It's all a matter of perception
There's only one way to be in control when it comes to the time and place of one's own death. Let's not go there.
There have been a few times in my life when I feel certain that I should have died, and didn't. This story is about one of those which stands out quite starkly in my mental movie of it. The movie is based on a true story but I know perception is a slippery slope. In my perception there was a moment when the universe stood still
If working on top of the second tallest mountain in Arkansas has its perks, it also has some hazards. One of the hazards is wind and weather extremes. I came to work knowing that an intense weather event had taken place. I knew this because it had been a bad storm at my home, at the foot of the mountain. Much worse a thousand feet higher; that is pretty much a given.
As soon as I clocked in, I hurried down to the water plant. No outage had been reported, but electric relays "don't like" power spikes and I wanted to make sure everything there was good. Pulling up to the plant, I noticed that the bathhouse, right next door, had no lights. Might just be a tripped breaker. I walked around to the back of the building, where the breaker box was located. The door of the panel was wide open and, as I walked up to it, I heard the voice of Joe, the Park Electrician. What Joe said didn't really register at first, as I reached up and grabbed the metal door. The door wouldn't budge and Joe's words registered suddenly. "That's HOT". It was while my bare hand was on the metal door that I recall having a strange déjà vu moment where time seemed to stand still. I then immediately let go of the door to the breaker panel and went and found a short length of PVC pipe. Bringing it back to the panel I wedged the pipe between the door and the wall and popped it loose with some effort as Joe stood by, telling me to be careful. We were showered with sparks as the panel door broke loose. It had blown open and had hit the meter, which was mounted alongside, with enough force to smash the glass cover and had been securely welded to the contacts inside.
I didn't get shocked that day. I didn't even feel a tingle of electricity. Still, something weird happened that morning that I can't quite put my finger on. We all like to feel like we are in control. Deep down, many of us know that it's all a matter of perception.