What event in your lifetime caught you by surprise?

[Mayne]

The twin towers 9/11 thing really caught me by surprise. Also the Lady Diana death. I couldn't even imagine the JFK assassination, thankfully I am too young for that.

Both events for me really made me sad.

 

[Kaido]

Oddly enough, the death of Michael Jackson. It hit me hard. I'm not like a super fan or anything, but he was an iconic part of the 80's & 90's and it was just kind of a shock to my childhood when I heard he had died on the radio. I mean, who hasn't done the Moonwalk in their socks or sung along to Billie Jean on the radio?

Also, Robin Williams committing suicide. Loved that guy. Dang, that still hits me hard

 

[Mayne]

Oddly enough, the death of Michael Jackson. It hit me hard. I'm not like a super fan or anything, but he was an iconic part of the 80's & 90's and it was just kind of a shock to my childhood when I heard he had died on the radio. I mean, who hasn't done the Moonwalk in their socks or sung along to Billie Jean on the radio?

Also, Robin Williams committing suicide. Loved that guy. Dang, that still hits me hard

yeah those 2 deaths were pretty bizarre.

 

[Kaido]

The twin towers 9/11 thing really caught me by surprise.

I think 9/11 is kind of like our generation's version of Pearl Harbor...it's one of those shared national memories that anyone who can remember it happening can talk about.

The crazy thing is that for kids graduating high school over the next few years, 9/11 is history...not a memory. Next year's graduating high school seniors will contain kids who weren't even born yet when 9/11 happened, yet the memories are so fresh for many of us that it feels like it just happened yesterday...

 

[Mayne]

I think 9/11 is kind of like our generation's version of Pearl Harbor...it's one of those shared national memories that anyone who can remember it happening can talk about.

The crazy thing is that for kids graduating high school over the next few years, 9/11 is history...not a memory. Next year's graduating high school seniors will contain kids who weren't even born yet when 9/11 happened, yet the memories are so fresh for many of us that it feels like it just happened yesterday...

kinda like the JFK thing. Time flies it seems

 

[eng2d2]

twin twoers
MJ
Prince (big one)
whitney houston (big one)
diana death
JFK JR (big one)

 

[highland145]

The Doc checking my prostate but both hands were on my shoulders....I was surprised.

 

[IronWing]

The Doc checking my prostate but both hands were on my shoulders....I was surprised.

Still less "surprising" than your late fee.

 

[highland145]

Still less "surprising" than your late fee.

Hey, sometimes you just have to burn a guys house down to get his attention. What's a business owner to do?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Columbine shooting and twin towers come to mind.

The parliament shooting and Toronto van attack too. Normally every time these things happen it's in the states but this was a bit closer to home.

On a more personal level, when I went through depression also hit me by surprise. It hit fast, and gave me a whole appreciation for mental health. I'm fine now, it was just a "blip" but it made me realize just how fast mental health can go south and how much it can really affect a person. I caught it fast and dealt with it fast, but so many people suffer in silence.

 

[lxskllr]

Surprise? Trump winning the election. People die all the time, and countries get attacked. I don't typically get surprised by much, but I'd have bet $1k that Trump wouldn't win. Glad I didn't make that bet.

 

[Thebobo]

Space Shuttle Columbia disaster 2003
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster 1986

 

[Carson Dyle]

Walking in on Dad with the neighbor lady.

 

[balloonshark]

The space shuttle Challenger explosion. We were still in school so a teacher going to space was a big deal. That also was probably close to the time we went to Cape Canaveral for a shuttle launch which was an awesome experience.

9/11 was worse though.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

Meeting my future wife for the first time.

 

[IronWing]

The comfy chair

 

[brianmanahan]

the AISTBATSMF event

 

[Kaido]

Space Shuttle Columbia disaster 2003
Space Shuttle Challenger disaster 1986

The weird thing was, I was traveling at the time & was fairly disconnected, technology-wise, for a long period, so I pretty much missed that whole news cycle. Plus at that time, the Internet still wasn't huge like it was today, where everyone was on it all the time...I didn't even join the forums here until over a year later. I didn't really learn about the 2003 disaster until a thread here on ATOT earlier this year. It was extremely jarring to learn that we lost another shuttle & all of the astronauts onboard...15 years after the fact

 

[purbeast0]

My dad's death. He died completely unexpectedly 9 years ago and I still think about it somewhat regularly. I hadn't seen him in like a month too which was for the 4th of July and I had talked to him like a couple days later, and all it was about was asking him something about eye prescriptions because he was a doctor. Had I known that was the last time I'd ever talk to him, it would have been a much different conversation. It really sucks because he worked so much and was only 57 and hadn't retired yet, so he never got to even enjoy retirement.

 

[Red Squirrel]

My dad's death. He died completely unexpectedly 9 years ago and I still think about it somewhat regularly. I hadn't seen him in like a month too which was for the 4th of July and I had talked to him like a couple days later, and all it was about was asking him something about eye prescriptions because he was a doctor. Had I known that was the last time I'd ever talk to him, it would have been a much different conversation. It really sucks because he worked so much and was only 57 and hadn't retired yet, so he never got to even enjoy retirement.

Damn that sucks. I think more about my dad and always worry he could pass unexpectedly too. He's pushing mid 60's now, and has heart issues. He's never had a heart attack, only angina attack (similar but not as bad) that he caught quick and got himself to the ER fast enough, so he has no heart damage, but I always fear one day it will happen. One of his friends who is a bit younger than him recently had a stroke and passed away. Life is short.

One thing I've started doing more is going to visit both my parents more often because they are both getting older and I just need to spend as much time with them while I still can.

I still think about the house fire they had a few years back. They both got out before they were in any danger but things could have been so much different. Could have lost them both that night.

 

[local]

When the Dr. stopped joking about counting babies and started counting the babies, luckily he stopped at two.

 

[BoomerD]

Hey, sometimes you just have to burn a guys house down to get his attention. What's a business owner to do?

Shoot him and his family as they run screaming from the burning building? That's always worked for me...




oops...did I say that out loud?

 

[snoopy7548]

The day TridenT stopped posting.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The last 2 years have been full of surprises...sad sad embarrassing surprises.

 

[Red Squirrel]

The day TridenT stopped posting.

He's all grown up now too and making over 100k and even has to wear a suit. He's at the high class baller forum now along with Alky. We're just peasants. I tried to go in the parking lot of that forum once but the actuator arm won't open unless you have a BMW.