Close Shaves

When I reflect upon it, GOD has been very gracious to me. Not just in prayers & revelations, but also in sending angels to protect me. Being the blur & clumsy me, I seem to have a no. of close shaves in terms of the possibility of being seriously hurt or maybe even death.

One very marked incident happened about 6 or 7 years ago, when I had just finished a movie or dinner with friends at Orchard. We were taking a walk down the pavement outside Mandarin Hotel towards Somerset when there was some suddenly commotion behind. People started shunning to the sides, including my friends. Me, being slow/blur and puzzled, actually turned to see what was going on (when I should have followed everyone first). Imagine the sight that greeted me! 1 gang was chasing another gang of boys with parangs (boys coz they looked like a group of teenagers)! I was there, standing in the middle of the path, caught in a gang fight! Can you believe this actually happening along Orchard Road?
Well, I didn't move at all coz it was too late. Fortunately, the 1st onslaught passed me on both sides, and when the coast was clearer, I think 1 of my friends actually grabbed & pulled me to the side, and we continued watching the 'manhunt'. Imagine if I moved...the ones with the parang might already have chopped at me to get me out of the way! Not too soon, 1 of the ones being chased ran past & attempted to jump over the fence (you know, those iron ones framing the hotel). The chasing party followed suit & managed to hacked at him with a parang. The injured boy did another leap and was back on the pavement & dashed into a taxi (it was red light, so a taxi was waiting there), and fortunately for him, the light turned green & he got away. Eventually, the gangsters possibly chased the others further down the road or dispersed and that was the close shave I had with death.
My friend later tried to joke that I was very lucky. If they got me, it would be pretty dramatic especially since I was wearing white (you can imagine how the blood might have shown...ok, I'm being morbid). I believed a no. of the bystanders 也为我捏了一把冷汗. However, the strange thing was that I was very calm throughout the whole incident, I just stood there, without feeling anything, no panic, no fear or thinking of anything, like whether I would get hacked or not. It's not being stunned or in shock coz after that, I also felt nothing. GOD really shielded me then.

Another incident happened at the Coffee Bean at Serangoon Gardens. I was buying drinks for my mum & me. Well, being a clumsy fellow, I didn't place the tray collecting the drinks properly on the counter. I dropped something and I bent to pick it up. While straightening up, I felt something whoosh down next to me (could feel my hair flutter) and the tray had just crashed on the floor (drinks & all), missing me by millimetres. Phew! imagine the possibility of getting concussed or scalded. Well, the staff were quite nice & they replaced the drinks for me.

Also, due to my clumsiness, I sometimes stumble a bit while walking. especially if I'm wearing heels. They either slide sometimes or get hooked to some groove in the floor. Fortunately, I sort of manage to get back to position without spraining an ankle and not falling flat on my face. Of course, I still felt embarassed & try to pretend nothing happened & continue walking, but it would have been worse if I really fell down. Talking about getting my foot stuck, a couple of times, my heel went into the gap between the lift door & platform. Fortunately, was able to keep cool & remove myself safely.

Then there was the incident about the airport baggage cart which was in an earlier post. There was this "hysterical" woman who didn't know how to use the trolley and didn't read instructions and came zooming down the travellator at me. Fortunately, she let go in the nick of time, thus making it stop.

Ok, this wasn't exactly life-threatening, but there was once when a bird dropping just missed me...I had just taken a step forward when a dropping fell on the spot that I just stepped out of...it was probably a second difference!

I believe there should be more but won't list them all down. Just thank GOD that He's blessed me with protection.