LPT: saying “No one is [seriously] hurt but something happened.” While starting a phone call after an accident or incident will save stress

Submitted by Artistander t3_z58cbr in LifeProTips

Inspired by another post to post this. This is a rule in my family, when there is a car accident or anything else that COULD scare someone even for a moment while you explain what happened, starting with "no one is hurt" or "everyone is OK" really really calms the situation down.

"No one is hurt but there was a car accident" "I'm okay and No one here is hurt but there was a shooting across the street." Saves tons of needless panic from your loved ones. (Especially over text)

Edit: also announcing flight numbers before takeoff and landed safely to group chats. It’s a small chance, but if a nearby flight goes down, family knows you were flying today AND can’t reach you until you land, that sucks.

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Brilliant-Ad-8723 t1_ixuvxgk wrote

Yes, the worse phone call I ever received was from my wife sobbing into the phone and my young son screaming in the background with her saying she hit someone, the first thing that comes into my head is that she ran over someone. Actually she just rear ended some guy and no one was hurt. She now knows to first say no one is hurt. Lol

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mostlygray t1_ixvg2dz wrote

My wife did the exact same thing to me. Then she said the wheels fell off her car and she was standing on a busy street during rush hour. She won't even tell me if she's OK. I said, "Get out of the street. Leave the car alone. Call 911. Do not go back to the car."

I haul ass from work and go to where she is. Nothing of what she said was true. She'd broken a ball joint in the driveway of her work and everything was fine. Just a broken car not even in anyone's way. Why she thought screaming about hitting someone and standing in a busy street was a good way to describe that, I have no idea. Why does that include uncontrollable sobbing?

Her mom is just as bad. She calls the house and I say, "How's it going?" There's a long pause and then "Oh... Not good." Even longer pause. "You remember my aunt so-and-so?" I say, "Yes. What's wrong?" "Well..." Even longer, longer pause. "She's been taking care of my sister after her surgery..." "I know! What's wrong?!" "Well she fell down..." "And??????" "She's fine but a little shaken up."

What?!? Jesus Christ! That's not even a story. That's nothing. Every time she calls it's like that. Makes your day just a little shittier."

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concentrated-amazing t1_ixw4n6i wrote

My husband can be bad for this. Biggest case in point:

My husband and I (8 months pregnant with our first) were in a T-bone accident on our way back from visiting my family (5 hours south of where we and his parents live). My husband walked away with basically no injuries, I had bruising and scrapes, etc, wouldn't have gone to the hospital but got ambulanced because of the baby, just to be sure.

My husband sent a picture text of the wrecked car (he's a car guy, his dad too) and that I was on the way to the hospital. That's it. His phone then died, and of course he had no charger or way to charge.

His mom was absolutely frantic. They didn't even know which city we were in, because I they knew we were travelling back that day. She tried contacting me, of course, but I wasn't looking at my phone for the first hour and a half or so, because it also had low battery and I was busy being checked out. She ended up phoning her brother, who lives 10 min from my parents, to get him to look up their farm phone. My dad, who had been receiving updates through my mom, was able to reassure her that her son wasn't hurt, and it didn't seem like I or the baby had anything major but we were being checked/monitored for a few hours.

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TheSmilingDoc t1_ixvmodp wrote

I actually made this mistake myself.

My mom hit a tree while parking backwards, and i texted my fiance about it. Except I got distracted and instead of saying that last part, I only said "mom hit a tree". He read the message a few hours later and absolutely freaked out. My mom was absolutely fine, car only had a minor dent.

Yeah. Oops.

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Bubbagumpredditor t1_ixupdjc wrote

Yeah. Saying "bobs fine, but he's been in an accident" is world's different than saying"bob's been in an accident but he's going to be fine"

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SafetyMan35 t1_ixv87pf wrote

A teenage girl rear ended me. She was nervous and didn’t know what to do. She called her father and I eventually got on the phone with him. The first thing out of my mouth was “Your daughter is fine, no injuries, just shaken. The car is not drivable”.

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Artistander OP t1_ixv8xa0 wrote

Specific, short and facts over emotion. Awesome

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jaelpael t1_ixuyqx1 wrote

Pro tip: only do this IF no one is (seriously) hurt

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Artistander OP t1_ixv8rw9 wrote

True, but also being very specific of who was hurt before making something seem worse than it actually is, no matter how bad it is

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Barbaric_Ape t1_ixv5371 wrote

I just called out my mother for this. My brothers and I have been saying how annoying it is. She says “SERIOUSLY?? Sounds fragile”. I just said I’ll do it to you and see how it makes you feel 🤷🏻‍♂️

I said it’s not hard to comprehend but OK. Now she’s still trying to text me

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fredsam25 t1_ixvi5eo wrote

"I have tragic news. There was an accident. Uncle Jeff didn't make it. We are trying to save grandma, but it's not looking good.... Anyway, the tow truck is almost here to fix the flat. Uncle Jeff will go directly to the airport to get grandma, and we'll meet you all at the house. But tragically, we'll all be late... Start dad's intervention without us... You're the only one that can convince him to not wear that ugly sweater this year... Anyway, I got to bury this hitchhiker's body. I'll see you soon. Love you."

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[deleted] t1_ixvt0xf wrote

[removed]

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tevyepuppy t1_ixxhs4z wrote

My older sister came home for school hysterical and crying because my teacher told her I had an accident. So she had to walk home by herself.

I was a kindergartner and had peed my pants. My mom came to pick me up because I didn’t have extra clothes at school. But they way my teacher said I had an accident made my sister think something serious had happened.

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nyoprinces t1_ixwkc5a wrote

Also, school staff should always start calls to parents with "Everything is okay." Assuming it is.

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parrotbsd t1_ixvym4h wrote

I remember reading a book (the green mile) where an incident had just happened, and Tom Hanks character tells Percy “when you tell (the boss), start with ‘everything is under control’. He will not appreciate being left in suspense”

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_listless t1_ixw601d wrote

"This is your pilot speaking, there is no cause for alarm... the wings are not on fire"

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Empire2k5 t1_ixw3mwu wrote

Well that's no fun, gotta build up the tension/anxiety.

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blueyork t1_ixwaacu wrote

Are you my son? I get these calls from my kids.

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Artistander OP t1_ixwcm71 wrote

Dad? You never came back from the store. I was worried

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OLDGuy6060 t1_ixx4kze wrote

"Let's start with EVERYONE IS OK PHYSICALLY" with emphasis.

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keepthetips t1_ixuktkf wrote

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fantastikalizm t1_ixwzprq wrote

Reminds me of the time I yelled upstairs to my parents that I was okay, but I needed help. My mom ran downstairs thinking I was already dead. I had a broken pinky toe.

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