Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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SCARY TOWN — Several years ago I was at a Christmas party and the snow had been falling for hours.
I started driving home around midnight on icy roads. As I drove down a hill in a neighborhood, my car started sliding and I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it. I'm not proud of this, but I was also talking on the phone at the time, which I highly recommend none of you do. I was talking with my friend Adam, but as I started to slide I dropped the phone on the ground and focused on the task at hand.
The car started turning, and I was headed for a yard and a house. I stayed calm and did what I could with my steering wheel. I slid up onto this person's yard, did a full 180-degree turn and settled about 6 inches from a giant tree and only a few yards from the house. I sat stalled on the snow-covered lawn for a few minutes gathering my thoughts when I heard Adam's voice from the floor asking what was going on. I picked up the phone and told him what happened as I chilled on some lawn in Holladay. Adam listened intently and then said, "How did you stay so calm? I didn't hear a peep."
I pride myself on my ability to stay calm in stressful and potentially dangerous situations. But while I talk a big game about being as cool as a cucumber, I'm afraid if I were in the situation the guy faces in this video, I'd be screaming at the top of my lungs and I'd eventually find myself on the floor of my car weeping and sucking my thumb.
Yesterday's Have You Seen This?
Have You Seen This? This tortoise is all of us in the summer
There are few things better on a hot summer day than turning on the sprinklers and getting a bit of relief from the intense heat. Even this tortoise agrees.This video from 2015 captures an insanely tense moment when a guy was stopped right in the path of a tornado and he filmed it as it passes right in front of him. The tornado looks huge and it's throwing debris all over the road. But this guy just hangs out in his truck and stays calmer than most people do when they stub their toe. In fact, his most intense exclamation throughout this whole thing is "Holy smokes," and I don't think you can actually call it an exclamation. It's more of just a passing thought.
The video is amazing and this post has taught us two things. First: staying calm during dangerous situations can save your life. Second: don't talk to Adam while you're driving.
