Really Bad Situations You Have Been In

[c.d.]

When I graduated from college I traveled around Europe by myself. When I was in Paris I lost my wallet which also had my plane ticket home in it. I found someone who spoke French to accompany me to the police station so I could report it. As I was talking to an officer, a young French guy and his girlfriend walked in with my wallet in his hand. They had just found it and all of my money and the plane ticket were still there. I thanked them a million times and offered them a reward which they refused. I asked if I could buy them dinner or at least a drink but again they refused. I think about them every now and then and I always ask God to give them a long and happy life.

c.d.

[DVV]

A very nice story, CD.
Similarly, I often think of two young ladies who accomodated my friend Getu and I, at a time we were completely penniless in Addis Abeba. They ruled a little milkshop, fed us, bought khat and drinks for us during about one week - that was in "Somali sefer", for those who know Addis. I too think of them every now and then....

[kensei]

2003- I was in a wilderness area scouting for camping sites when the road I was on gave out and my car got hopelessly stuck in mud. I had to spend the night in the car, hoping someone would come along and find me but no one did. In the morning, the only way to get out was to walk. Picked the wrong direction first, and stepped in quicksand which instantly sucked in one leg up to my hip. Barely managed to pull out with my free leg and thanked God I hadn't fallen over in the stuff (probably wouldn't be writing this today if I had). So then I walked back in the direction I'd come- aprx. 20 miles, 9 hours, in light rain. When I finally got to a regularly traveled road I just collapsed beside it in exhaustion. An old far couple on their way to pick berries then came along in their truck and I flagged them down. They took me to their home, gave me sandwiches, and let me call a friend for a ride home. Then they drove me to a nearby small town where I waited several hours in a cafe for my friend to arrive, and just like the other heroes mentioned they refused my three offers to pay them a few dollars and were nothing but nice about the whole thing. Over the course of the next couple of days my friend had to make the long trip up there twice more to help me extricate my car so I owe him a huge debt as well. The final unfortunate thing about the story is that it taught me how poor a physical condition I was in- In addition to the bad blisters that developed on my feet I was carrying various items on my long walk which got heavier with every mile, and while I was waiting for my friend I started to get SEVERE finger cramps that reduced my hands to useless claws for a while. I've had occasional minor finger and toe cramps ever since. Another friend once told me, "You aged a little that day."

[The Good Michael]

In Tajikistan one evening, two policemen came to my door and knocked, but I didn't answer quickly. They then started to hit the door and fiddle with the locks and chain. I opened the door not wanting them to break it. They asked for my passport which I produced and they of course found something they didn't like about it. I got out my cellphone and when they asked who I was calling, I mentioned the president's son as I was his teacher. I actually didn't have his number, but I faked it. They apologized and left. As far as being stranded in weird places and having to walk many miles, I've done that too many times to count. In fact, every weekend I walk a minimum of 15 miles just in case I need to do it someday. And it's been over 30 degrees with minimum 80% humidity every day. I'm now ready for nearly anything.

Mike

[louisa]

Stay at home, guys!

[c.d.]

I was driving by myself on a rocky, unpaved road in a remote section of Baxter State Park in Maine. I don't know how I managed to do it but I got the tail pipe of my car wedged under a rock and was stuck. Eventually a car came along and stopped to see if I needed help. Believe it or not the guy was an auto mechanic who had his tools with him. He got me fixed up and refused all offers of money. Bless him.

c.d.

[The Good Michael]

Had to go slightly off the road near Bailinskelligs, Ireland because a huge group of buses were coming at me and there was only about a land and a half. Unfortunately, the shoulder had all kinds of junk hidden in the grass and my tire got shredded. I put on the little tire and found a garage in the middle of nowhere. I spoke a little Irish at the time and the guy liked me for it. The wheel was a bit bent so he couldn't fix the tire and put it back on because the bead wouldn't sit in the wheel well enough to seal after putting air in. He threw in an old tube, duct taped the back of the plastic (cracked) hubcap and glued it. It cost me 10 pounds (rather than 100 pound deductible) and got checked-in back to the rental agency fine several days later.

Mike

[The Good Michael]

3 years ago in Ethiopia, I took a taxi at about 4:30 AM to the central bus station. I was led to understand that there would be a bus there for Bahir Dar leaving at about 6, but I needed to get there really early to get a ticket.

When the driver dropped me off, it looked like I was Snake Pliskin in Escape from New York, only I didn't have a gun, and there was no Adrienne Barbeau. All the buildings were rundown. There were no buses anywhere. Worst of all there were no people except for a few men in different locations warming their hands over firepots, or cooking something. There was a pack of large dogs roaming the street. There were a few loose donkeys walking around. There were no lights except for the fires. The taxi driver assured me in his non-English, that there would be buses in half an hour or so. He then drove to where he could turn around and started heading for the exit of this cul-de-sac.

It suddenly dawned on me that this guy had no clue. I flagged him down and made him take me back to where I was staying. It turned out that this had been the bus station a few years back, but they'd opened up 4 new bus areas in the last couple of years to stop congestion. I feel that had I not flagged the guy down, I would have been murdered there, though I would have taken a few out with me. I felt that because everywhere else, there would be a lot of homeless people here and there sleeping. But this place being devoid of people in such a large city, meant that it was a dangerous place for even locals to be.

