I liked how Terry Pratchett mocked this phenomenon: > He remembered once when he'd been stabbed and would have bled to death if Sergeant Angua hadn't caught up

I liked how Terry Pratchett mocked this phenomenon: > He remembered once when he'd been stabbed and would have bled to death if Sergeant Angua hadn't caught up with him and how, as he lay there, he'd found himself taking a very intense interest in the pattern of the carpet. The senses say: we've only got a few minutes, let's record everything, in every detail... --The Night Watch