Shocking Events
Title
Shocking Events
Identifier
SHOCKING_EVENTS
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"I have been 'telling my story' for lo these many years, and have been part of a group, the members of which have been telling their stories as well."
Date
2016-01
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Text
SHOCKING EVENTS
I have been “telling my story” for lo these many years, and have been part of a group, the members of which have been telling their stories as well. By now, I have told it all. And I have heard countless stories from the ever-changing members of the group. The stories are fascinating, insightful, moving, sad, funny. Many of my stories I describe as “poignant.” From time to time someone in the group tells a story that is shocking. We sit in disbelief. My God! Did that really happen to you? How traumatic! And you survived. And you are here to tell us about it. You see the narrator in a different light. The stories usually involve physical violence, rape, terrible confrontations, encounters with cruelty and sadism.
I have lived a long life. I have been involved in countless encounters, but though I came close, I never experienced anything like the experiences my colleagues endured. My life has had its share of tragedies: the untimely deaths of my parents, the loss of a cousin, who I loved, in World War II, the illness and death of close friends. I lived through the depression, I had a few schoolyard fights, I had close traffic scrapes, I had confrontations with police as a union organizer, and civil rights activist, but I was never arrested. I was never even roughed up. Our apartment was burglarized when we were away, our car was broken into when visiting Manhattan, and our car was stolen once. I lived in low income, minority neighborhoods and was never accosted. The closest I came to being robbed, and possible worse, was in Budapest in 1997, when I was approached, on an empty side street by two unsavory looking gentlemen asking if I would like to change some money. I said no and ran like hell.
Nothing dramatic happened to me with regard to my health. People I know have been through near fatal illnesses and operations, accidents bringing them to the brink. My first overnight in a hospital was having my tonsils out at 10, and not being back until I had elective knee replacement surgery. In between, I had a car accident which injured my back, but not seriously, a fall which resulted in a broken wrist, and another fall resulting in a badly scraped shin, and a broken nose. There was an incident in which a doctor thought I might have a heart problem, but it did not materialize. I developed arthritis in my knees and had arthroscopic surgery. A few years ago, I had severe pain in my foot. It turned out to be gout.
Seems I can’t compete with my colleagues who have lived through those shocking, life-threatening events. Clearly, one important factor is that they were women. We are living at a time of increasing violence. Our society has never been without violence. Another is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I have been “telling my story” for lo these many years, and have been part of a group, the members of which have been telling their stories as well. By now, I have told it all. And I have heard countless stories from the ever-changing members of the group. The stories are fascinating, insightful, moving, sad, funny. Many of my stories I describe as “poignant.” From time to time someone in the group tells a story that is shocking. We sit in disbelief. My God! Did that really happen to you? How traumatic! And you survived. And you are here to tell us about it. You see the narrator in a different light. The stories usually involve physical violence, rape, terrible confrontations, encounters with cruelty and sadism.
I have lived a long life. I have been involved in countless encounters, but though I came close, I never experienced anything like the experiences my colleagues endured. My life has had its share of tragedies: the untimely deaths of my parents, the loss of a cousin, who I loved, in World War II, the illness and death of close friends. I lived through the depression, I had a few schoolyard fights, I had close traffic scrapes, I had confrontations with police as a union organizer, and civil rights activist, but I was never arrested. I was never even roughed up. Our apartment was burglarized when we were away, our car was broken into when visiting Manhattan, and our car was stolen once. I lived in low income, minority neighborhoods and was never accosted. The closest I came to being robbed, and possible worse, was in Budapest in 1997, when I was approached, on an empty side street by two unsavory looking gentlemen asking if I would like to change some money. I said no and ran like hell.
Nothing dramatic happened to me with regard to my health. People I know have been through near fatal illnesses and operations, accidents bringing them to the brink. My first overnight in a hospital was having my tonsils out at 10, and not being back until I had elective knee replacement surgery. In between, I had a car accident which injured my back, but not seriously, a fall which resulted in a broken wrist, and another fall resulting in a badly scraped shin, and a broken nose. There was an incident in which a doctor thought I might have a heart problem, but it did not materialize. I developed arthritis in my knees and had arthroscopic surgery. A few years ago, I had severe pain in my foot. It turned out to be gout.
Seems I can’t compete with my colleagues who have lived through those shocking, life-threatening events. Clearly, one important factor is that they were women. We are living at a time of increasing violence. Our society has never been without violence. Another is being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “Shocking Events,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed March 22, 2025, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/418.