It can be whatever, but has anyone ever experienced a moment or moments that has happened to them that defies one’s expectations so wildly that they cannot reasonably define it beyond stupid dumb luck?
I still play this scenario out in my mind years later as I am still somewhat in disbelief that it actually happened and I walked away without any injuries.
I like to joke, saying my guardian angel tripped me at the perfect time.
Scenario describing my event in question:
spoiler
I noticed two suspicious individuals and as I past them they started to walk towards me. My response was to shout and make a scene while trying to make distance crossing the road without concern for traffic - road was quiet, early in the morning on a holiday as I was on my way to work.
The suspicious individuals responded by rushing towards me as one produced a knife and prepared it in lunging stance like someone preparing to slam a knife into a board.
I knew I couldn’t outrun them, no self-defense training, the best I could come up was extend my left hand out to minimise the target area of my vital organs. I was preparing for the worst and I guess fight or flight was preparing for a last stand fight.
What happened next is that I tripped on the pavement in the middle of the road at the exact same time the guy with the knife lunged.
He went flying over me - in an arc - from the momentum of the lunge with everything of his flying everywhere including his knife, his accomplice rushed into my periphery.
I landed in probably the worst scenario lying on my back, but I tried to keep the attackers in view. I don’t know why but the guy - who disarmed himself from the fall - panicked and picked up all his stuff and started running with his accomplice in tow.
I was in a situation just like yours but where mistaken identity (brought about by people weaponizing someone else’s appearance as a point of strawman mockery, which they forgot wasn’t accurate to go by) led them away from doing anything drastic.
I was paranoid as I was robbed in that area before to which I froze, but the police were around then and arrested one of the suspects.
The paranoia part comes from thinking that they might have wanted revenge as I ID’d and provided a statement that allowed it to be prosecuted ( got a call from a prosecutor) for the robbery.
So the immediate thought was if it was payback, as they said nothing through the whole ordeal, but realistically, if it was they would have not run away so quickly or took advantage of my poor positioning.
The most rationale thinking in hindsight is that it was a bunch of meth-heads were looking for quick score and by me escalating they decided for a quick and dirty robbery instead.
That area where I used to work is dangerous and I know I got really lucky considering considering the type of incidents that do happen there
I was in a situation like that too, albeit a little different as it was me stopping a theft.
I understand that
It was years between the robbery ( headed back home after spending time with my then girlfriend) and the attempted assault ( work decided to have me work around that area) and I would always be uneasy but trying not to look like a too easy a mark again while thinking of “what if” scenarios as it feels like one’s intution is on a fine tuned edge being alert for anything that seems suspicious.
I guess it could be described as practical fear
After the attack, I was insistent and since then do my utmost to keep as far away from that area as possible.
I will admit, I also felt apprehension like how you might have felt like when I started posting details