I got pulled out of some very rough surf by a very alert lifeguard once. It was the sort of thing where I was just realizing that I was in trouble when he swooped in out of nowhere. Kid really earned his pay for the entire summer that day, so far as I'm concerned.
Hermanos! The devil has built a robot!
Numero Cinco ,'The Cautionary Tale of Numero Cinco'
Natter 43: I Love My Dead Gay Whale Crosspost.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Theodosia - Mar 22, 2006 6:41:32 am PST #5493 of 10001
'we all walk this earth feeling we are frauds. The trick is to be grateful and hope the caper doesn't end any time soon"
Cashmere - Mar 22, 2006 6:44:09 am PST #5494 of 10001
Now tagless for your comfort.
I've never stared death in the face. No car accidents, no major illnesses or surgeries.
::knocks wood::
§ ita § - Mar 22, 2006 6:51:42 am PST #5495 of 10001
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.
Got stuck on the wrong side of a reef in a Sunfish that I couldn't control, and the currents were sucking us in fast. One of the beach guys at the hotel rescued us by windsurfing out and giving me directions to avoid the big smashup.
Medically the infected haematoma and the appendicitis my mother didn't believe in were probably the most serious.
brenda m - Mar 22, 2006 6:52:11 am PST #5496 of 10001
If you're going through hell/keep on going/don't slow down/keep your fear from showing/you might be gone/'fore the devil even knows you're there
I was about to say never, but on reflection, I'll have to go with dark alley + gun to the head. Funny how you can forget stuff.
Trudy Booth - Mar 22, 2006 6:55:07 am PST #5497 of 10001
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I got pulled out of some very rough surf by a very alert lifeguard once. It was the sort of thing where I was just realizing that I was in trouble when he swooped in out of nowhere. Kid really earned his pay for the entire summer that day, so far as I'm concerned.
I was sorta on the other end of that once (sorta because it wasn't rough surf). This little kid just got this look on his face and started to drop. I blew my whistle and went in while the other guards cleared the area. I scooped him up and he just went limp in my arms.
The reactions were weird. One beach patron was a former guard who 'talked shop' constantly and tried to give me a little lecture on my technique ("You really should have taken a float or used a reaching implement... you KNOW its 'reach, throw, row, go'" "He was twenty feet away where I could stand. And he was too exhausted to grasp anything. Go away, I have to take care of paperwork"). The Uncle who was allegedly watching the kid started picking on him about making such a big deal. The other guards and I were just duuuude because it was all so fast and subtle and clear -- he didn't cough or splash or make any noise, just got this look on his face and sank. I can still feel him just collapse on me when I lifted him up.
Strega - Mar 22, 2006 6:57:24 am PST #5498 of 10001
The problem I have with faith in cosmic justice is that I thought that I deserved a lot of things that happened to me. It took a very long time to realize that I didn't. So fuck karma.
The only active vengeance I've taken consists of occasionally going to an annual party that many friends, and ex-friends, attend. I do not misbehave. I've never so much as shot a dirty look at someone there. But my presence seems to make a couple of people uncomfortable. And I find that rather satisfying.
When were you the closest to dying?Hm. I was close to killing myself for a few years, and didn't only because I was afraid I'd screw it up. But I don't think I've been in any "I could have died!" situations.
Oh, wait, someone almost smashed a sofa arm into my skull once. It was a pretty heavy piece of wood, so if he'd connected that would have done some damage.
msbelle - Mar 22, 2006 7:02:12 am PST #5499 of 10001
I remember the crazy days. 500 posts an hour. Nubmer! Natgbsb
virus at 2 weeks
passenger in car wreck, suburban vs. semi truck full of gravel
driver in car wreck, broadsided 3 inches behind my seat
various college nights blacked out
- not really sure which would be closest to death, but I feel lucky to be mostly unscathed.
sarameg - Mar 22, 2006 7:04:33 am PST #5500 of 10001
I can't say I've probably ever felt close, though gawd knows I've put myself in some situations where it would've been a fair point for darwin (mostly involving ridgelines, mesa tops and lightening. Gravity's had a few targets of opportunity as well.)
sumi - Mar 22, 2006 7:06:03 am PST #5501 of 10001
Art Crawl!!!
Sean K - Mar 22, 2006 7:08:50 am PST #5502 of 10001
You can't leave me to my own devices; my devices are Nap and Eat. -Zenkitty
When were you the closest to dying?
Hmmm... About 13 or so, I tried to ride my bicycle across a busy street. I looked right, but didn't look left and got hit by a car. Trashed the bike and I flew about twenty feet. I was bruised and scraped up quite a bit, but I lucked out and didn't even break anything. The bruise on my calf where the bumper hit me lasted for a couple of months, and the weird, gristly feeling of my calf in that spot lasted a few years after that.
So physically, not all that close to death, but the car wouldn't have had to be going much faster to have seriously injured or killed me.