207: Marsha's diner was hit by a plane
What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.
Reflections on Trauma and Listener Engagement
This chapter explores the aftermath of a traumatic plane crash and its lasting effects on the narrator, including nightmares and anxiety. It also includes announcements for a listener meetup and an introduction to a listener-submitted story with a content warning.
We all have a few scary moments in life that we’ll never forget.
You know what I mean – a time when something is happening, or about to happen, and you know that the outcome could be really bad, and it’s happening so fast you don’t even have time to react. It’s almost like you’re watching a movie, and just waiting to see how it’s gonna end.
One moment like that for me was several years ago, when we lived up north. Winters in Maine can be pretty brutal, and part of that is that sometimes the roads can be icy and dangerous for driving.
I remember one day I was driving on a rural country road, just two lanes, and the weather conditions were not good. There was some snow, but I also knew that the road had patches of ice. So I was moving along pretty carefully.
Then I saw coming my direction was a small pickup truck. But he had already hit a big icy section and he was coming downhill toward me. And he was just spinning in circles. This guy had absolutely no control, just doing 360s as he came down this hill in my direction. And there really was nothing I could do either. I just figured “Ok, here we go, this is gonna happen I guess”. I wasn’t too concerned about getting injured because we weren’t going at high speeds – I just knew that a collision was about to happen.
But amazingly, as this truck finally reached me, he was somehow able to stay on his side of the road while he kept going in circles right past me. I watched in my rear view mirror as he eventually regained control, and we each went on our way. Just part of life when you live in a cold climate.
My guest today is Marsha. She had a moment kind of like that once. She looked up and saw headlights coming her direction. But it wasn’t a car coming at her. It was a plane.
If you’re in Monahans, Texas, go eat at Pappy’s BBQ – 1901 S Stockton Avenue.
Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:
https://WhatWasThatLike.com/207
Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai.
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