Close Encounters

NowIamMrsKlein

So last night, FI and I were running uptown to grab some groceries. I made mention that we should stop at the bank and take out some cash, but FI tells me that he had stopped earlier in the day and grabbed some.

As we drive by the bank we see a cop car pull up in front of it. I made a joke about a heist and how we should watch out for bandits with bags with dollar signs on them. When in actuality we assumed it was because of a transient person sleeping in the vestibule, which is a common occurance in northern living.

We grab our groceries, come back down that street and by now the entire bank is SURROUNDED by cop cars and cops are freaking everywhere.

Turns out it actually was a bank robbery and the bad guy got away with a bunch of cash. Thankfully it looks like no one was hurt.

But man am I glad that FI got cash earlier in the day. And boy do I feel bad about joking about it.

Anyone else have close encounters with major events that you missed by making a last minute decision? It fascinates me how small choices can greatly affect your life.

AddieCake

I'm glad y'all were not at the bank when it happened!  That would be really scary. 

afox007

FI and I often let ourselves into his office if we go out for dinks downtown. It's the one place I know I will find a clean bathroom and occasionally we'll make coffee or a snack. It's fairly common practice with everyone there and we've regularly run into his manager in there doing the same thing.

Last Halloween we were going to go in, but realized we left the keycard in the car. I was annoyed because I REALLY had to pee, but just sucked it up and went at the bar. We lucked out because someone broke in that night and took a bunch of stuff including a few laptops, someone's purse that had been left there, and a bunch of cell phone chargers.

I was really glad we weren't able to get in because either A) We would have run into the person who broke in and it my have ended badly or We would be on the security cameras for the night which would place us at the scene of the crime.     

morewineplease

A Friend's family owns a business that has an apartment above it where they would sometimes sleep to avoid driving the 45 minutes out of the city to their home. One night the plan was to sleep there but at the last minute their child throw a fit about wanting to be in his own bed. 

Well the next morning they found out that a former employee had robbed the store, and the apartment. The people he had help him were able to take off with a very heavy safe with the deposits from a long holiday weekend. On the footage they saw how heavy armed they were. It was really scary to think they could have been there. 

tpwkalyn

A few years ago, I worked for a local company that serviced ATMs, drive thrus, & cash registers. The owner of the company also had a lot of rental property. 

We had one renter that was right down the road from our office & they ran an automotive repair shop. There were a lot of issues from them not getting their rent checks in on time every month. We would have to go knock on their door at least twice a month. 

One day, I was driving past it on my way back to the office & noticed about 5 police cars and & SWAT van. I walked in the office & told the ladies about the police cars & jokingly said "I bet they're getting arrested because they owe money to someone & won't pay it, hah!"

That night I got home from work & turned on the news just to find out that they had been housing a METH LAB in some junky old tiny RV that was sitting behind their shop. It was DISGUSTING.

PamBeesly524

A few years ago my mom and I were driving to pick up my brother at the airport. Along the way, she got pulled over for "speeding"... In reality she was only going about 7mph over the speed limit, so it was a really bizarre stop. She got a warning and we went on our way. 

20 minutes later we approached the scene of a really terrible accident... It had only happened moments before and we couldn't help but think that if we hadn't gotten pulled over for those few minutes and had stayed on track, we may have been a part of that 3-car accident. Scary to think about. 

falsara

These are all really scary. The town I was living in In AZ has a university in the center of it.  A couple of the Frat and Sorority chapters rent out the houses on one side of campus.  I had a foreign language class on that side of campus and would park on the street near some of the chapter houses.  

One day I decided to skip that class because I was sick or something. Turned on the news a little bit later and there was a drive by shooting at the one of the Frat houses that I walk pass.  

KatWAG

I work in a bank and have been in the office when a robbery happened. It was surprising uneventful

AuroraRose41

I went to college in Northern NY, and had to drive 4 hours through the Adirondack mountains to get back to my parent's house when I would have breaks. I always checked the weather reports in all of the towns that I would have to drive through before leaving, as the storms could be bad up there during the winter. 

