Halloween is coming. What is the scariest event in your life that you can talk and hopefully laugh about?

[Tanked]

 

 On a rafting trip on the New River, we received the required safety instructions, and later that morning the entire left side of the boat was ejected.  The current sucked me under the boat and I quickly learned that even with a PFD you can't swim in foam. It took what seemed like forever for the rescue boat to catch up to me , and I was getting pretty close to drowning. During this time I kept repeating to myself our guide's final instruction. ""If you don't remember anything else I tell you, remember this: "Drink water, Breathe air.""  The best advice I've ever been given!

[TheSwissAquarist]

Probably my first time off-pisteing on skis. The friends I was with were all experienced, while I was the complete newbie. We ended up going down a steep slope interspersed with trees, and there was sooo much powder that I almost caused an avalanche when I fell as we stopped to regroup. 
These days I’m a tad better 😅

[nabokovfan87]

Got into my first accident in my car driving to get lunch at work with a coworker. Passenger to my right hand side and the first impact was on their door from two cars going well above the speed limit, then we got spun a bit and pushed into another. 

Needless to say the intersection has a light on it now after several more major accidents and a likely death.  I wish that the cars in question weren't speeding......

I have asthma, got out of the car with chunks of glass in my hand from the window and my lungs were stuck.  Wind knocked out of me, but it's also the same feeling of trying to start breathing (slow shallow breaths) when you have an asthma attack.  Everyone was completely fine, car was wrecked of course, and it was a pretty frustrating moment for sure.

[Tanked]

On 9/20/2023 at 8:55 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

Got into my first accident in my car driving to get lunch at work with a coworker. Passenger to my right hand side and the first impact was on their door from two cars going well above the speed limit, then we got spun a bit and pushed into another. 

Needless to say the intersection has a light on it now after several more major accidents and a likely death. 

I have asthma, got out of the car with chunks of glass in my hand from the window and my lungs were stuck.  Wind knocked out of me, but it's also the same feeling of trying to start breathing (slow shallow breaths) when you have an asthma attack.  Everyone was completely fine, car was wrecked of course, and it was a pretty frustrating moment for sure.

 I can't imagine being battered about and having difficulty breathing afterward.  So far unlike my car, I 've managed to emerge unscathed from multiple events.

"I wish that the cars in question weren't speeding......"   Some of the local communities around me are adding obstacles and "road diets" to certain streets and intersections.  Apparently after a couple hundred years, it is the road that became dangerous.🤔
 

 

[Tanked]

On 9/20/2023 at 1:30 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

Probably my first time off-pisteing on skis. The friends I was with were all experienced, while I was the complete newbie. We ended up going down a steep slope interspersed with trees, and there was sooo much powder that I almost caused an avalanche when I fell as we stopped to regroup. 
These days I’m a tad better 😅

My scariest ski experience was Mont Blanc. Part of the run involved traversing a narrow ridge slightly over a meter in width.  It was more concerning than scary.  I'd never skied anywhere roping up was required.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/20/2023 at 1:30 PM, TheSwissAquarist said:

We ended up going down a steep slope interspersed with trees

Heh. Yeah, that happened to me too. The trails weren’t marked well and I thought I was going down a square, but it was a double diamond, complete with trees and bumps all over the slope. I didn’t fall but all my flailing - the ski patrol “pulled me over” and gave me a talking to, lol

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 9/22/2023 at 12:13 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

ski patrol

What’s that? The Piste Police? 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 9/22/2023 at 1:45 AM, TheSwissAquarist said:

What’s that? The Piste Police? 

I guess they are safety team members of the ski slopes. If they feel someone is being wreckless they can take away their lift pass.

[Tanked]

On 9/22/2023 at 7:58 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I guess they are safety team members of the ski slopes. If they feel someone is being wreckless they can take away their lift pass.

While skiing in Italy, One of my friends got pulled over by the Caribinieri! After getting over the initial shock of being stopped on a ski slope by a soldier with a gun, he was further surprised to find out that repeatdly skiing from one side of the run to the other is considered wreckless!   The rest of us had a lot of fun with that one.

