This morning, on the train on the way to work, I was sitting by the door. The train pulled into a station, and an elderly lady got up, with her two or three bags, to disembark.
As she walked past me, she dropped a newspaper on the floor.
Over the next two seconds or so, my mind did this:
‘I should pick up that paper and say, “Did you drop this?”‘
‘Actually, it looks like it was a free newspaper that she dropped on purpose.’
‘Still, I ought to offer it to her, just in case. It’s the right thing to do.’
‘But I’ve left it too long now, and if I stop her she might not get off the train in time.’
During this panicked thinking brought about by a perfectly ordinary situation, I found myself having an actual adrenaline rush; that raw chemical surge of urgency like I’d not felt for a long time.
My point in telling you this story?
It is to forewarn you that, when the time comes, I will not be very useful to you in a combat situation.