Have you ever been scared?

Norman_Conquest

Norman_Conquest

Well-known member
Tonight, in the Woodmans (Normanby), a guy asked me if I wanted to be stabbed.

Take your time before answering this and reflect on the question I put towards you. I was given a fleeting moment to think about this before I could react.

Was he carrying a knife, I don't know. Would he have used it, I didn't really didn't want to find out. His friend apologised whilst others around me got threatened with more violence.

The situation had nothing to do with me but a smaller much younger man was being threatened in front of me.

How would you react in this situation?
 
Sounds dodgy, but good that it all calmed down.

I have actually. A While back, in Rio, a group of local hardmen refused to let me and 2 mates leave a bar (after closing) until we’d paid for a load of drinks we didn’t order. They had guns etc. we protested a bit (carefully) and then a woman working there took pity on us and we somehow got out without too much chew, but then a local kid offered to direct us home. He can’t have been older than about 9, so we set off walking with him. It was about 4am.

Moments later, a cop van turned the corner and bundled us in. We all thought “that’s that, I’ve avoided a kicking or worse, and now I’m going to get falsely done for being a paedo, where no one speaks English”.

Somehow, in a very relieving twist of fate, they then just asked where we wanted dropping off, so we went to another bar and stayed out til 6am chatting to a load of Santos fans.

Anyway, I’ve been to South America if anyone’s interested. 😁
 
Yes I have been scared twice by the physical threat of a knife, once in central Auckland in a bar called the Occidental and another time on a tube station platform before us playing at West Ham. In both instances the individual didn't refer to the knife but had their hand inside their jackets in a classic pose, In Auckland it was obvious the individual had some kind of mental/ anxiety issue going on asking why I was staring at him, I had noticed him once looking my way and had looked away from him, he walked up to me I kept things very gentle and sympathetic which was lucky for me because in my late 20's I was normally a gobshite who didn't know how to to turn down the emotion, so I dodged a bullet( knife) there.
And on the way to West Ham me and a mate were surrounded by 15 -20 west ham fans who wanted to know if we were Boro, they weren't happy with our lot smashing up the pub at the end of the 88/89 season on the night match, this was in 89/90, one of the guys at the front had a awful smile and a hand constantly inside his jacket again, they let us go but if one or two leaders in that group hadnt said we weren't worth it I'm sure we would have been zipped.
 
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Have had some hairy moments whilst in the RAF with tours in Iraq, Afghanistan etc.

Probably the worst was while doing a det in Karachi. We were there to ship/fly in LPG, water, food and other humanitarian aid (as well as other things/people that/who shall remain nameless).

Our accommodation was at an old airport hotel about 1km from the terminal we working out of. It was a real dodgy place, not allowed to walk between the 2 for fear of abduction etc, had Pakistan police guards in the hotel and around the terminal (we weren't allowed our own). Not armed and always in civvy clothes. To get from one to the other you had to call 'reception' in the hotel and they would arrange for a bus, with armed escort, to come and get you. On no account were you to travel on your own or travel without an escort.

Of course, one night working late and just me, I needed to get back. Was about 11 ish. Called the hotel, and they said they would arrange for a bus. Nothing for half an hour so called again. They again promised a bus. Finally, after about an hour one turned up, no escort and I was on my own about midnight. With no other way to get back I though I'm going to have to chance this and just be ready to leg it and climb out the window if all went dodgy.

When we should have turned into the hotel driveway we carried straight on. I thought right I'm no Daniel Pearl here and started climbing out of the window, adrenalin through the roof. At the point the driver saw what I was doing and laughed and said 'no no, they have changed the entrance, its a bit further on'.

I always made sure after that to travel with others, although we all agreed that should anything have happened the pick ups with the Karachi police in would Foxtrot Oscar pretty quickly.
 
Three times, one a gun, one a shard from a broken mirror and one a pretty severe kicking outside a pub which I still think was mistaken identity.

I survived all three but not without the scars and in two cases, help from others.
 
Fifteen years ago I woke up and I'd lost 80% of my vision - magine your vision is a clock - I'd lost from 12 o'clock round to 10.30. I knew I'd had a stroke. I had waves of fear and panic attacks rushing through my body. I was taken to hospital at 9am, Mrs Red Clowne accompanied me, because I could speak coherently and my face wasn't drooping on one side no-one believed me. I sat on a trolley for hours. Eventually, at 11pm, I was seen by the consultant. He listened to what I was saying and immediately I was sent for a scan and then put in a ward.
That was really scary. I lay there feeling really low. I then had a word with myself. I made a mental list of all the things I could do if I finished up being blind, including listening to the Boro on the radio, after that I felt okay.
Over time my vision improved so that I'm just left with a small patch of blurred vision to the high top left hand of anything I look at, nowadays I don't notice it.Six months later I was passed fit to drive. Since then I have driven an average of 20,000+ miles a year (except for 2020).
A great outcome but the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.
 
red_clowne said:
Fifteen years ago I woke up and I'd lost 80% of my vision - magine your vision is a clock - I'd lost from 12 o'clock round to 10.30. I knew I'd had a stroke. I had waves of fear and panic attacks rushing through my body. I was taken to hospital at 9am, Mrs Red Clowne accompanied me, because I could speak coherently and my face wasn't drooping on one side no-one believed me. I sat on a trolley for hours. Eventually, at 11pm, I was seen by the consultant. He listened to what I was saying and immediately I was sent for a scan and then put in a ward.
That was really scary. I lay there feeling really low. I then had a word with myself. I made a mental list of all the things I could do if I finished up being blind, including listening to the Boro on the radio, after that I felt okay.
Over time my vision improved so that I'm just left with a small patch of blurred vision to the high top left hand of anything I look at, nowadays I don't notice it.Six months later I was passed fit to drive. Since then I have driven an average of 20,000+ miles a year (except for 2020).
A great outcome but the scariest thing that has ever happened to me.
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Yep, another stroke survivor here. I was awake and standing outside a pub when it happened. A sudden dizziness and pins and needles throughout the left side of my body. Luckily I didn't lose anything in terms of my face dropping or in my speech, but spent 3 days in hospital where they eventually diagnosed two small strokes.

