For my last blog of 2024, I wrote about the time I almost died pedaling my bicycle over a mountain pass in a blizzard.
I wrote that blog on a whim, thinking that nobody wanted to read about economics or mortgages over the holidays. But the blog proved to be surprisingly popular, and there was a good lesson attached to it: persevere no matter what.
So, I thought I might illuminate another one of my stupidity episodes this year (yes, I have many) – with another lesson (which may be a stretch 😊).
In AZ in the late 1970s and 1980s, it was common practice for pretty much everyone between the ages of 16 and 22 to go out in the desert and light a huge bonfire and drink gallons of beer, followed by nighttime desert four-wheeling.
And doing so the night before Thanksgiving was a strong tradition for many, including me and my friends.
It was wonderfully fun because the desert was enormous, wide-open, and beautiful – even at night; you could go for miles on end without seeing any vestiges of civilization, even though you were only ten miles from town.
But there were enormous risks that did not just involve drunk kids falling out of trucks (happened), trucks rolling (happened), getting lost (happened), blowing out drive trains (happened), or – worst of all – running out of beer.
And in 1982, I faced a risk that almost ended my life.
I was blissfully enjoying a huge bonfire and copious amounts of beer with five of my buddies in what was then “the middle of nowhere” (today, it is called “Troon North” in north Scottsdale).
When suddenly, two guys with bandanas over their faces came running out from behind a creosote bush with guns in their hands.
They were clearly on drugs and screaming incoherently, so none of us were sure what they wanted, and I don’t think they knew either.
They finally settled on a need to make us all lie down face first on the ground, so they kept yelling at us to do so.
Knowing, however, that compliance would not likely result in something good, none of us complied.
And that just made them angrier.
So, one of the individuals walked up to me, and pointed his gun at my temple and said: “this guy gets it if you don’t all lie down face first now!”
And to my relief, not only did none of my friends comply, but two of them decided to risk turning around and sprinting into the desert.
And when I say “risk,” it was a huge risk because both of the drug addled gunmen immediately turned and starting shooting at the two runners.
This gave the rest of us the opportunity to run in the opposite direction.
The gunmen then shot wildly at all of us, but we were protected by their inability to shoot pistols (a much more difficult skill than most people realize), the darkness, and the tremendous amount of cover that the Sonoran Desert provides.
Only one person got shot – in the back of his leg – and even that appeared to have been just a ricochet.
The SUV we had borrowed was, however, much worse for the wear, as the gunmen took out all of their frustrations on it, blowing out two of the tires and filling the vehicle full of holes.
Meanwhile, my five buddies and I were just sprinting full speed in different directions as fast and as far away as possible.
Then about 90 minutes later, we all ended up walking down the closest main road to the incident. We weren’t together, but we could see each other’s silhouettes, and we ended up re-grouping.
And yes, we were very nervous that the gunmen might re-appear and that one of the silhouettes might have been a gunman.
But fortunately, the gunmen did not show up again – and we were able to walk back to civilization, hitchhike to a buddy’s home, and then make it to our own homes.
So – what are the lessons?
(1) Take action! Many people would have stood there frozen, waiting for the gunmen to do whatever. But the action of my two buddies (running) likely saved us all.
(2) Avoid stupid people, in stupid places, at stupid times. I stole that phrase from the “Active Self Protection” YouTube channel, in which the host reminds viewers constantly that stuff like the above incident will never happen if you avoid stupid people, in stupid places…
(3) Be more forgiving and focus on what is important. This is probably the best lesson, and it is one I did not appreciate nearly enough at the time. I borrowed the SUV that got shot full of holes from my aunt. Yes, I went back the next day to fix the tires, but I was not able to fix the myriad bullet holes that littered the entire passenger side of the vehicle. My aunt, who did not have a lot of money at the time, did not care at all about her vehicle though, and she was only worried about me. I was moved then, but as I got older I appreciated it more and more.
Or maybe there is no lesson, and I just got lucky…
And I got a mildly interesting story to tell 43 years later.
Happy New Year!
We are closing early today and will be closed tomorrow and Friday. But, we will have mortgage analysts on call all day today, and all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
