rescued me.

3) As a teeneager, climbing into and exploring the ruins of the old Worcester train station. This involved, among other things, walking across narrow concrete beams twenty feet above a rubble-strewn floor.

4) In my twenties, driving down 95 shortly after a major snowstorm, and being a wee bit too impatient about my speed. I lost control, and went into a 270-degree spin, narrowly missing one of the few other cars foolish enough to be out on the road at all.

5) Traveling to or from Pennsic with Eowyn. Foolishly, I did this more than once. Warrior Bus Lines was a scary thing to experience, but Eowyn's driving turned out to be scarier.

It's now been over a decade since I've felt that sharp adrenaline sting of "I could DIE here!" Can't say as I miss it.

Comments

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I'm just as glad you survived all that.

[siderea]

Is this one of those where if someone else on your flist did it, you have to find another? :D

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

I think I can live without that :)

[negothick.livejournal.com]

Wow! I had no idea you were such a daredevil. . .must come in handy when creating games with life-threatening situations.

Can't touch that

[metageek.livejournal.com]

I really must be overcautious—the closest I can come to something that Probably Should Have Killed Me was running over a Christmas tree.

(It was in a serious rainstorm, crossing a bridge with vicious winds, but still. It sticks in my mind mainly because my cousin had died in a car crash the day before.)

Re: Can't touch that

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Either that, or you fail to recognize Almost Being Killed when it happens!

Re: Can't touch that

[metageek.livejournal.com]

Heh. That did occur to me. However, if I were prone to Almost Getting Killed and not noticing, the lack of learning would mean one or another or those events would have killed me by now.

I did have some minor bike accidents when I was a kid, but nothing that Should Have Killed Me.

Re: Can't touch that

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

No, you could just have been lucky enough to avoid the actual killing part. Like, ferinstance, Alexx.

[russkay.livejournal.com]

I think you were about 10 the year we went to Florida and encountered that wave pool!

Actually, as I read your posting, I think it's remarkable that any of us ever lived to adulthood (or whatever this stage of life is). I had my share of foolhardy "adventures" but I try not to think too much of them any more.

I had two nasty accidents while commuting to Peterborough, NH (52 miles each way) back in the mid-90s. First was when I fell asleep at the wheel for a few seconds and woke up to see myself heading off the road at 60 mph. I had the choice of a stone bridge abutment or hoping the guard rail would keep me out of whatever the bridge was crossing. It did.

Second one was during a blizzard. I was driving home in my large, rear-drive sedan when it started looping. I think I did a 360 PLUS a 270 and ended up backing into one of those cheap wire-cable plus telephone-pole-stub guard rails they have in NH. It kept me out of the lake/pond I was crossing, for which I was quite thankful. They pulled me out and the car remained driveable. I stayed the night with a friend from work and drove home in the cold light of day.

BTW, later on the State of NH saw fit to bill me for replacing the guard rails in both instances!

Then there was the time I was driving home from NH about 10pm or so. Plenty dark. All of a sudden there was a loud thump and the car started moving sideways. Since this was in the middle of summer, I at least didn't have to contend with slippery roads. After I came to a stop I realized that my outside rear-view mirror was missing. Tracked it down and figured out that a deer had run into the side of my car. This was confirmed by the insurance estimator, who lifted the back door handle and took out a bunch of brown-colored hair.