Sorry, Was I In Your Way?

Yesterday, about a quarter to one, I decided to take a long walk and then have a very late lunch after that. It was very sunny with beautiful clear skies. About a half hour into my walk I found myself in front of a sedan. As I entered the crosswalk in front of the grocery store exit, I looked at the car and then the traffic light above; both were red. I proceeded and when I was directly in front of the car, BAM, the driver decided and did attempt a right turn. The driver had to be at least late 70’s - early ‘80’s. Not, that her age mattered, but her carelessness certainly did… I tried to break my fall with my left hand and nevertheless found myself in a most undignified sprawl on the hood of the car. Fortunately, I was wearing a new J&M blazer and Tom Ford cologne, but I digress. I looked up at the driver whose expression can only be described as very pissed. I struggled to get to my feet and the driver waited. She did not get out of the car; she just waited with a scowl. I was three-quarters of the way standing again when, the woman just completed her right turn and sped away. With my arms spread wide I demanded, “So, you’re just going to drive off?” Her answer was in her exhaust.



Livid, I made my way home. By the time I got there, I was experiencing a slight pain in the lower right side of my back. I took a couple pain relievers and took to the safety of my bed for a couple three hours and was right as rain thereafter. As I lay there I could not help thinking about the woman. I almost made excuses for her. I pondered that maybe she had been told that if she hit another person she would lose her license; maybe she was preoccupied with the loss of a loved one… (the favorite of her fourteen cats, perhaps); maybe the side effects of her current meds caused her to react as a hateful cow? I could not help thinking about the look on her face. It did not match any of my excuses for her. It was a look of contempt, inconvenience; as if to say “I got things to do. Get the F*** off my hood.” I wondered if that song writer was thinking about people like that when he wrote “I hope I die before I get old.” What a miserable way to be. To go about pissed off at someone because you hit them with your 2000 pound vehicle as a result of inattention or intention is a pretty sad way to be. Finally, in my thoughts I reached the conclusion that I was just glad that I wasn’t her.



For the most part I had little or no physical injuries, but I fear my faith in humans suffered a compound fracture.