Amazing response

Friday my sister and I went to visit our mother, who lives about 45 minutes from us. Most of the trip is along I-5. Going was no problem and we had a lovely visit.

On the way home, at about the half way mark, the truck him front of me swerved from the middle lane into the left hand lane. As the view cleared I see a big twisted chunk red metal in my lane, and a motorcyclist lying motionless between me and it. Luckily I wasn’t follow very close and had plenty of room to stop, and the vehicle behind me was a fair distance back. (How often does that happen?)

I get stopped and set my flashers, so no one can run over this guy. Immediately several people with some emergency response experience stop and start to render aid. Everyone is on the phone calling it in. I’m directing traffic trying to keep vehicles moving past the site and another guy is up the road waving all the traffic over the far left lane. At this point the highway is down to a single lane.

One woman stops and gives us every thing in her emergency kit. Most people move through at a good pace and everyone up the line makes way for the police and EMTs as they arrive. All in all it was an amazing, unrehearsed performance done in unison by complete strangers, all for the benefit of a guy lying helpless in the middle of the road.

I’ve thought about this a lot over the weekend. This was such an amazing event, not because something dramatic and life threatening happened, but because so many people took immediate action on behalf of someone they didn’t know, in a situation they didn’t have any responsibility for, and none of them ever questioned why they did it. What an outstanding example of all that is right with our country, and the human race!

Too often we get really cynical about the human condition, you all know I’ve certainly suffered from that, but actually there is a lot with us. We need to take the time to see it and acknowledge it.

I think about the motorcyclist, laying there in the road, unable to move, but aware of his surrounding. How terrifying that must have been, to know you’re down, in the middle of the highway. I’m sure he expected to be run over.

I wonder what happened to him and if he’s going to be alright. We didn’t stay. As soon as the EMTs and enough police showed up take over my traffic duties, and Danna’s schlepping duties, we left. We hadn’t seen the accident happen, and we would have just been in the way at that point. So we have no idea where he was taken, or what the on-site assessment of his condition was. We just hope he is doing well, where ever he is.

If you have moment please send out a prayer, or some positive thoughts for him.

Watch out!!

I’ve been having a challenging week with cars. It started Monday when I checked out a car at work to do some site visits. I pull out of the downtown garage, get a couple of blocks down the road, put on my blinker to change lanes, check to make sure the lane is clear and begin to move over in a nice steady maneuver, when the car in the other lane whips over without warning and nearly take off my bumper. (She did take a few years off my life.) She was of course was on the phone and had no idea that she had nearly caused an accident.

Several more blocks down the road, a man steps off the corner in front of me; I had a green light. When I slam on my breaks, he looks at me like, What! I just wanted to smack him!!!

Yesterday, I had a dental appointment and went home after. Later I had to leave for a meeting and was backing the car out of the driveway when I hit my son’s scooter. I couldn’t see it in the rearview mirror. I knocked it over and got a purple scraping mark on the rear of my car, and broke his kickstand. Aghhhhh!

Today I had an important meeting off site with some community members to discuss an upcoming project in their area. I go to the receptionist to pick up the keys to the car I reserved a month ago. No keys. We call the last person to use the car and he said he had turned them in. I go down to check the garage, and no car. The clock is ticking away and we’re scrambling for keys. I was just about to take the keys to the big hawking 10 passenger van when we finally found a car not being used. One person in a 10 passenger van on Earth Day being driven by a Bureau of Environmental Services employee would just so wrong on so many levels! Not to mention the hazard I am in that thing on tight streets.

The person who took the car sent me an email apologizing for his mistake. I told him it was OK, it all worked out. Besides his ears should have been burning, and if only half the curses I had been directing at him come true he is in for an interesting few days.

So, lets all keep our finger crossed (except for me when I’m driving) that I get through the week without a serious incident. Or any more minor ones.