A common piece of advice is to trust your gut and listen to your instincts in crazy situations. However, it's hard to know what we'll do when that time arises. Do we think we'll know to get out before the going gets rough or will it be too late? Impossible to say, but perhaps people sharing their own stories when they felt they needed to get out will give us some idea of when we should leave for our own safety.
Reddit user, u/Engine_Either, wanted to hear about when you needed to skedaddle when they asked:
When did a feeling of "we need to get out of here [immediately]" save you?
Move In Packs
Up in the woods, about 2 am, having a (very large) bonfire in midwinter. There were probably 7 or 8 feet of snow where it wasn't packed and my friend and I were the only 2 sober. After about 45 minutes we both looked at eachother at the same time and went.. something is wrong. Neither of us could quite explain it because we hadn't seen anything, but we knew there were animals in the woods- Grizzlies, wolves, and Bobcats are all known to be there but generally leave larger groups and fires alone.
We manged to convince the roughly 15 drunk guys to head back to the trucks a mile away, as a group, knowing at least the sober friend had a gun on her and could use it.
We got everyone into vehicles and everyone shipped back to town eventually.
When the guys who didn't believe us went back out in the morning to check that everything was cleaned up, and found the tracks of a pack of wolves that had been circling the clearing.
I Can Get Home By Myself
A couple years ago, I was walking home from the bar at 1am. I'm a young woman in her 20s, so this was instantly stupid, but I wanted to save money avoiding an Uber, and was also drunk so I wasn't thinking straight.
I'm walking down a main but dark street, and then a pickup truck driving by slows down next to me. Two men look at me and the passenger asks, "Hey, do you need a ride somewhere?" I lie and say no thanks because I'm expecting one in a moment. They said alright and drove off.
I watched them drive down the street and then, a ways down, I saw their brake lights light up. There was no stop sign or stoplight, so I just assumed the worst and thought, "I've got to get out of here." I ran into a tiny parking lot to my right and hid behind an outdoor vending machine. Moments later, the two men pulled into the lot and circled it, clearly looking for me.
When they couldn't find me, they drove away. I waited a few moments until I decided to call an Uber.
Scatter!
I was at a house party in high school and things were getting very rowdy. Tons of people just trashing the place, and I just had a bad feeling. Told my friends we should leave but none of them would listen. I remember going out to my car and as soon as I got in the cops pulled up. I ducked down and waited for them to get up to the front door and just drove off without them even noticing. Several of my friends spent the night in jail or hiding in the woods that night. I slept in my comfortable bed.
Unstable Brick Walls Are Always A Telltale Sign
I was riding my bike during a huge storm when I was 10. There was this huge, recently built brick/concrete wall right beside the sidewalk where I was using as a "race track".
I was having a good time and suddenly I felt that "get the f-ck out of here". Which I did.
The next morning as I passed by the place I was playing previously, the entire wall had collapsed!
Slow Driving Trucks Are Always A Problem
I was about 11 or 12 years old, at a neighbor's house. The sun had already set - it wasn't completely dark yet, but it was close and there was less light by the second. We were sitting on the lawn because we loved watching the sky turn from day to night, just talking and giggling and carrying on as little girls do.
A truck drove up our street, slower than usual but not suspiciously slow. Still, I felt my gut sink for some reason I didn't understand. A couple minutes later, it passed by again. And then again after another few minutes, though not quite as slow this time. I was 100% positive it was the same truck, so I watched it drive away and noticed it started slowing down. I told her to get up, and when the truck made another U-turn and started heading towards us again I told her to run and hide.
I don't know if she realized what she was hiding from, but we ended up splitting in two directions. She dove behind a bush, and I crouched behind an old car parked in their driveway. We could see each other, and I had a clear shot to the door if I needed to dart in to get a parent, but we heard the truck roll up and stop in front of her house. Someone got out of the truck and started calling for us, I honestly don't remember what they were asking though. We just kept our eyes locked and tried to stay as still and quiet as possible. We probably should have screamed, but I think we were both too scared. The person eventually got in their car and took off. We stayed hidden for what felt like forever, eyes locked, until we finally felt safe enough to run inside.
I don't know what would have happened if I didn't notice something and we booked it, or if that person was actually dangerous or not, but I'm glad that I'll never find out.
Trust Your Gut. And Your Yoo-Hoo.
A friend and I had just seen a midnight movie, it was about 2:30am when I pulled in to a gas station to grab a Yoo-Hoo. I grabbed the bottle, turned around, and saw 3 men enter the store together: one waited by the doors, one stood near the register "looking at" chips, and the third was crouched down with his back to the employee door so the cashier wouldn't see him through the square window in the door.
They all look at me at once and then try to ignore me, acting like they're just.....casually positioned around the cashier and door. I walk up, put my Yoo-Hoo on the counter, the cashier turns the scanner and basically tells me with his eyes, "You do it." I ring myself up, drop money on the counter, and walk as normally as I could past the man by the door and out to my car at what seemed like the furthest pump from the store.
I sit down, throw my Yoo-Hoo at my buddy, and hit the emergency button in my car that calls 911. I connect with dispatch and report a possible robbery. A mile or two later I see a cop car flying down the street in the direction we just came.
I called non-emergency the next day to ask what happened, and they said the men fled after I left and the cashier told the police he knew he was about to get robbed too, and to thank me for calling the police. That felt good.
What didn't feel good was my buddy, in all his nervousness about what was unfolding as he was listening to me recount everything to dispatch, thought I just gave him a random Yoo-Hoo and chugged that thing down like a starving infant with a bottle.
Get Inside! Now!
What just seemed like a bad storm had started, my ex then decided to play with the dog out in the back yard in the rain. I got a weird feeling about how strong the winds were and despite being called crazy I told my ex she and the dog needed to go down into the basement for shelter with me.
Within 15 minutes half my roof was gone. Apparently the storm was a derecho, which I'd not even heard of before that.
If You Remotely Sense Something Wrong, Then Go
I was getting a beer with a friend and he brought along his friend. When we left I felt very drunk despite only having two drinks. They wanted me to come to their hotel as they were getting ready to go to a concert that night but I made the excuse that I needed to get home because I think I left my oven on. My beer was 100% tampered with. My vision felt like I was in a tunnel. I got home in an Uber and immediately threw up and continued to do so for the rest of the night.
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