Back in the ‘70s I was a lifeguard at a pool on the top of an apartment house in N.W. Washington. One afternoon I was watching a storm drop lightning around Catholic University on the other side of town and had the random thought “Why doesn’t lightning ever strike near where you are?” Almost at once, a huge bolt of lightning hit the building across the street at my level, less than 100 feet away. The bolt was as wide as a Volkswagen with a pink core, and the light, concussion, and sound were instantaneous. By blind instinct, I ran from the pool, raced down ten stores of stairway, got in my car and was almost a block away before I recovered my presence of mind and asked myself “What am I doing?”
I am sorry to laugh but that was so hilarious what you said at the end of your story. Check this strike, it blew a manhole cover into the air. Crazy scary.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9f0NUb-G3I
And thanks to everyone who shared their stories. All great.