The
When will you die thread brought this to mind. What were you doing when you almost killed yourself.
Mine happened at the Hoover Dam. A buddy and I went there late at night and we were the only people walking around. We parked on the Arizona side, and I was looking over the spillway from the sidewalk on the lake side. From the sidewalk to bottom of the spillway was about a 400 foot drop.
I went to look over the other side, which had a much deeper drop. The layout, from the lake side to the river side, went: Guard rail, walkway, small fence, road, small fence, guard rail.
Notice that on the river side the walkway is missing. That's why it's always important to look before you leap. I hopped the fence on the lake side, ran across the road, and hopped the fence on the river side, expecting to land on a walkway. Instead I found myself leaping into a deep, dark, chasm.
With my back leg I
barely caught myself on the guard rail and fell back to safety. It scared the shit out of me, and for the next week I always had my hand on the guard rails or walls or countertops or whatever anywhere I walked.