{"id":40999,"date":"2023-07-16T07:49:00","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T11:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/?p=40999"},"modified":"2023-07-10T12:51:20","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T16:51:20","slug":"matts-mishaps-66","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/matts-mishaps-66\/","title":{"rendered":"MATT\u2019S\u00a0 MISHAPS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cServing overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from our last 20 years overseas!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Matt<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reluctantly going into EMT mode<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We and our kids have really enjoyed having visits from Americans over the years.\u00a0 They help keep us up-to-date with the newest changes that are happening back home.\u00a0 We live overseas in a place that is quite different than most people\u2019s home Stateside, which is good and bad.\u00a0 Good, because they get to enjoy unique ways the Lord has made places around the globe.\u00a0 The extreme differences are also bad, as it requires me to reluctantly go into the \u201cEMT mode\u201d sometimes.\u00a0 I do have advanced first aid certifications, and if you get in our vehicle you can consider it a \u201ccivilian ambulance\u201d as you will find a large first aid kit, vomit bags, wet wipes, walkie-talkies and a back bench seat that lies flat.\u00a0 However, I\u2019d prefer not to be put into service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extreme differences are bad, because all the unique things are a big distraction for many.  I remember a couple walking around with me, and the wife was looking up at all the attractions as she was pointing out things to her husband.  She didn\u2019t see a set of a dozen steep, sharp volcanic rock steps in front of her.  She said, \u201cLook dear it is \u2026 aaaah!\u201d and she never finished her sentence as she rolled down the steps.  No problem, we drug her to my van and patched her up enough to get her to the emergency room.  She enjoyed the rest of her trip using crutches for a sprained ankle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Our local authorities overseas become exasperated with tourists getting into dangerous trouble on hiking trails and in the open sea.\u00a0 Heavy fines and payments for public rescue services are now levied on foreigners who get themselves into trouble.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The extreme differences are bad, because all the unique opportunities make some people get a \u201csuperman complex\u201d where they think they are capable of doing things they couldn\u2019t do Stateside (or have never even tried).  We bring sports teams over from America.  A long-distance runner once entered into the steeplechase (without training) \u2013 the event where you cross over fixed, wooden barriers with one barrier having a drop into a water pit.  Maybe you have seen it in the Olympics?  Well, this gal cleared the wooden barrier fine, but landed poorly in the water pit, fell, and had others collide with her.  Yes, I took her on a road trip to the emergency room, and she enjoyed the rest of her trip on crutches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extreme differences are also bad, because all the unique things get people into a \u201cDisneyworld mentality\u201d where everything seems like it must be safe.  We do tell people, \u201cDon\u2019t walk on manhole covers, they may not be stable here.\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t lean on rusty railings here at overlooks, it might not hold you.\u201d  We once had a couple guys go down to the coast and assume it was safe to try to body surf, even with a warning flag flying.  They told me they had gotten really battered in the waves and a few days later, smelly, green ooze was coming from their ears.  Yes, I took them on a road trip to the hospital as they had gotten water contaminated with bacteria slammed into their ears.  They looked a bit comical with large patches of gauze taped to their ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The normal, humdrum, mundane, and unexciting things of our home-town life are sure preferred by a person reluctant to go into \u201cEMT mode.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Something similar ever happen to you?   Contact me and let me hear your story!  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt\u2019s Mishaps, PO BOX 114, Grabill, IN  46741<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cServing overseas as a small-town boy from America is intense, stressful and humorous! Enjoy a light-hearted story with me from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":41000,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","nf_dc_page":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,13165],"tags":[13025,19461],"class_list":["post-40999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns","category-matts-mishaps","tag-matts-mishaps","tag-reluctantly-going-into-emt-mode"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/matts-mishaps-EMT-mode.jpeg?fit=318%2C204&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YQd9-aFh","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-28 12:27:23","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40999"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41001,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40999\/revisions\/41001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.westbendnews.net\/autonews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}