ROBUST discussion

Okay folks. This is a thread with your individual experiences in mind.

Some of us have friends among the famous. Some of us have family into the world of nutcases, politics, religion, and sometimes, all three wrapped up into one. There are more than just one of us here, among those who write, who have encountered something that nobody else will ever believe happened.

This is the place to share. ^_^

People of fame, folks of glamour, humans of the world, pay close heed.

I'll go first.
----

I was working in the Mill room at Dayco. The year was 1990. I was the Compounder, which meant I was the guy who mixed the hazardous chemicals that goes into making rubber. My work station was directly under the mill, a mixer that could produce 10,000 pounds of molten rubber before being dropped onto the rollers that make it into a smooth panel for cutting into various products.

On my way to work one October evening, I was ran off the road by somebody who rear-ended my vehicle. I was doing the speed limit, 55, they were going so fast, it looked like they came at my rear as if I was standing still.

I never knew who hit me, made me spin out and end up in a ditch. The police found my vehicle a half hour later, and I spent the night in the hospital.

The Florida Highway Patrol promised to call my wife, but failed to do so.

Just before my shift was to start, the mill experienced a bladder eruption. It coated my work station with 6,000 degree molten rubber, which can melt flesh and bone. The whole mill was evacuated, and I wasn't there. In their traumatized situation, nobody remembered to call my wife to tell her Dan (me) died in an industrial accident.

At 6am, I was released from the hospital. My vehicle was towed, so I took the city bus wearing a neck collar, to the impound yard. I got my vehicle out and drove home.

My wife saw the collar and freaked out. Nobody called her to say I was hurt. I calmed her down and told her what happened. Because I was a no-show at work, I was probably fired. They did that at Dayco. It was policy.

So I drove to Dayco an hour before my next shift, pretty sure they would demand my time card and locker keys. There was a vigil being held outside of the locked out mill room. I stood there with the others, lowering my head, wondering who they were mourning.

My foreman turned to say something to the woman next to me, and that tough 'Nam vet nearly fainted. He yelled at me, "Oh my God! It's a fucking ghost!"

"What?" I nearly shouted back. "I didn't die, I was only ran off the road!"

I didn't lose my job, but my foreman never quite regarded me the same way for the rest of my time at Dayco.

The moral? Whoever the ass-hat was who ran me off the road like that saved my life. I am usually 10 minutes early every shift to prepare the work site. If I had been there, I would have died, as they all thought I did.

Now, it's your turn. Share with the trust that at I will easily believe you, no strings attached. :)

You should save that material and put it in a novel, Daniel. It's great stuff.

Did you know Matt was a wrestler at college?

Andre Jute wrote: "Did you know Matt was a wrestler at college?"

No, I did not. That takes a ton of physical endurance to do. I bet he has some great experiences. ^_^

That's a remarkable story, Daniel. Our lives are saved in unpredictable ways.


My life is best compared, perhaps, to Bel Kaufman's Up The Down Staircase. I can tell crazy high school stories...

Great story - and I'm SO glad it happened. Cooked in rubber sounds like an awful way to go.