We heard all about these and more after Redditor Adventurous_Program6 asked the online community:
"Overthinkers of Reddit, what unlikely scenario actually came true that you were completely prepared for?"
"Moved my family..."
"Moved my family from Kyiv to the safe place before the war started. Did this completely independently (not as company policy etc.) and with my family PROTESTING and not believing the war would begin."
ingroknow
This was an excellent call, understandably. Hope you continue to stay safe.
"I can grab..."
"I can grab the critical documents, computer backups, laptops, clothes, water, wife and dog and be on the road in 10 minutes or less. Proved I can do it when a forest fire overran the city. I've added a couple of gas cans to the process now as well."
betelgeux
Look at you! You know how to stay cool under significant pressure. Glad to hear you're safe.
"I convinced my family..."
"I convinced my family to let me install a motion activated light + camera in our alleyway as I spent lots of time in the garage and always thought to myself someone would come in murder me or something like that while I was working in there."
"Anyways, fast forward about 2 weeks after they let me install everything - I’m in there painting and I hear some motion in the alley and heard the motion light turn on, turned to check the camera monitor beside me and low and behold - there was a group of 3-4 teenagers and one of them was taking a s*it on my driveway."
"Ah to be young again lmao, but yeah to this day my fam still has that camera and light + extras around the property even though I’m gone."
Homeless_Alex
It's always good to have cameras in visible places!
"I overthink what to do..."
"I overthink what to do in the event of being kidnapped or being in an event that could lead to a kidnapping. Anytime I'm on the sidewalks at a late hour, someone knows. Call it paranoia."
"Walked home at 3 a.m. at a college campus, and a truck in the parking lot turned their lights on or they were on and turned off. Either way, it caught my attention. Someone got out of the car and joined me on the sidewalk a few yards behind me."
"I text the girl who knew I was walking my phone number and told her to call me immediately. I said hello loudly, announced my exact location and implied that we were going to be seeing each other soon. The guy broke off--I don't know where he went."
"I don't know if it was all in my head or not. All I know is that I'm still alive."
TheUnwelcomeTagalong
"Border closing..."
"Border closing between Canada and the USA. I'm in Canada, and like a lot of Canadians, have a PO Box across the border where a lot of things get shipped to. I had just had a few things arrive, and decided it was smartest to just go across after work to grab my stuff instead of waiting for the weekend (was going to do a grocery shop but that would have added 1.5 hours to the trip, whereas just picking up packages could be done in 7 mins)."
"Spoke with the agents for each side, and everyone was laughing off the idea the border would shut down. It was closed 2 days later."
LegitimateChart289
Sounds like you got the last laugh... though we've all seen how the last two years have played out.
"It was a surreal day."
"I watched some first aid videos when I was working daycare. I watched them multiple times. A week later one of our young toddlers had a febrile seizure. My co teacher froze."
"I got the kid out of the feeding table seat and got him on the floor. Director called the paramedics and mom. I stayed with him and gave info to the paramedics (no idea how I remembered his info). It was a surreal day."
EstelSnape
Great job! That must heve been so scary.
"I mentally prepare for conversations/arguments with people (usually work-related) by mapping out what I want to say beforehand. I think of every possible response that might catch me off guard and have a plan to respond or to deflect the conversation away from points I’m not prepared to address."
"It helps me because I have pretty high anxiety and sometimes get flustered speaking, especially during confrontations. I have been known in the past to redirect non-urgent, unexpected work to text/email so I can have time to carefully respond rather than trying to cobble together my thoughts on the fly."
"It’s rough sometimes because you have to play through a lot of worst-case scenarios, but it helps me because I’m ready to deal with most situations and have a plan for setbacks ready to go. And the more experience I get working with some people, the more predictable they become so it just gets easier to narrow the range of responses down."
PickleStandard
It sounds like you've found a system that works for you!
"I always..."
"I always have an escape plan. I keep a go-bag with clothes, cash, a list of pertinent login/password info and a tablet/charger. It's within arm's reach right now."
"And every time I go to a party or otherwise large gatherings I figure my way out should s*it go down. I've had too many dramatic friends; I want to be able to peace out or do an Irish goodbye at a moment's notice if people blow up."
"A few times it came in handy, but the most prescient was a party a frat house. Never been there before but came with some friends and one of those friends had her little 16-year-old brother along with us and he had a backpack with our booze in it."
"Cops got called on the place (probably noise complaint) and once I heard them coming up I literally grabbed both my friends and the kid and said "bail" and led them out the back sliding glass door and through a field and navigated our way back towards our apartment areas."
"Found out after the fact there were a handful of fines and drug arrests but I made us all bolt because I didn't want the kid to get stuck with an MIP while visiting his sister."
DangerCakes13
Great and quick thinking! You could have definitely ended up in a worse situation.
"We had MREs..."
"I'm not a full-blown prepper, but I'm a fan of apocalyptic stories and games and figure that while I don't need to be ready for a zombie apocalypse, there's reason to have survival supplies around the house. My wife and I made jokes with each other, but that didn't stop me from buying extra supplies."
"The pandemic hits, along with some power outages, and we realized that we really didn't need to leave the house. We had food supplies, lots of toiletries, 12 months of insulin for my son, a generator and extra gasoline to keep the sump pump running and the mini-fridge with the insulin cool."
"We had MREs that I'd purchased for paintball games. Oh...cats need to eat too, right? We had catfood backups. We had liquor that was jokingly for "trade when the zombies hit", and we enjoyed mixed drinks and game nights with the kids."
"Seriously, while the pandemic had a tremendous impact on many people in the world, it was one of the most enjoyable periods I've had with the family. No trips or social events. No panic buying. No emergency medications that we hadn't prepared for. No need to leave the house for anything, and everything we needed and wanted at our fingertips."
"In fact, the pandemic was almost like a test run for a more serious event. MASKS! We never stocked up on masks...you know... zombies bite, aren't a big thing, right?"
"In short, the preparation that I was making in support of my family as a father and husband, turned out to be no laughing matter. While other families were telling stories of wiping their butts with newspaper and rags, we had dozens of rolls.
"While others looked at their shrinking pantry, we were enjoying a variety of meals that we now had time to cook and prepare. While others were store hoping to stock up, we were playing family games and organizing our supplies."
"Before, I was slightly embarrassed about my "mini-prepper" disaster preparedness angst. Now? I feel like super-dad. This was especially true when looking at my son with Type-1 diabetes. He damn-near cried when I told him that we could go a year without leaving the house for anything."
ap1msh
Indeed, while many people have suffered through the pandemic, others have thrived. Count yourself among the lucky ones!
It's quite the world out there–and anything can happen. It might be worth keeping an overthinker around. Their skills can definitely come in handy!
Have some experiences of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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