Content warning: this episode includes discussion of suicide.I had a scary experience with fire when I was a kid.I grew up in Ohio, in a little town called Westerville. At the time I was probably around 12 or 13. This was on a Saturday, and I was hanging out with some of my friends from around the neighborhood. We were just doing stuff that kids do, mostly setting up ramps and jumping our bikes over them.At some point we were walking around, in kind of a wooded area. Not the deep forest, but we were kind of off by ourselves, out of the sight of any adults. One of the guys had brought a lighter, and he was just flicking it, finding little sticks to light on fire. I guess as a pre-teen boy this is pretty fascinating. And it also had that little element of excitement, because we all knew this was something we really weren’t supposed to be doing.Eventually he had a few sticks on fire, which he was holding, and when the flames got big he kind of panicked and dropped them. Of course, that meant the dry grass on the ground caught fire and all of a sudden things were starting to get out of control. But fortunately, the rest of us didn’t panic like he did. We all got together and stomped out the flames before they got very big. We were just stupid kids and we were lucky the situation didn’t turn into a huge problem.My guest today is Sally. She experienced a house fire when she was young, and it was a scary experience that changed her life. Because on the day of the fire, Sally lost more than just her house.Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/129This episode is sponsored by the Women’s Meditation Network – guided meditations specifically for women. More details at womensmeditationnetwork.com.This episode is also sponsored by the Jordan Harbinger show – really interesting discussions with amazing people. Find it on any podcast app, including Spotify.This episode is also sponsored by the Deep Cover podcast – a show about people who lead double lives. Season 3 is now live! More info at https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/deep-coverWant to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jayna was excited – she was about to get married.She works in the wedding industry, so she knows how to handle every detail. She also hired a wedding planner. Shayna knows from experience that on the day of the wedding, there are lots of different things happening, and you have to anticipate problems and avoid surprises.She never could have predicted that the events of that day would include a fire alarm, a gunman, and having her wedding story featured on the national news.If you’d like to contact Jayna, all of her social media, podcast info, and other contact information is on her website at https://www.hellojayna.com.This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp – professional online therapy. Get 10% off your first month by visiting BetterHelp.com/WHATWAS.This episode is also sponsored by the I Need Blue podcast – a place for trauma survivors to tell their story. Find it on any podcast app, or at https://ineedblue.net/Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is not a regular new episode Friday. And that’s because this is not a regular new episode. This is a BONUS episode.If you’re a regular listener to the show, you probably know that we end every episode with a Listener Story. I started doing this about a year and half, maybe two years ago, and it’s become a really popular segment.The Listener Stories are just short stories, like 3-5 minutes or maybe a little longer, that have been sent in by a listener. Everyone has a story they could send in, and that includes you – yeah, I’m talking to you right now. You have a story that would qualify as a Listener Story. Because the Listener Stories aren’t the big crazy ones that we do a whole episode about, like getting attacked by a monkey or winning prizes on Wheel of Fortune. No, the Listener Stories are more like a little interesting slice of life. It could be really happy, or really sad, or really funny. Just something interesting that you can record on your phone, and just email it to me at Scott@WhatWasThatLike.com.So what we’re doing today is, we’re going to hear all of the Listener Stories that came at the end of each episode in 2022. That means that just in this episode, you’re gonna have like 2 hours of stories. So let me know what you think of this. If it’s a popular thing, I’ll probably do the same thing at the end of 2023. Maybe it will become a tradition. I hope you enjoy this episode with all the Listener Stories from 2022.This episode is sponsored by the Profoundly Pointless podcast – you’ll hear a huge variety of interesting guests, and a great host! Find it on all podcast platforms, or at ProfoundlyPointless.comWant to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The concept of guilt is an interesting thing to ponder.Sometimes it’s justified and rational to feel guilty. If a young child breaks a rule but doesn’t want to admit it and get in trouble, the look of guilt might be all over their face and easy for a parent to read. They did something wrong, and