[Sora]

For context a couple of years ago I would ride this pony named stitch. I would ride him almost every day, but i dont own him. He was a green horse (which means like new or untrained in the horse world). and he would randomly spook at things and bolt (gallop off VERY fast), he would spook at things like a deer, or a scary plastic bag, or just randomly. I was riding him in a arena and we where going over a small jump facing the gate of the arena. so he spooked (at idk what) and bolted out the door (there is a fence directly in front of it) and than he turned sharply left and threw me into a fence, where i hit my head and fell to the ground. after, I saw stars and almost passed out but I was okay. but did get a very large deep scratch from the fence that gave me a panic attack later that night. I still rode him after that, and i still love him very much, I just outgrew him eventually. 😞

[JettsPapa]

Years ago I had gone to check some cows, and I had my children with me.  My daughter was around 3, so my son would have been about 8.  Before I go further, I want to point out that my cows aren't at all wild.  While they aren't pets, they are relatively gentle.

We were walking in the pasture, minding our own business, when I heard a noise and saw a 1,200 pound cow, that had never shown the slightest sign of aggression before, charging at us full speed.  I picked my daughter up and stepped in front of my son, and when the cow was about 8' from us I yelled real loud.  She swerved aside and didn't make another try.

Being afraid for yourself is one thing, but being afraid for your children is a whole other level.

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 10/2/2023 at 9:19 PM, JettsPapa said:

cow

Cows can definitely get ugly if they want to. I once went through a field with my dogs and we had to sprint over to the cattle grate on the other side because the herd started getting in our faces. 

[Tanked]

On 10/2/2023 at 3:19 PM, JettsPapa said:

Years ago I had gone to check some cows, and I had my children with me.  My daughter was around 3, so my son would have been about 8.  Before I go further, I want to point out that my cows aren't at all wild.  While they aren't pets, they are relatively gentle.

We were walking in the pasture, minding our own business, when I heard a noise and saw a 1,200 pound cow, that had never shown the slightest sign of aggression before, charging at us full speed.  I picked my daughter up and stepped in front of my son, and when the cow was about 8' from us I yelled real loud.  She swerved aside and didn't make another try.

Being afraid for yourself is one thing, but being afraid for your children is a whole other level.

Way to go Papa Bear!

[Tanked]

The TV series LOST had invisible creatures stomping through the woods menacing the survivors.  Unfortunately if you missed an episode, you were also lost.

I was standing outside watching the sunrise and enjoying a fresh cup of coffee, while spending the weekend at my brother's country estate🤣. Coming from the nearby woods I began hearing a sound unlike anything that I have ever heard.  Mechanical, growling, hooting sounds were coming directly towards me and getting closer.  As I stood listening, I thought of the Smoke Monster from the TV show. (big mistake). This went on for a minute or three.  The sounds kept getting closer and louder and I kept telling myself that I was an adult and this stull doesn't happen in real life.  I guess I wasn't listening to myself. When the dogs began barking and staring at the tree line, the hair on my arms began to stand up.  

At the moment I thought something awful would surely come busting out of the woods, it actually flew over the woods.  Two flocks of Sandhill Cranes, about 30 birds in all flew over my head.  Later, the internet told me that one bird can be heard from 2.5 miles away, so you can imagine how much noise a flock can make.  Later at breakfast, I only told the family about seeing the flock; leaving out the other details.

[HelplessNewbie]

I came home alone from school at just before nightfall when I was 10 years old, like I normally do but this time, I forgot my house keys. We lived in a rural area with many empty lots on my street. I decided to wait outside our gate, since the rest of my family usually arrives within 30 mins. Well, I forgot they were at a thing, so dark came upon me within an hour. I heard a strange jet-like sound in the sky, but saw what appeared to be a shadowy spherical shape with some dots of light around it hovering just about electric pole height at the far end of the street, maybe 10 lots away. It was puzzling because I was used to seeing and hearing either helicopters or jet planes pass overhead, but this was neither: it was louder than a jet and there were no copter blade noises. It had a spotlight aimed at the very middle of the street and it was coming up the street toward me. I walked across our house to look at it closer and eventually it hovered directly over me, shining a light in my eyes. I was aghast, and kept rubbing my eyes. I was an avid watcher of Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents reruns, and my imagination wasn't helping me. I decided I didn't want to stick around to be abducted, so started walking quickly toward the nearest house while still keeping an eye on it. As I did this, the thing made a whooshing sound and flew (too quickly for a plane nor copter) into the clouds.

My neighbor did not hear anything when I asked them if they noticed the "unusual airplane". They were in their yard having a small gathering and was playing music loudly. I didn't mention anything else to them. I stayed with them until my family got home. After which, I bawled in my mom's arms about seeing a UFO!

I still do not know what that was. I might chalk it up to childhood imagination. My extended family heard about it; they ribbed me about it for months!

