Moody Monday: Jump and Run

About 20 years ago, I had dinner with a lawyer friend that I was collaborating with on a training project. I knew that Bernie had been a financial executive before opening a law practice, but until he had downed a couple of martinis I had never heard the rest of the story. 

A decade or so before Bernie was traveling with his young adult son, when the airliner suffered an inflight mechanical disaster. A turbine failed, cutting hydraulic control lines, making the airplane nearly uncontrollable.  Through heroic efforts of the flight crew and an off duty pilot the plane had a controlled crash landing, killing about half of the people on board, sadly including Bernie's son who was sitting next to him. 

After a third martini, Bernie offered words of wisdom. Pay attention to the safety briefing, know where the emergency exits are. But even more important, look for a the nearest way out, a break in the wall you can squeeze your way through, and run like your life depends on it. Most of the people who died on that flight, died from the fire, those that survived jumped through cracks in the side of the plane, and walked, ran, or dragged themself as far away as they could. 

Reading about the airline crash in India, the sole survivor squeezed out through a crack by a partially open emergency exit door, and ran before the fire engulfed the plane. He survived because he jumped and ran.  

Bernie was seriously injured, and spent a couple of months in hospitals, and a couple of years recovering. He was unable to work for a couple of years to an extent that he qualified for Social Security disability. When he was well enough to think about returning to work, he decided that he wanted career that required less travel, he went to law school, and opened a small boutique law firm. 

In a moment of crisis, look for an opening, jump and run like your life depends on it.