During spring break of my senior year of college, I decided to drive back to my parents to spend time with them and my extended family, as I would be moving to California in a few months. I checked the weather reports and all that was forecasted was light flurries and 35-40 degrees. I didn't think it was a big deal; normally flurries don't even stick to the road. Plus it was sunny and 40 degrees when I left. I got about 30 minutes south into the mountains, and it was a full white out. I slowed down and was just trying to get to the next town 20 miles away where I could wait it out. It was a twisty road and I hit a patch of black ice and went spinning down hill into a guardrail on the other side of the road. I wasn't injured, but the car was stuck on the guardrail. I had no cell phone service in the area, so a plow that went by called it in over his radio. A state trooper showed up after getting the call and waited with me until the tow truck arrived. The state trooper was stationed near where my college was. 

We were sitting in his Tahoe when a call came over the radio for him to respond to an accident right outside the next town that I was trying to get to on the road that I would have taken to get there. He looks at me and says "They don't call me to go that far south unless it was fatal." I looked at the clock, and realized had I not spun out on this road when I did, I would have been right near that town when the fatal accident occurred. That could have been me in that accident. 

WinstonsGirl

One night when we were still dating, SH and I heard a noise in the house about 11pm-ish.  It sounded like something had fallen over/shower caddy had fallen down/etc.  We did a quick look but couldn't see anything obvious, though I found a scuff mark on the wall in the kitchen.  I figured I had missed it before and we went to bed.  

The next morning, DH went to work and I was opening the garage door I noticed light shining through a hole.  Found a drilled hole in the garage door and a chunk of siding missing on the outside of the garage.  I followed the path of the 2 and found a chip in the house siding.  Inside, in the kitchen was a bigger hole and some drywall debris under the kitchen table.  I kept going to the front room where the first window pane was cracked.  I looked back and found a bullet on the living room floor. 

The police say it was a high power rifle bullet and they figure somebody/kids stood at the far end of the alley to see how far the gun would shoot, not expecting it to go that far.  I'm almost always still up and walking around the house at 11pm and could have been hit.  It also missed 2 cars in the garage and the propane BBQ beside the house.  

Insurance fixed everything, but the guy came out cos he didn't actually believe me until he saw everything.  And I got upgraded to an insulated garage door since it was the only one that matched.   

drunkenwitch

I was grabbing lunch one day, got my food, walked in the back door of my office, locked it behind me. i walked up a flight of stairs and we heard yelling outside the window. A full on SWAT team had a guy surrounded. If I had been 30 seconds later, I would have been in the middle of it.

I also interrupted a burglary in my house, they were downstairs and heard me come home (thank you heels and hardwood) and fled. I was alone in the house, I thank every Goddess they ran away.

flyingfoxes

I used to be a bank teller, and worked opening shift.  One day I pulled into the parking lot to see 2 people running out, with the guard running out after them with his gun out.  They thought they would rob the bank at 6:15 am (before the vaults were even open, mind you).  If I'd been 5 minutes earlier, I would have been in the middle of that shit.  

That was when I got my first cell phone, because I had to drive to a gas station to call the cops.  (this was roughly 1996)

theartistformerlyknownas

That happened once to us when I was a kid, at Taco Bell of all places. We were pulling in to get lunch, and a cop pulled out of nowhere and sped half sideways into the handicapped space. Of course we all joked about a taco emergency but then a bunch more cars whipped in and my mom ordered us  to drop and cover, face down on the floor of the van. I guess it turned out to be a false alarm but it was scary at the time! 

hellosweetie1015

Well the house burned at 2:30 in the afternoon, and had it been 12 hours earlier or later (which it could have; we think it was faulty wiring that finally failed), we'd all have been asleep. So there's that.

Aside from that, I've been pretty lucky, I think.