But the scariest thing for me was testing my memory while in hospital to see how much damage was done. I was a working thesp at the time so thought "right, how many Shakespeare quotes can you remember?" Not a single one. I'd been in several of his plays and everything had gone, while my whole left side was still numb.

Eventually the consultant explained that over the coming days and weeks my brain would find new pathways to get around the dead cells - and it did. My memory returned, along with nearly all feeling in my left side.

But yes, the scariest thing for me was the thought of everything in my head being wiped in an instant. Life is precious and we are all much more vulnerable than we think we are.
 
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Norman_Conquest said:
Tonight, in the Woodmans (Normanby), a guy asked me if I wanted to be stabbed.
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At least you were given a choice. I would have just said 'no thanks'.

When I was stabbed (many moons ago) it just happened out of the blue. Bit rude, I thought. - he didn't even ask me first.
Luckily it wasn't serious, just my upper thigh / buttock.
Happened too quickly to be scared but got a bit shaky afterwards when I realised how bad it could have been.
 
Cycling early morning in Kuwait around 10 years ago.
On a fairly wide open road with little traffic saw a vehicle at the side of the road opposite in the distance.
It was parked and a young guy was chatting through the passenger window to the driver.

As I got closer the young guy stood up, walked to the centre of the road and pulled out a rifle.
When I was at point blank range he laughed and walked away.

Fair to say I broke my PB for the next couple of kms with my adrenalin rush

I later found out there was a known ISIS cell operating out of that part of town.
 
1finny said:
Cycling early morning in Kuwait around 10 years ago.
On a fairly wide open road with little traffic saw a vehicle at the side of the road opposite in the distance.
It was parked and a young guy was chatting through the passenger window to the driver.

As I got closer the young guy stood up, walked to the centre of the road and pulled out a rifle.
When I was at point blank range he laughed and walked away.

Fair to say I broke my PB for the next couple of kms with my adrenalin rush

I later found out there was a known ISIS cell operating out of that part of town.
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Had a similar situation in the emirates. One Friday morning I was driving to the booze shop in um al qwain. The roads were empty but out of nowhere a white car sped up to me and pulled alongside me. I looked across and there was an Arab chap pointing an AK47 at me. I slowed down and he sped away. Was a bit freaky at the time but looking back I don’t think he wanted to shoot me
 
Well, I was going to relate how I was ‘encouraged’ into a particular house at knife-point, in Morocco in the early 80’s, but as people on here have been threatened with machine guns and actually stabbed, I don’t think that tale will cut it.
 
A little addition to my story above: there was actually a shooting range close by, so at the time, I put it down to this local guy heading there. The shooting range was known for its exotic hardware!
 
In a backstreet barbers in Tunis. Shudda walked straight out again but got invited to sit in the chair ahead fo 3 rough looking locals..... it was just the atmosphere, I could tell something was very wrong and their demeanor got worse. Declined the cut-throat shave and got out OK but I tnink I was close to being in big trouble.

And In Ardrossan many years ago. Went back to a womans flat, did the dirty deed and while have a beer afterwards 3 heavies came in. It was the woman's husband's mates checking up on her, her old fella was on remand for murder! Just as well I was fast in them days.

A mate of mine flew out to Chad to start work for Exxon. He was met at the airport arrivals by a guy with an Exxon sign with his name on it. He drove him out into the jungle, stripped him at gunpoint, took his luggage and everything else and pondered shooting him but just drove off and left him stood there. Lucky or unlucky?
 
A mate of mine went for a job interview in Manchester. He had no money, just a train ticket.
He was forced down an alley at knifepoint and told to hand over his money. He was made to empty his pockets to prove he had no cash. The assailant felt sorry for him and took him to a cafe and bought him a cake and a cup of tea.
 
Yeah having a wee in the bar near the train station, don't think it is there anymore. A bloke pushed a knife into me. Started saying stay away from my girlfriend and said he was going to stab me for it. His mate ran in and said, no no no that isn't him. Went straight home shaking and never went back in there.
 
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Got jumped on a night out in Boro town a few years ago, around Christmas, and was by myself. Wasn’t pleasant but I managed to escape with a few bruises and a twisted ankle.

I also remember being playing football with a mate in Albert Park when I was about 13, and he decided to swing on a tree, and a whole branch came crashing down on top of him and laid him out. I genuinely thought he was dead for a few seconds and shouted out for help to people walking their dogs.
 
Last time I remember being scared I was stood at the foot of Hekla. It's a volcano on Iceland that gives little to no warning when it is going to let rip ... which it does every 12 years or so. It was way overdue (still is) and I looked up at its menacing form and thought "if it decides to go boom in the next hour, I have no chance". It didn't of course, but the threat was enough. It's known for chucking lava bombs up to 40km.
 
borolad259 said:
Last time I remember being scared I was stood at the foot of Hekla. It's a volcano on Iceland that gives little to no warning when it is going to let rip ... which it does every 12 years or so. It was way overdue (still is) and I looked up at its menacing form and thought "if it decides to go boom in the next hour, I have no chance". It didn't of course, but the threat was enough. It's known for chucking lava bombs up to 40km.
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Climbed that in Feb just before Covid. There’s seismological equipment all the way up, just sticking up out of the snow. Stunning scenery from the top.
 
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