Hey Pandas, What Quick Thinking Saved You From Escalating?

I'll go first!

This one time I went to my Grandma's house. She lived in a street with a dead end. The corner had a home with young college boys living there. This one time I was walking on her street (It was a safe neighbourhood) and saw a guy sitting at the door of the corner house. Me being a curious 10 year old kept staring at him. I noticed he was wearing a towel. He opened his towel and showed me what was underneath. I couldn't see anything underneath as it was dark. (I'm a Christian so I believe that God hid it from me but you are free to believe whatever you think happened :) ). Anyway, he motioned me to come close to him. I was scared cause I didn't understand what he was doing and parents warned me not to talk to strangers. Thankfully, I was near my grandmas house so I ran inside immediately.

Sometime the next week, my friend who lived nearby told me that he also did that to him. But instead of going inside his house, he went into theirs. He told me of all the inappropriate things they did in front of him. Apparently they didn't touch him but themselves. He actually cried to me about the whole experience. He was also 10 at the time.

It's disgusting how full grown adults would do that to such young children!

I found myself in a situation where someone I was seeing suddenly turned and I honestly thought they were going to kill me. It was as though my body entered survival mode and I was guided by my instincts. In hindsight it was like being in a trance and I don't know why I said certain things or acted a certain way. I was in a bad situation. It was the middle of the night, low phone battery in a rural place I was unfamiliar with. The guy was an ex marine sniper with access to weapons and it quickly became apparent that he was a psychopath. To this day I don't know what I did right, but I feel as though one wrong move could have put me in a shallow grave.

I was walking to a friend's house, the neighbourhood was sketchy and a popular area prostitutes and gangs like to hang out at.
This guy started walking next to me and talking to me. He seemed level-headed enough, not mean or rude. But I was on guard as I was just walking on my own. He was asking me where I was going. If I lived in the neighbourhood. I didn't really give any straight answer to that other than I was going to meet friends and they were expecting me.
There was a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses down the street going door to door. This guy just blatantly said "I'm going to kill those guys." No context at all. No giggle or laugh or any indication he was kidding or just annoyed at the sight of them.
I asked him why. He said 'I don't know. Just because." Then he offered me to go to the place he was going as we came up to a busy street. Without saying bye or anything I just crossed the street and continued down a street I didn't necessarily have to go. I was scared he would follow me. Looked back and he was just standing there looking puzzled and beckoning me to come back.

11 years old little girl, about 5:30pm, running around and playing tag with a little boy behind the church, while our parents were inside fixing dinner for youth group. I sat down with my knees pulled up, a soda and chips beside me, to take a break and from nowhere a man sits beside me in a cheap brown suit and matching two-tone (white and brown) Oxford shoes. He asked for my chips and soda, which I shared, as I was taught to do. I was wearing a “scooter skirt” (it’s a thing, google it) and the man put his hand under my thigh to check if I had started shaving. At that point, I ran inside the fellowship hall and hollered for my parents. Police were called, and me and friend had to give statements. It was a big deal. The church janitor went after the man who pulled a knife on the janitor. The man was caught by the police, but I never knew what happened to him. My mother probably did, but she never told me. She probably didn’t want me to dwell or worry about it.

It was just an ordinary date
And I knew that I was running late
No time for breakfast on an empty plate
Work an office job that we all hate

I won’t get there now at any rate
Think of reasons as to compensate
Caught myself before I escalate

I hopped off the escalator.
Headed the wrong way.
Silly me.