The Importance of Automatic Catch-Phrases -

When I was a Navy Diver and Water Survival Instructor, part of my day's work was the maintenance of HEEDs bottles (Helicopter Emergency Egress Devices), commercially marketed to civilians as "Spare Air" products.

The HEEDs bottle were basically mini-SCUBA tanks the size of a large caffe-latte at Starbucks.

But whether the pressurized SCUBA tanks were the size of HEEDs bottles or as big as the old "Twin 80s" (Aluminum, double 80 CF tank setup), protocol dictated that before depressurizing it (emptying its air), the operator must yell "Bleeding Down!".

This was done for safety reasons.

It was a warning to anyone within earshot to expect a sudden hissing sound and a concentrated air blast from a pressurized tank. Because of our training, all personnel within close proximity automatically adjusted our present activities accordingly.

My "Bleeding Down" Catch-Phrase -

For those of you who haven’t been indoctrinated into the wonderful world of hazardous duty, let me cue you in.

Almost all operators have a “bleeding down or releasing pressure,” personal catch-phrase they say to themselves to instantly calm down. These catch-phrases serve a vital purpose. They put you into a mindset that’s conducive to survival, especially when you’re “having a bad day at work.”

Catch-phrases will:

Delete damaging/time-consuming emotions from your current scenario.

Help you mentally step out of a hazardous/time-sensitive situation to facilitate quick, often life-saving decisions objectively - as an observer, not a participant.

The "bleeding-down" phrase will relax you, even make you laugh, as you marvel at the absurdity of life.

Again, I said, “Imagine that?”

Above my head, instead of a heavenly full, round canopy, I saw what resembled a huge, used condom! Either a line-over or static electricity was preventing air from inflating my chute...

(Excerpted from and continued in "The Angel of Mercy. The Assassins. And the Absurdity of Life." https://steemit.com/life/@jaichai/the-angel-of-mercy-the-assassins-and-the-absurdity-of-life)

By JaiChai

This image #1 of 3 rare (only three minted), signed and non-watermarked NFTs of "Bleeding Down" - from the "Imagine That" Collection.

Available HERE: https://zilliqa.mintable.app/artwork/item/Bleeding-Down---1-Bleeding-Down---from-the-Imagine-That-Collection-1-of-3/iU5mKob-byiF2yU

May you and yours be well and loving life today.

In Lak'ech, JaiChai

(JaiChai 06 DEC 2021. Simultaneous multi-site submissions posted. All rights reserved.)