Walking back to work recently, some friends and I were about to use a clearly marked crosswalk when we spotted a driver speeding in a little red
car. We had just stepped off the curb but I guess instinct kicked in and thus
even before we consciously registered that this driver had absolutely no
intention of stopping for us mere pedestrians, there we were, frozen, staring, mystified.
And then as that red car streaked by, suddenly a wall of dirty water came at us
like a tsunami. We hadn’t even noticed the giant puddle in the middle of the
crosswalk. There wasn’t time. Despite the driver’s speed and carelessness AND
the sheer size of the wave directed at us, we remained unharmed and dry.
This all occurred in about the time span it takes to
count one-two-three.
Wow. Whoa. I looked at my friends: “did that just happen?”
It was like seeing a unicorn, a blind unicorn driving a red car, a blind
unicorn clearly in a state of emergency driving a red car like an ambulance.
Then one of my friends said, “I’m sure I could hear that
driver yelling, wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” And then we all laughed for about
five minutes. Partly because we weren’t dead but mostly because that describes
this whole fat slice of nonsense EXACTLY. I retract my previous statement. That
driver wasn’t a unicorn at all; that driver was more like a toddler who just discovered the very
first puddle. And “wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” is why toddlers shouldn't
drive.
There’s a lesson in that 77 year old clueless toddler. Dangerous?
Yes. But I must say there’s something beautifully clueless about this memorable
moment too. It was like witnessing a human declaration of stupidity, an
abandonment of numbing common sense, like yelling from a mountaintop, “So what
if the world wants me to act a certain way! Don’t people realize there are
puddles to drive through?!”
I guess what I’m saying is this: doesn’t everyone need a
moment like this every once in a while?
Sometimes all one can do is shake one's head. And chuckle. And remember that without chuckling, it's harder to happy. Plus it's much harder to notice (and/or drive through) all those awesomely big mud-luscious Spring puddles.
3 comments:
First, I am glad you weren't hurt. Second, for a nano-second I think of splashing people at bus stops. Third, I wonder if I'd ever would get splashed while waiting at a crosswalk. Finally, it is moments like these that make you feel alive and take notice the brighter side of life.
Happy Spring! :)
Glad you came out of it unharmed & unsplashed. I'm down for a little reckless abandon every now & again. Preferably not at someone else's expense, though.
Because I live in a big City this happens a lot here. It shows close close the line between and and unsafe always really is.
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