‘That girl is going to get herself killed’ (2022)
One time, I was driving at night in the Sierra after a storm - roads were covered in snow. It's a drive I've made close to 100 times without incident. Going around a bend, I saw a car in the ditch on the outside of the curve. I stopped the car, put on the hazards, and went to see if there was anyone in the car.As I was about to cross the highway a car come sliding around the bend more or less sideways. I stopped and watched it slide past. I could tell it was going to miss me by 10 feet or more, but afterward I couldn't stop thinking: What if it had been headed towards me? Could I have gotten out of the way in time? What if I'd slipped? I couldn't believe how close I might have come to dying without even thinking about it. I'll never get out of the car in a storm again, at least not without thinking very carefully about the situation first.My other near miss experience was staying at a bread-and-breakfast farmhouse in Portugal. I had taken a shower, and was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, when I noticed the light above the mirror was crooked. It was one of those swiveling can fixtures, so I reached up to adjust it. I knew it wouldn't be hot since I'd just turned it on, so I grabbed it firmly and then asked myself why it was vibrating. And for that matter why was my whole arm vibrating? When I realized I was being shocked I was able to let go and spent 20 minutes pacing around my room making sure I wasn't dead. You really can't do worse than standing barefoot, soaking wet, on a stone floor, and grabbing a live fixture, can you?If anyone would like to explain why that didn't kill me I'm all ears.