JCbride2015

When I was five, I was in the passenger side backseat of our family car with my little sister in a carseat next to me and my mom driving.  We were on our way home from visiting my grandparents in MA and about five minutes from our apartment.  My mom was stopped at a four way stop sign when a car came tearing through from her right across the intersection.  

She looked around and didn't see anything else, so she started to roll forward halfway into the intersection.  She swears she heard a firm male voice in her head say, "STOP."  She rolled forward a little more. "STOP."  So she stopped with the nose of the car out in the intersection to look around.

Then a second car ran the stop sign in the same direction as the first one, and slammed into our passenger side.  Our car spun around, hit the other car again somehow, then wound up crushed against the side of the brick Post Office building.  Most of the front passenger side of the car was just gone.  Our whole car was crushed up like an accordion.  My mom was really hurt but I was mostly okay.  K was fine.  Our doors were jammed shut and the police had to use this crazy machine to saw us out.

Turns out the second car was chasing the first car.  If my mom had rolled forward into the intersection a little bit more, I would have almost certainly been killed.  My mom says this is why she believes in God.  (And that's he's a dude, because-- male voice).

ashley8918

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown's_Chicken_massacre

I lived right down the street, and my mom had taken me there earlier in the day (a few hours earlier). The police tracked everyone down who was there that day by checking credit card receipts, so I was interviewed about a massacre at the ripe old age of 4. Basically, they just asked if I had seen anything or anyone acting weird, scary, etc.

AlexisA01

I had to pick up my sister from the bakery she works at when she was closing. They have a rule about if you are getting picked up you need to come in and wait instead of waiting in the car. I pull up and this homeless man was standing near the door, looking very suspicious. He asked me about if i had any spare change. I did not so I went inside and sat down waiting on my sister to get her register counted. Before my sister closed down her a register, a local police officer came by to get his evening shift coffee, water, and breakfast sandwich. He told the homeless guy he needed to leave the area so the guy went across the street. My sister closed down and we left for the night.

The next afternoon, I dropped my sister off for work. She steps out the car and the bakery owner ask for the both of us to come in for a moment. We get in and the same officer was sitting down with two other officers. We found out the homeless man had a guy and a knife because he was waiting outside so he can rob my sister when she pulls her money out to get counted and potentially do other things. My sister was one of three employees working; her, the night manager, and the dish washer. They caught the homeless man at the Tavern with the money from the registers when the alarm sounded. The owner was able to view the cameras and call the police. The local officer who comes in every night was able to arrest the guy and the guy was drinking from the bar. My sister was scared because so many different factors led to the homeless man not robbing the store. 

crackktheskyy

These stories are all crazy!

I can't think of anything in particular that happened to me.

My grandfather, on the other hand, was apparently living out west when a huge earthquake hit. (I think I remember my dad telling me it was a 7 or 8 on the richter scale.) He was sleeping in bed and the wall in his bedroom came crumbling down right beside him on the right side of the bed. Luckily, he was sleeping on the left side and was able to get out of there in time!

[Deleted User]

When I was in college, I used to go for a lot of long drives to de-stress and clear my head. One night, I went out to my car and then realized I'd forgotten my purse so I went back inside to get it.

I was driving on the interstate when about a few hundred yards ahead of me (give or take), a pickup truck crossed the median and slammed head-first into an suv. The suv just went up in flames immediately. I ended up being parked on the interstate for almost an hour because they shut down the road. 

It was really eerie watching the emergency vehicles keep coming, and then finally the coroner's van. It shook me up pretty good and I kept thinking that if I hadn't gone back to get my purse, I could've been at the right place at the wrong time. 

FI was also held up at gunpoint and pistol-whipped one evening while jogging. A few weeks later, someone was robbed and shot in a similar scenario. Not sure if the incidents were related, but it made us wonder. 