Edited October 4, 2023 by HelplessNewbie

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Well, dang- this one is kind of a vulnerability post, I guess, so here we go down the rabbit hole.

Growing up a had a phobia of people vomiting. My first instinct was to flee, and so I would, run right out of the house and stay away for at minimum an hour, longer if possible. But that wasn’t always possible, esp in the middle of the night. And every sleepover, and I do mean EVERY sleepover, I’ve ever had, up until 5th grade, someone got sick. And we are talking multiple times, like, an-all-nighter of physical sickness. Those times I would of course, flee to a different room. But on two occasions I got in trouble and was told to spend the night with my friend because I invited her, etc. In the cases where I was forced to stay with the person, I would pull the blankets as tightly around me as possible, plug my fingers in my ears, firmly.. for the whole night.. and my blood would turn to ice, I would have cold sweats and trembling for the duration until the person left the next morning. Also it was hard to breathe under the blankets for that many hours, and eventually I became overheated and dehydrated as well, but I endured it. I was incapable of any alternative. 

I later learned this has a name, emetophobia. (Also I developed a fear of SLEEPOVERS and would turn them down at every suggestion).

Anyway, I did “somewhat” get over this sickness fear when a) I turned drinking age and was around people that got sick, while I myself was under the influence and had relaxed inhibitions, and b) the Jackass movies came out, and my brother and friends were watching them in the room with me. There was quite a lot of sickness in those. (Thanks, Steve-O)

Today I still cannot watch someone become ill, but I will at least not freeze or flee if I hear it, and I am able to knock on a closed door and check on them after say, 10 minutes or so has passed. Plus I had to take care of my husband after a few surgeries and he had nausea. I was able to at least get him a trash can and then promptly exit. Lol - and I can be with a pet if the pet is ill, so that’s great strides.

People have labeled me as insensitive or lacking compassion in these type of situations, but I do the best I can.

Edited October 4, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Tanked]

On 10/4/2023 at 6:43 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Well, dang- this one is kind of a vulnerability post, I guess, so here we go down the rabbit hole.

Growing up a had a phobia of people vomiting. My first instinct was to flee, and so I would, run right out of the house and stay away for at minimum an hour, longer if possible. But that wasn’t always possible, esp in the middle of the night. And every sleepover, and I do mean EVERY sleepover, I’ve ever had, up until 5th grade, someone got sick. And we are talking multiple times, like, an-all-nighter of physical sickness. Those times I would of course, flee to a different room. But on two occasions I got in trouble and was told to spend the night with my friend because I invited her, etc. In the cases where I was forced to stay with the person, I would pull the blankets as tightly around me as possible, plug my fingers in my ears, firmly.. for the whole night.. and my blood would turn to ice, I would have cold sweats and trembling for the duration until the person left the next morning. Also it was hard to breathe under the blankets for that many hours, and eventually I became overheated and dehydrated as well, but I endured it. I was incapable of any alternative. 

I later learned this has a name, emetophobia. (Also I developed a fear of SLEEPOVERS and would turn them down at every suggestion).

Anyway, I did “somewhat” get over this sickness fear when a) I turned drinking age and was around people that got sick, while I myself was under the influence and had relaxed inhibitions, and b) the Jackass movies came out, and my brother and friends were watching them in the room with me. There was quite a lot of sickness in those. (Thanks, Steve-O)

Today I still cannot watch someone become ill, but I will at least not freeze or flee if I hear it, and I am able to knock on a closed door and check on them after say, 10 minutes or so has passed. Plus I had to take care of my husband after a few surgeries and he had nausea. I was able to at least get him a trash can and then promptly exit. Lol - and I can be with a pet if the pet is ill, so that’s great strides.

People have labeled me as insensitive or lacking compassion in these type of situations, but I do the best I can.

Progress is progress.  If a lil' nip will help, why not?

I have a friend who had a phobia of bugs.  She would panic and run away if a butterfly landed on my arm.  Then she raised 3 boys.   Our reiliance sharply increases when it involves our family and pets.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 10/4/2023 at 2:03 PM, Tanked said:

Progress is progress.  If a lil' nip will help, why not?

I have a friend who had a phobia of bugs.  She would panic and run away if a butterfly landed on my arm.  Then she raised 3 boys.   Our reiliance sharply increases when it involves our family and pets.

I'm afraid of roaches. One time there was one in the kitchen, and my husband was in the shower and couldn't "rescue me" from it.  So I sucked it up in the vacuum; I used the extension tube on the vac so I didn't have to get close to it.  Then promptly emptied the vacuum outside.