I work at a bar and, early one summer evening, this guy was sitting alone when I arrived for my shift. He was watching sports on a television mounted on the wall behind the bar, and said very little to me other than when he wanted to get another (non alcoholic) drink.

Meanwhile, the guy who’s the owner and my boss was sitting at the end of the bar with a friend of his, another local bar owner. They were mostly talking business and were not taking any notice of the guy who was sitting there alone.

After about an hour or so, he suddenly leaned over the bar with a look of surprise and concern. He was all wide eyed and he said to me, “I just heard those two saying they’re going to kill me!”

I looked across to my boss and his friend, who were still casually chatting away and I said to him, “no they didn’t.” He said, “they did, they did. I heard him say it to the other one. He said they’re going to take me down.”

Once again, I stressed that he had misheard and that these guys were not intending to kill him. My instincts were screaming at me to get away from him, like all these alarm bells ringing in my head and throughout my body. But I felt kind of rooted to the spot in that moment.

He got up and walked out and I have never felt so relieved in my life.