In Case Of Emergency, [Unexpected Error]

I have said before that new situations are difficult for me, but generally they are only partly new, with some base in behaviour I know. When things happen that are completely alien, I have no clue what to do, so I often do nothing. This has happened a few times in my life and I'm going to list a few, starting with the least significant.

Of course you, the reader, don't know me, but those who do know that I am always articulate, have a wealth of information ,and a counterpoint to every argument. This is all true within the normal realms of conversation. But very occasionally, someone will ask a question which I have never had to think about before (possibly of a personal nature).
In these situations, it's like the wires aren't connected, the file's not found, there's nothing behind Door Number One. My mouth goes to form a word, then... nothing. This has happened possibly 3 times. As a side, the most awkward of these situations was a guy asking me if I would date his girlfriend given the chance, while she was standing there.

I once observed a man stumbling down the street with the weirdest gait I've seen. He was quite a way ahead of me when he fell down, and there were people around him to see what was the matter. In fact, a car stopped to see if any assistance was needed. He waved them off, got up, and carried on his way.
He made it about 100ft before he fell again and there were still people around who could help him up. He waved them off too. As I passed the would-be helpers I hear them say they could "smell it on his breath". I didn't know the guy, but I had been a little concerned, maybe he'd been hit by a car, I don't know. I assumed he was drunk, but that's not really a good state to be in by the roadside.
Next time he fell, I was the closest person to him, but I didn't rush to his aid when he fell, I just carried on at normal speed and went straight past him. Was that the best thing to do? I don't know, but neither did I know what needed to be done.

I rank this higher, because it affects someone I know. A friend informed me that one of their parents was quite ill - hospital grade ill. I've had very few hospital related incidents in my life, so I really didn't know how severe it was. Either way, I though I should be a supportive, or at least well-meaning friend.
But what does one do in that situation? Are you supposed to say "wow, that really sucks" in sad tones? Are you supposed to do the whole "If there's anything you need..." spiel? I'm pretty sure about this one but are you supposed to inquire as to the nature and fatality of the 'illness'?
I settled for the "Hope they get better" with a follow up some time later. I just hope they recognised that I'm not good at this and took heart that I cared.

The final incident I'll describe you may possibly think is the most heinous, but remember I was (and possibly still am) poorly equipped in all necessary aspects to deal with the situation.
I was at home one day, and since it was a nice day, had the window open. I heard the clatter of a ladder and an 'argh!' from through the window. I had a look, but could see nothing, and without going house to house, had no way of knowing where it came from. Yes, I did think he might be injured, but I didn't here any further commotion, so I put it to the back of my mind feeling a little bit guilty, but assuring myself that it was more likely that her was fine.
I later found out that it was a workman working on a house while the owners were out. He fell off his ladder and injured his spine. The ambulance crew took him away. From what I heard, he recovered with no serious complaints. But it must have been a few hours before he was discovered, and I can rationalise away my behaviour, or I can blame myself, but I felt I would have some kind of meltdown if I tried to help, and that's not helpful.


These are situations where I felt I could do nothing, or didn't know how to act. I've said the best way to deal with this is to practice, but I don't want to practice these.

Practice and New Situations

I believe I have already mentioned that I have generalised anxiety or some form of social phobia. I have read what the literature has to say on the matter - usually something about cognitive reframing and logical thinking - but the only real method I have found effective is practice.

One example I could list is phone calls, something I believe quite a few Aspies don't like. Before I really examined it, I didn't know why I disliked phone calls, and assumed it was just something to do with my generation (as in peer group, not the the song by The Who). The issue is that I didn't really know when it was my turn to speak. After receiving many calls, albeit mostly from sales companies, I came up with stock phrases and I suppose I mimicked my parents' phone style a bit. These were less useful when there were new situations, or I was making the call.

As with talking with strangers face-to-face, phone calls take more conscious effort. I've noticed this even when talking to friends on the phone - people I know and am comfortable around. Every phone call I make adds to my experience and therefore my confidence making new calls. How? It's simple. Having  more things to draw on means I can take aspects from each and combine them effectively in ever new situations.
 
This can be applied to all social interactions, but you might have to start off small before building up to completely alien situations. Believe it or not, I feel generally more confident knowing there are things I can deal with now that I had issues with earlier.