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Sometimes Staying Is the only Viable Choice

In middle school we learned about the fall of the Shah and the Iran hostage crisis. I remember the lesson vividly because the teacher was frustrated I asked so many questions. I just could not wrap my head around civilian men with families staying in a country the embassy had ordered evacuated. Diplomats and military? Yes, stay, that’s your job, and it’s the military’s job to get you out. But some mid-level manager at an oil company? You’d have to be mentally ill to stay. Ten years later I was in India when everyone was certain Pakistan was going to launch nukes. The U.S. embassy was closed. Problem was getting out wouldn’t have been easy. I was in a remote corner of India and would have had to take a slow train to Mumbai. I did not want to travel toward the likely first strike. Happened to me two more times in my career. I stayed both times. The last time was right after North Korea conducted its second nuclear test then started hurling conventional missiles across the border. That time at least I was able to convince my company to develop an evacuation plan and put a fast ship on standby.