Cheating Death
Crossing the street on my way into the office this morning some j@cka$$ came "this close" to squashing me. He came whipping around the busy loop corner taking a left onto a one-way street, no regard for pedestrians or the world around him. Thankfully he saw me at the last minute and has had his brakes checked recently. By the time he came to a screeching halt he was only about a foot away from my femur.
I looked up at the walk sign ahead of me... still green. I just stood there in the middle of the street for a few seconds. The guy did his best not to look at me while I stared him down. He can't move his car as I'm standing directly in front of his bumper, feeling my hands begin to shake. The walk light started flashing so I finally continue through the intersection.
As I reach the corner I turn around to look back at the guy who nearly offed me, he's now talking on his cell phone1 and hitting the gas to speed to the next light. Never once did he even look me in the eye to acknowledge that he almost killed me.
Slightly relevant....
1 It is illegal in this city to drive and use a cell phone without a hands free device. It doesn't seem to have cut down on the number of people I see driving and chatting one-handed.
Comments
That reminds me of what my son told me the other day. he walks to and from work (about 2 miles each way) so he has his fair share of near death experiences to talk about too. The other day he was going across a fairly wide street (3 lanes in each direction) and a cop was directing traffic due to a power outage. The cop motioned for him to go and as he stepped out a guy tried to make a right turn and almost hit him. The cop runs over and starts pounding on the hood of the guy's car! Justin was lovin it.
Posted by: turtle from eljay | July 28, 2006 12:15 PM