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They Never Saw it Coming… The Sinking of the Titanic.

We may at times wonder what happens to a person as they experience a traumatic event. What drives them to react as they do? My brother-in-law, who served as a Marine, once told me that people rarely rise to a higher level of nobility when faced with crisis. They are either overcome by terror, or they default to their training.

As I read through an article covering testimonies of Titanic [1] survivors printed in the Evening Tribune (San Diego) from April 23, 1912 [2] (shown below), while I have no life experience to know firsthand, I had to admit he may be right. After considering the quotes of a lifeboat captain who was being questioned by Congress, it was clear he was surrounded by two types of individuals: your average everyday citizen and ship hands who had been trained to follow orders. Pondering this type situation, I would like to think I would respond differently, but perhaps I should put a bit of preparation alongside of my hope. Of course, how does one prepare for such a calamity?