AlexisA01

jenandtonic81515 said:

When I was in college, I used to go for a lot of long drives to de-stress and clear my head. One night, I went out to my car and then realized I'd forgotten my purse so I went back inside to get it.

I was driving on the interstate when about a few hundred yards ahead of me (give or take), a pickup truck crossed the median and slammed head-first into an suv. The suv just went up in flames immediately. I ended up being parked on the interstate for almost an hour because they shut down the road. 

It was really eerie watching the emergency vehicles keep coming, and then finally the coroner's van. It shook me up pretty good and I kept thinking that if I hadn't gone back to get my purse, I could've been at the right place at the wrong time. 

FI was also held up at gunpoint and pistol-whipped one evening while jogging. A few weeks later, someone was robbed and shot in a similar scenario. Not sure if the incidents were related, but it made us wonder. 

That would fuck me.

FiancB

Well I guess I sort of have a new one. Mall of America is getting terrorist threats and we were just there last week, would have liked to have gone this weekend but didn't have time. The print articles is making it sound like no big deal but the news showed snipers everywhere? It's not closed, but eff that. I would hate to be be a retail or restaurant worker there- a shitty job at Hollister or whatever is so not worth dealing with that possibility. 

There was one day I was driving to work and I got there and heard about a tornado that passed over. I lived in Oregon at the time and tornadoes are extremely rare. It passed over the freeway about 10 minutes after I did and it caused a lot of wrecks. I saw some hail, but otherwise had no idea until hearing about it. 

When I was about 11, I was with my big sister at the airport for some reason. She went to go off somewhere while I sat down at a table in one of the dining areas and this guy sat down with me and started talking to me. I didn't know what to do, and stupid me didn't want to be rude or whatever, so I didn't freak out on him or leave. He ran away when my sister came back shortly after. I don't remember what he even said but it was really skeevey. And apparently Portland is one of the worst cities for sex trafficking, yay. 

In a similar vein when my ex was little he was at the park with some friends. A guy pulled him aside and asked him to help him find his puppy. He went with him and got to the building and then got a bad feeling about it and ran away. 

My grandma claimed that her mother was supposed to be on the Titanic but missed the boat; but I don't think this is true. Good story though so props for that. 

Some of these are really scary! Glad everybody is okay. 

emcme22

I can't think of anything like this that has happened to me but there are two family members that come to mind. I'm not sure how well known it is other places but in Worcester Massachusetts there was a warehouse fire that killed 6 firefighters(I've never seen it but I think the movie Ladder 49 is semi based on it). 2 of my uncles are Worcester firefighters and were luckily on a different engine.

Also not sure how many people are familiar with the movie The Killing Fields or the book it is based on but my Uncle was in Cambodia at that time doing relief services. He talked once about being across the street from his hotel and seeing it attacked and he actually evacuated the same time as the author of that book and they sat together on the plane ride home.

wandajune6

ashley8918 said:

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown's_Chicken_massacre I lived right down the street, and my mom had taken me there earlier in the day (a few hours earlier). The police tracked everyone down who was there that day by checking credit card receipts, so I was interviewed about a massacre at the ripe old age of 4. Basically, they just asked if I had seen anything or anyone acting weird, scary, etc.

Shit! I remember that! How scary!

novella1186

When I was a kid my dad got us tickets to a huge event that was happening in our city. I guess he pulled some strings to get the tickets because they were hard to come by, and they were for really good seats. 

On our way to the event, we got in a car accident. It was bad enough that I had a concussion and some other minor injuries and had to go to the hospital, so it looked like I was going to miss the entire event. 

While I was sitting in the hospital waiting on the results of my CAT scan, suddenly a huge wave of trauma cases came in. We find out a beam in the temporary venue that had been set up for the event came down and landed on people. I think 6 or 7 people were killed. The trauma cases coming in were all pretty serious; one guy that my parents knew had a fractured skull and ended up being air-lifted to a bigger hospital. 

Turns out, the beam fell on the section of seats we had tickets for.