Now – having been in a couple of bad situations – one, as a teen involving jumping into a river into 30′ deep pitch black water with a friend to pull 2 guys out of a sunken boat, and being swept what seemed like 100 yards down steam by the current with one of the guys in tow before I could get to the surface…
I can guarantee you nobody knows what they will do when confronted with a life or death situation. If I had the time to think about it, I probably never would have jumped. Without the support of each other, neither myself or my friend may have jumped. If confronted with the same situation again – I have no idea if I would or could do something like that again. I can tell you when I got back to land…I was scared chitless and shaking like a leaf from the adrenaline crash.
The thing about folks we call heroes and courage is there is no way to predict who will do what. Those who brag about what they would do when ………. happens – are usually the first guys to fold. Looking certain death in the face isn’t something the vast majority of folks can handle, despite all the TV heroes.
So Uncle Ben talking about he would stand up to a guy with a gun pointed at his head – especially after the guy has already murdered several people…Is total bullshit. Most likely the next stop would have been the laundromat to get his pants and undies cleaned – if he survived after grovelling on his knees and fouling himself.