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Had an adrenalin fueled reminder recently that also turned out to be nothing.

Badish neighborhood walking to my truck. I got to my rear bumper just as a thug-looking gentleman coming the other way got to my front bumper. We both turned into the space between my truck and another parked vehicle. I came around a big SUV, turned to walk between the SUV and my vehicle and spotted him in the same space coming at me fast. did I mention thug-looking?

It was a bad neighborhood, he was dressed for the area, he was bigger, younger, and in better shape than I was, he was moving fast in my direction and I saw him when we were 15 feet apart and closing fast. My heart jumped and I realized at that moment that I had no plan.

Fortunately he said "excuse me" and just squeezed past me in that small space - probably on his way to church or to volunteer at the old folks home. We both had a shocked look on our faces. Since I clearly would have been the looser, I'm assuming he was not quite as concerned as I was.

It turned out fine but it did make me realize that bad can happen faster than you can respond and sometimes a fast retreat to give yourself a few extra seconds is the best plan. That said, I'm glad I didn't run away screaming.