What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

This is a bonus episode of What Was That Like. If you’re new to the show, this is not normally what you’ll hear. What usually happens is I’ll have someone come on the show to tell the story of something that happened to them. Something that was very unusual. At this point we have over 130 episodes, and a huge variety of stories – animal attacks, plane crashes, mass shootings, all kinds of stories....

It’s hard for me to imagine not loving dogs. But that’s the way some people are, and it’s usually pretty easy to spot someone like that. I remember one time we were visiting my parents and of course we brought our two little Yorkies with us because they like to go everywhere we go. They are Lilly and Fenway. And Fenway is a little guy, only about 7 pounds, and he is the social one. He just loves t...

You know, there’s just something about Friday night. For a lot of people, it’s the end of the work week, and you can just sort of chill out. You don’t have to worry about getting a good night of sleep, because you don’t have any particular reason to get up early on Saturday. So Friday night is often when many people just kind of exhale, maybe order some food to be delivered, see what’s on Netflix...

Content warning: this episode includes discussion of suicide. I had a scary experience with fire when I was a kid. I grew up in Ohio, in a little town called Westerville. At the time I was probably around 12 or 13. This was on a Saturday, and I was hanging out with some of my friends from around the neighborhood. We were just doing stuff that kids do, mostly setting up ramps and jumping our bikes...

Jayna was excited – she was about to get married. She works in the wedding industry, so she knows how to handle every detail. She also hired a wedding planner. Shayna knows from experience that on the day of the wedding, there are lots of different things happening, and you have to anticipate problems and avoid surprises. She never could have predicted that the events of that day would include a f...

This is not a regular new episode Friday. And that’s because this is not a regular new episode. This is a BONUS episode. If you’re a regular listener to the show, you probably know that we end every episode with a Listener Story. I started doing this about a year and half, maybe two years ago, and it’s become a really popular segment. The Listener Stories are just short stories, like 3-5 minutes o...

The concept of guilt is an interesting thing to ponder. Sometimes it’s justified and rational to feel guilty. If a young child breaks a rule but doesn’t want to admit it and get in trouble, the look of guilt might be all over their face and easy for a parent to read. They did something wrong, and they know it. Adults are often the same way. If you do something to offend someone, or you knowingly b...

This episode comes with a content warning. The story includes discussion of sexual assault, addiction, and suicide.  Stephen Covey is a popular author, and he wrote the best-selling book titled The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Great book, highly recommended.  In that book, Covey tells a personal story that has come back to my mind many times in the years since I first read that book. This...

Almost since the day I had the idea to start this podcast, I’ve wanted to talk to someone who has been struck by lightning. I mean, the thought that you could just be going about your day, maybe walking through a parking lot to go get some groceries, or even at home, maybe in your kitchen – and suddenly you could be hit by 300 million volts. And you never saw it coming. You might wake up a few min...

Content warning – this episode includes discussion of self-harm, addiction, and suicide. Have you ever had to deal with the problem of someone you know, like a family member or a friend, who’s gone missing? There’s this weird mixture of emotions, like frustration, because you just don’t know where this person is. And it’s also scary, because you don’t know what happened. My mom got a little taste...

I love all animals, but one of my favorites is the elephant. Couple of things you might not know about elephants: When you see a herd of elephants, the leader of that family group is one of the females. When a male elephant is born, he sticks around with the family until he’s around 12 years old, then he heads off on his own. The female elephants will usually stay with the family herd their whole...

It’s time for a bonus episode! You’ve heard me talking about the Raw Audio episodes, and today you’ll hear a full, extra Raw Audio episode for yourself. Here’s the deal. If you like the What Was That Like podcast, you’re welcome to support the show, and like a lot of podcasters, that’s done through Patreon. All the details are at WhatWasThatLike.com/support. There are different levels of support,...

