Sometimes You're the Windshield........

Two days ago I was one car shy of being the fifth car in what would have been at least a five car accident.

If you live long enough, you'll be in a couple of good ones and you'll just miss some by thaaaat much.

I was on the freeway, in the fast lane. A local cop was in the middle lane and making darn good time though not in 'hot pursuit' anything other than dinner, as far as I could tell. As he swooped by the other cars, they would slow down as folks are wont to do. The traffic in my lane checked up, and I slowed as well, surprised that even as I did so, the car two ahead of me seemed to come briefly to a complete stop.

When I determined that I wasn't going to hit them. I accelerated as they did and checked six to see what was happening behind. The lady directly behind me had slowed, and the person behind her began to evade to the center divide and the car next in line went for the middle lane. That's when the guy who was texting came through like Earl Anthony picking up a baby split.

Had I been stopped, I'd have been a member of that club, but my momentum took me away like a tub full of Calgon bubbles. The best I could do was call it in. Wasn't about to back up and create a whole new adventure.

In a past life I was a pilot of aeroplanes, and I still have an intense interest in all thing aeronautical. Almost every time there is really bad weather in the US, a pilot, and maybe a couple of passengers will die. The very air that one hour can be as calm as Ghandi on quaaludes, can be as mean and violent as a pit bull on PCP the next. I always found it interesting it fly through an area in peaceful sunlight and understand that yesterday or four hours ago this same airspace was a mangler.

It is so odd when we are almost in an accident. If we notice what almost happened we'll often bunch up the seat covers with our butt cheeks, holler at the other fool, maybe make a satisfying gesture or two and go on our way, and perhaps never realize just how close to a life changing event we were. One day a while back, I watched a person (carefully non-gender specific) cruise through a stop sign a full speed blithely chatting away on a cell phone. The reason I noticed was because that car crossed my bow ten yards away. The other driver does not know to this day how close we came to meeting by accident. I could list several more but I won't.

The cop? Never stopped. I saw him several miles later at the top of an off ramp. Either completely oblivious or somethin'. Sometimes you're the bug.