After thinking about the previous threads about the Pilot in Alaska Surviving 24 hours in freezing, hypothermic conditions I began thinking about the "What if" game and thought it deserved a seperate thread...

In my previous life I worked at a state correcitional facility as a corrections officer...talk about always being prepared (and paranoid)...I was taught right from the beginning to always be playing the "What if" game..."What if the inmates started to riot on the tier and your partner was on the main floor?"..."What would you do if two rival gang factions started a major fight while you were in yard" (BTW only one officer was ever posted to monitor 200+ inmates in yard...the officer was actually "IN" the yard with the inmates....)...Things like this were constantly playing through your mind because bad things got worse in an instant...I have always thought that playing the "What if" game is an invaluable learning/thinking tool and it can keep your mind sharp...not only in correctional/police type settings but just going to the mall or driving down the road....are you prepared for the worst case scenerio??? What if part of the mall collapsed? What if a major multi car pileup happened in front of you? Are you prepared? Have you thought about what you would do? I am not paranoid but I often just run scenerios through my mind then after thinking about what I would do, I check to see if I have the proper gear to accoomplish the goal...Hey, some people do crossword puzzles, other people think...

What if....

Many moons ago (probably around junior high school, I vaguely recall having read a story that really "pinged" on the "Walter Mitty" in me. (Hmmm...thinking about it again for the first time in too many years, I'd like to reread this story).

In a nutshell, the story, fictional or true, I have no idea (and also based on an old recollection which may have distorted some facts) related how a guy always rode the same bus or streetcar to and from work for years. Over time, he noticed many near collisions at a certain intersection that the ride passed, and he too played the "what if" game. He thought and thought about what he would do "WHEN" AND NOT "IF" the accident occurred. He relocated where he sat to have the better view and egress from his ride, noted where fire ext. was and probably made other preps as well.

One day his moment of heroism arrived, he ended up saving several folks and according to the bystanders, immediately jumped up before the ride stopped crashing and was running over to help the victims, presumably receiving kudos and commendations.