MIke

[c.d.]

Once when I was 16 my friend's older brother got some liquor for us and I got stinking drunk. I came home very late only to discover that I didn't have my house key. Even in my drunken state I quickly realized that my options were extremely limited. I could spend the night on the lawn or ring the doorbell, wake up my parents, and get in a great deal of trouble. While contemplating which option was the lesser of evils I remembered that we had a porch on the second floor of the house which had a door that we never locked. I decided I would drag the step ladder out of the garage, position it against the back of the house and climb up to the porch. When I got to the top of the ladder I was about a foot or so away from the top of the porch. I decided I would jump up and catch myself on the railing and then pull myself over on to the porch. When I jumped, I caught myself on the railing as planned but the step ladder fell and I was left hanging off the railing. I looked down and realized that if I fell, even if I didn't kill myself, I would probably break a leg. I hung there for a while, gathered my strength and with all my willpower pulled myself up to the porch.

I will never forget that night. Fortunately, I have gotten a little smarter over the years.

c.d.

[The Good Michael]

I have no alcohol-related stories. I've always thought drinking more than one or two beers was asking for trouble, and though I've exceeded this limit over the course of a long day, I've never been stupid drunk...not even close. I'm thankful for that, but it's more connected to always wanting to be in control of my situations than being against drinking.

Mike

[c.d.]

You don't have to be drunk to do stupid things although it does seem to make doing stupid things a lot easier.

c.d.

[The Good Michael]

But being drunk means you're not in control.

Mike

[pinkmoon]

really bad situations

I'm married I'm sure that must qualify as a bad situation

[Robert]

"Once when I was 16 my friend's older brother got some liquor for us and I got stinking drunk. I came home very late only to discover that I didn't have my house key. Even in my drunken state I quickly realized that my options were extremely limited. I could spend the night on the lawn or ring the doorbell, wake up my parents, and get in a great deal of trouble. While contemplating which option was the lesser of evils I remembered that we had a porch on the second floor of the house which had a door that we never locked. I decided I would drag the step ladder out of the garage, position it against the back of the house and climb up to the porch. When I got to the top of the ladder I was about a foot or so away from the top of the porch. I decided I would jump up and catch myself on the railing and then pull myself over on to the porch. When I jumped, I caught myself on the railing as planned but the step ladder fell and I was left hanging off the railing. I looked down and realized that if I fell, even if I didn't kill myself, I would probably break a leg. I hung there for a while, gathered my strength and with all my willpower pulled myself up to the porch.

I will never forget that night. Fortunately, I have gotten a little smarter over the years."


And a little taller.

[Fleetwood Mac]

I wouldn't call this a particularly bad situation because I always had the feeling I could draw on some street wise resources to get me through.

I was in Japan for a few weeks, and before I went the bank talked me into having some sort of American Express card instead of travellers cheques/foreign currency. Apparently I could withdraw money at any point and they put a hundred quid on my card as a sweetner. Usually, I'm not easily convinced but I must have been having one of those busy days and just said yes that'll do.

I'm over in Japan, been there a week or so, and Friday night used this card to get some money out the bank. Declined. No money. Nothing. Got back to the hotel and fortunately there were some Italian lasses who just happened to have a number I could call (after hours of searching through the hotel to find someone who could give me some contact details and not being able to communicate with anyone as no one could speak English).

I had absolutely no money, probably enough for a bowl of rice. I called this number and the lady on the phone was somewhere in the United States. Problem was that although they speak our language over there, I'm from the North East and she struggled to understand a word I was saying. She was very helpful, typically American in that she did her best to allay my anxiety and I was typically English and not far off saying: "spare me the kind words and just put some ******* money in my account, I'm starving here".

This was a two and half hour conversation and at the end of it the lady said: "we can get some money to you by Tuesday, you'll have to go to the Great Western Union at so and so place". So, I looked on the map for this place and I found it was right at the other end of Tokyo from where I was staying. So, no money for four days and somehow I had to get to the other side of town in a city of 10 million people who speak absolutely no English four days later.

I managed it four days later and I was staying at a Ryokan with breakfast included so stocked up in the morning every morning and the little Japanese lady glared at me every morning when she saw how much as I was eating and watched me like a hawk with a look in her eyes which said: "are you homeless or something?!"

Can't even remember how I got the money to get across town but when I walked in the Great Western Union there was major disaster in the United States across the screen. I think it may have been New Orleans.

A much worse one was me and a few mates in Amsterdam years back. We'd been to some club and got out about 4 or 5 in the morning. We were in good enough spirits so fancied another drink and got a taxi through to the red light district as we assumed they would have a couple of pubs open.

Got out the taxi and absolutely nothing going on except loads of Africans standing around drug dealing. 10 minutes later we were surrounded and one of these kids put a gun to my head. Now, if there was a means of sobering you up sharpish then that was it. Fortunately for us, the Dutch police had seen what had happened and drove over and the Africans wandered off. First thing the Dutch copper said was: "you English?", "yeah, mate", "go home" as if to say only you idiots would be down here at this time of night.