A coast guard officer traumatized me back

Once or twice, I volunteered with a summer program for kids, and for a field trip, we took the kids to a US Coast Guard station on Lake Erie. The kids asked the officer a variety of different questions, and the officer explained what sort of things the coast guard did and what daily life was like for members of the coast guard. He explained a rescue operation he and his unit had helped with recently on the lake.

I raised my hand and asked a question which I thought would be a fun sort of conversation starter I might ask a coast guard officer at a party. "What's the craziest thing you've ever seen out on Lake Erie?"

The officer got real somber. He repeated the story of the recent rescue operation, but with more details. I can't remember the exact story he told, but I think a small plane crashed into the lake and multiple people drowned. The coast guard had to coordinate the rescue. This had happened last week.

I learned to be more careful about the questions I asked and the tone in which I ask them.