they know it.Adults are often the same way. If you do something to offend someone, or you knowingly break the law, you feel guilty. Because you are guilty.But sometimes we feel that way, even if we HAVEN’T done anything wrong.This is often the case with veterans who have been in war. They’re fighting shoulder to shoulder, on the front lines, and one day their buddy right next to them gets shot. One person dies, and the one who gets to go home feels intense guilt about that.Or it might be a case where a person is drowning, and a stranger jumps in the water and saves their life, but the stranger ends up drowning. The person who was saved is left to wonder how to deal with the fact that they’re alive because someone else died.My guest today is Hayley. When she was a teenager, she found herself in a dangerous situation. In the end, she was the only witness to two people getting murdered, right in front of her. And those two people were killed while they were trying to help keep her safe.If you’d like to contact Hayley, you can send her an email:kattannie@yahoo.comFull show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/126This episode is sponsored by The Compulsive Storyteller podcast – short stories told by host Gregg LeFevre. Listen on any podcast app, or at TheCompulsiveStoryteller.com. This episode is also sponsored by the Obscura podcast – the darker side of true crime. If you like the gritty details, listen on any podcast app, or at itsobscura.com.Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode comes with a content warning. The story includes discussion of sexual assault, addiction, and suicide. Stephen Covey is a popular author, and he wrote the best-selling book titled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Great book, highly recommended. In that book, Covey tells a personal story that has come back to my mind many times in the years since I first read that book. This is what he wrote:“I remember a mini-paradigm shift I experienced one Sunday morning on a subway in New York. People were sitting quietly – some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed. It was a calm, peaceful scene.Then suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed.The man sat down next to me and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people’s papers. It was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing.It was difficult not to feel irritated. I could not believe that he could be so insensitive as to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, with what I felt like was unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, “Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn’t control them a little more?”The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, “Oh, you’re right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don’t know what do think, and I guess they don’t know who to handle it either.”Can you imagine what I felt at that moment? My paradigm shifted. Suddenly I saw things differently, and because I saw differently, I thought differently, I felt differently, I behaved differently. My irritation vanished. I didn’t have to worry about controlling my attitude or my behavior; my heart was filled with the man’s pain. Feelings of sympathy and compassion flowed freely. “Your wife just died? Oh I’m so sorry! Can you tell me about it? What can I do to help?” Everything changed in an instant.” I’ve never forgotten that story. All the people we encounter while we’re just going through our day to day lives…they’re going through things that we know nothing about. It’s easy to judge someone or form an opinion based on what we observe, but there are always other factors that we can’t see. I think, in a lot of cases, if we knew what was really going on, our anger or impatience might be replaced with empathy and compassion.My guest today is Kylie. She’s been through some trauma, and you’ll hear it in her voice as she talks with the 911 dispatcher. I think her story can help all of us to perhaps see things from a perspective other than our own.Resources:If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide, you can get help immediately by calling the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Just dial 988 anytime day or night.Kylie used the AFSP (American Foundation for Suicide Prevention) website to find a support group for people who have suffered loss. You can get more information about this at:https://afsp.org/find-a-support-group/Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/125Kylie is in our podcast Facebook group. If you have a question for her, join the group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the other podcast guests are there as well). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost since the day I had the idea to start this podcast, I’ve wanted to talk to someone who has been struck by lightning.I mean, the thought that you could just be going about your day, maybe walking through a parking lot to go get some groceries, or even at home, maybe in your kitchen – and suddenly you could be hit by 300 million volts. And you never saw it coming. You might wake up a few minutes later – or maybe several hours later – and still not know what exactly happened, until someone tells you.But the reality is, a human being getting struck by lightning overall is pretty rare. I live in Florida, which is considered the lightning capital of the country. We average around 40 lightning injuries each year, which is still not many. And then there’s the fact that some lightning strike victims don’t survive, so they aren’t around to tell that story. So I’ve been looking around for a while, for someone with this experience to come on the podcast. And then, I connected with Josh. He lives not far from me, here in the Tampa Bay area. In the summer of 2022, just a few months ago, he was struck by lightning. A few people were with him at the time, and they saw it happen. But getting help was kind of difficult, because when Josh was struck by a bolt of lightning, he was on a boat – 100 miles offshore, in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.Josh’s video:https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UEltkDTBmrsCoast Guard rescue video:https://youtu.be/BDwMojzvJoEJosh’s website:https://www.thenautiviking.com/Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/124This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp – professional online therapy. Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com/WHATWAS.This episode is also sponsored by StoryWorth – the easiest way for someone to write their life story! Save $10 on your first purchase at StoryWorth.com/WHAT.Check out the Compelled podcast – inspiring stories of people who have overcome – at CompelledPodcast.com.Want to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Content warning – this episode includes discussion of self-harm, addiction, and suicide.Have you ever had to deal with the problem of someone you know, like a family member or a friend, who’s gone missing?There’s this weird mixture of emotions, like frustration, because you just don’t know where this person is. And it’s also scary, because you don’t know what happened.My mom got a little taste of what that’s like years ago. And the person that was missing was me. I was 5 years old, and it was my very first day of school. You can hear my mom talking about what happened, in the opening moments of this episode.But not all missing person stories are resolved quickly or easily.The story you’re about to hear is from Alice, and it’s about the time when her brother, Jake, disappeared. Their whole family was worried, and they reported Jake to the police as a missing person. But eventually even the police gave up looking for Jake, and Alice knew it was up to her and the rest of the family to find him.Full show notes for this episode:https://WhatWasThatLike.com/123Western States Aerial Search:https://wsasearch.org/https://www.facebook.com/WesternStatesAerialSearchThis episode is sponsored by Uncommon Goods – your secret source for unique gifts! Get 15% off your first gift at UncommonGoods.com/WHAT.This episode is also sponsored by the Jordan Harbinger Show podcast – conversations with amazing people! Search for the Jordan Harbinger Show on any app including SpotifyAnd check out the podcast titled Some of My Best Friends Are – critical conversations about race in America. Just search for Some of My Best Friends Are, wherever you get podcasts.Get the full transcript for this episode and ALL previous episodes in a single digital download:WhatWasThatLike.com/transcriptsWant to discuss this episode and other things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I love all animals, but one of my favorites is the elephant.Couple of things you might not know about elephants:When you see a herd of elephants, the leader of that family group is one of the females. When a male elephant is born, he sticks around with the family until he’s around 12 years old, then he heads off on his own. The female elephants will usually stay with the family herd their whole lives.And even though elephants are the largest land mammal, they’re actually pretty fast – they can run up to 25 miles per hour (or about 40 kilometers per hour).And they’re incredibly intelligent (maybe that’s why they put the females in charge!). Elephants are one of the few species to recognize themselves in a mirror. And they have really complex emotions and compassion. They mourn the death of their loved ones, much like we do as humans.Today we’re going to hear from Ella, about the time she had an encounter with an elephant. For a while it was great – she felt like she was really connecting with this amazing creature. But suddenly things went very wrong.If you’d like to contact Ella:Instagram: @smella_freshWebsite: PlantBestie.comThis episode is sponsored by Storyworth, where your loved one’s memories are turned into a keepsake book. Save $10 on your first purchase at StoryWorth.com/WHAT.This episode is also sponsored by BetterHelp online therapy – save 10% on your first month at BetterHelp.com/WHATWAS.I know you like hearing stories, so you’ll want to check out the podcast called The Compulsive Storyteller at TheCompulsiveStoryteller.com.Get the full transcript for this episode and ALL previous episodes in a single digital download:WhatWasThatLike.com/transcriptsWant to discuss this episode and other interesting things with thousands of other WWTL listeners? Join our podcast Facebook group at WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook (many of the podcast guests are there as well). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s time for a bonus episode!You’ve heard me talking about the Raw Audio episodes, and today you’ll hear a full, extra Raw Audio episode for yourself.Here’s the deal. If you like the What Was That Like podcast, you’re welcome to support the show, and like a lot of podcasters, that’s done through Patreon. All the details are at WhatWasThatLike.com/support.There are different levels of support, so you can do whatever you’re comfortable with. But if you sign up for $5 a month, you get access to all of the Raw Audio episodes. At the moment there are 27 of those, and Raw Audio 28 will be released later this month.What you’ll hear in these episodes are actual 911 calls. There are no scripts, there are no actors or re-enactments. This is real life - the actual phone calls made right then when the emergency was happening. And I’ll also tell you the story that goes with it – who was involved, what happened, and how it turned out. Most Raw Audio episodes cover 3 different stories.So today, in this extra bonus episode, you’ll hear 3 of those calls. If you decide you want to sign up and binge the other 27 episodes, you can do that at WhatWasThatLike.com/support.So let’s get on with today’s show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

No matter where you live, there’s the possibility of experiencing some kind of bad weather.We lived in Maine for about 13 years. And since I was self employed and could pretty much dictate my own schedule, I decided to work part-time for my town’s EMS service. So I got trained in emergency response, and was often called out when someone called 911 with a medical emergency or an injury. And usually I was working with a paramedic, who was pretty much in charge of the situation because they were more experienced. I would do whatever was needed to assist them and the patient, and a lot of times that meant I was driving the ambulance to the hospital while they took care of the patient in the back.There’s one call I remember pretty clearly. This was in the winter, at night, and we had just had a big snowstorm so the driving conditions were pretty bad. We got a call about a car accident. This was just a single vehicle crash – the person had lost control and run into a tree. We got there and found just one person, the driver, and she was still in the car with some broken bones. Her worst injury was her broken pelvis – she had what’s called an “open book” fracture, where the pelvis is broken into right and left halves. It’s really painful, and she was conscious and experiencing all of it.We got her out of the car and into the ambulance, and I was not looking forward to this trip. It was still snowing pretty hard, and it was dark, so the visibility was poor, and the roads were slippery. And this is rural Maine, so the hospital was not close by – we had to get to the hospital down in Portland. In perfect weather, it was about a 30 minute drive. On this night, it took more than an hour.And that was some high-stress driving. I had to kind of creep along and make sure I stayed on the road and didn’t slide off into the ditch. And there was the added pressure that this poor girl in the back was depending on my driving to get her to the emergency room. On top of that, she’s lying on her back with a badly broken pelvis, and every time I hit a bump in the road she would scream in pain and I would feel terrible because I hit that bump. We eventually got there, but that ride seemed to take forever.My guest today is Todd. He lives in Canada, and he has seen his share of bad winter weather. He’s also a truck driver, so in a lot of cases he finds himself driving his tractor trailer in those conditions. Most of the time, it’s no big deal. He’s used to it. With poor visibility and slippery roads, everyone on the highway just keeps moving forward, slowly and carefully, and eventually you get there. But there was one time he was driving during a bad snowstorm, and that slow forward movement came to a full stop. And that’s where he stayed.If you’d like to message Todd, you can email him at v8ed_s-10@hotmail.comJose sent in a voice mail, and you can see his tattoo work on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/gordotaub/Get the full transcript for this episode and ALL previous episodes in a single digital download:WhatWasThatLike.com/transcriptsThis episode is sponsored by Field of Greens – get your fruits and vegetables the easy way, and use the promo code WHAT for 15% off your first order – FieldofGreens.com.This episode is sponsored by Uncommon Goods – unique gifts from around the world for everyone on your list – get 15% off by visiting UncommonGoods.com/WHAT. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices