I nearly died again last night. This is not an uncommon event for me, I regularly have close scrapes with mortality, and I'm as of yet unsure how to feel about this.
Before George Washington became president, he fought in several skirmishes and battles on the losing side. In an account of one of these skirmishes, he recalls having had two horses shot out from underneath him and finding eight bullets lodged in his coat, having never touched his body. George Washington was wracked with survivor's guilt for a long while, and even spread rumors of his own death before becoming one of the Founding Fathers.
This is Soldier's Luck. Bouts of providence that have no reason whatsoever other than keeping you from getting killed, or separating you from a fucked situation.
Being caught in the riptide when I was six, spinning my car out four months ago, living with an abusive sociopath for five years, the tree falling on the car when I was twelve, narrowly avoiding a collision, and driving for fifteen miles with a road cone under my car while I passed three CHP squad cars last night.
I've come to believe some people are endowed with Soldier's Luck out of the womb, and there's a possibility in my mind that it's hereditary. Once when I was young, I explained to my father how I feel much more useful when put into a situation where everything is falling apart and everyone else is freaking out. He explained that I had received this trait from him, that when everyone else was losing their heads, curling up in the corner, and reverting to infants, he was the one to take charge, sort things out, and make quick decisions.
This ability does not come naturally to anyone. It does, however, come to people who, through trial and error, whether or not they realize it, have figured out that they will in the end be OK, they are not going to die so long as they keep their heads screwed on.
I'm not saying this is entirely dumb luck. Indeed, cleverness, quick reflexes, bullheadedness, and balls are just as much a part of what I'm talking about. My father, Dick, Bina, Law, Austin, Thomas, Kirsten; they've all got it to some degree (especially Law, god he's crazy). But everyone knows someone who's got more Soldier's Luck than most; I advise you to keep them close and watch what happens when shit hits the fan.Before George Washington became president, he fought in several skirmishes and battles on the losing side. In an account of one of these skirmishes, he recalls having had two horses shot out from underneath him and finding eight bullets lodged in his coat, having never touched his body. George Washington was wracked with survivor's guilt for a long while, and even spread rumors of his own death before becoming one of the Founding Fathers.
This is Soldier's Luck. Bouts of providence that have no reason whatsoever other than keeping you from getting killed, or separating you from a fucked situation.
Being caught in the riptide when I was six, spinning my car out four months ago, living with an abusive sociopath for five years, the tree falling on the car when I was twelve, narrowly avoiding a collision, and driving for fifteen miles with a road cone under my car while I passed three CHP squad cars last night.
I've come to believe some people are endowed with Soldier's Luck out of the womb, and there's a possibility in my mind that it's hereditary. Once when I was young, I explained to my father how I feel much more useful when put into a situation where everything is falling apart and everyone else is freaking out. He explained that I had received this trait from him, that when everyone else was losing their heads, curling up in the corner, and reverting to infants, he was the one to take charge, sort things out, and make quick decisions.
This ability does not come naturally to anyone. It does, however, come to people who, through trial and error, whether or not they realize it, have figured out that they will in the end be OK, they are not going to die so long as they keep their heads screwed on.
4/22/2008