No matter where you live, there’s the possibility of experiencing some kind of bad weather. We lived in Maine for about 13 years. And since I was self employed and could pretty much dictate my own schedule, I decided to work part-time for my town’s EMS service. So I got trained in emergency response, and was often called out when someone called 911 with a medical emergency or an injury. And usuall...

I want you to take a moment, and think about the concept of trust. Often, trust is based on experience. When you go to a restaurant you really like, and you order your favorite dish, you trust that the ingredients they use aren’t outdated and spoiled. This is an easy thing, because you’ve done it hundreds of times before, at lots of different restaurants. When I need to have some work done on my c...

When it comes to television game shows, there are just a few that have been around for a very long time. A couple of those are Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy!. These shows have really become a part of American culture. But there’s another one that’s been on the air even longer than those two, because it’s currently the longest running game show in American TV history. That show is The Price Is Rig...

For a lot of Americans, the idea of traveling – being away from home – is just a routine part of life. Whether it’s a business trip or a vacation, getting on an airplane to go somewhere is pretty common. Most of us don’t think twice about it. But that’s not everyone. A recent survey of 2000 Americans revealed some interesting numbers. 13% have never flown in an airplane. 40% of those questioned sa...

This weekend will mark the 21st anniversary of the terrorist attacks that happened on September 11, 2001. We all remember where we were when we first started to hear what was happening. It was such a big and horrible thing, the memory sticks with us. That might be why it seems like it wasn’t really that long ago.  But think about it like this. A new baby that was born that year, is now a senior in...

Most people don’t go to work each day with the concern of going through something that traumatizes them. If your job is in the medical field, such as in a hospital, you might be saddened when a patient you’ve been working with ends up dying. Or if you work in retail, you know there’s going to be the occasional angry or irrational customer who really gets your blood pressure up. Here in America, we...

Do you remember the stress of being a teenager? As an adult, you might look back on that time in your life with fondness. You had no bills to pay, and no worries about where to live, because you were still at home with your parents. You didn’t have to buy groceries – the food was just there. You could get a job if you wanted some extra spending money, but you didn’t really HAVE to work. Why didn’t...

I know, you might be surprised to see What Was That Like show up in your podcast feed today. New podcast episodes come out on Fridays every two weeks, and today is not one of those “new episode” Fridays.  What I have for you today is a bonus episode, because I want to introduce you to another podcast that I think you’ll love, because I know how much you enjoy hearing people tell their very persona...

One of the most difficult things we go through in life is when a close friend or a family member dies. We all know it’s gonna happen to a lot of the people we know and love, but it’s still unpleasant, and uncomfortable, and sad. We even try to avoid using the word “die” – somehow it doesn’t sound quite so bad if we instead say, “they passed away”. But as awful as death can be, there are times when...

I’m really happy to bring you this episode today, but it comes with a content warning, because it includes discussion of suicide. For a long time, I’ve wanted to have a story about hoarding. This is something I personally find really interesting. We’ve all seen pictures or videos of the inside of the home of someone who’s a hoarder. And of course, the reality TV show, Hoarders, puts it right out t...

If you’ve listened to this podcast for a while, you know we’ve covered a lot of pretty horrifying stories. Mass shootings, animal attacks, plane crashes – we’ve heard the first-hand stories of the people who have actually experienced those things.  And when we talk about those stories, we do talk about the tragedy of what happened, but I also like to include the positive side – how the guest recov...

These days, snowboarding is really popular in the colder climates, and of course everyone knows what it is. But it’s actually a relatively new sport, especially when compared to traditional snow skiing. The very first snow skis are dated all the way back to around 8000 BCE, and were found in northern China. They were basically long pieces of wood, like 6 feet, which is about 2 meters, and were cov...

EMTs and other first responders see a lot of things. Sometimes, they arrive on scene and find a situation that they never expected to see. In Port Orange, Florida, paramedics were called to the scene of a car accident on Interstate 95. Only one car was involved. When they arrived, they discovered that something had crashed through the windshield of the car and hit the driver in the head. That “som...