Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Waiting Around the Corner








Last summer I pulled into a parking place at my local Home Depot, gathered my purse and prepared to get out of my car. At that precise moment someone whipped into the parking place next to me, nicking my opening car door.
          Fortunately, none of my body parts had emerged yet, so there were no injuries and I ended up with no damage to my car. His car – the one that had appeared out of nowhere at a speed more suitable for traveling than parking – had a few minor scrapes. 

          He had been moving. I was parked. And here was another example of life being filled with teachable moments:
the insurance companies deemed the whole thing my fault.

          I was struck (whoops, mind the pun) by the wish for a different scenario, one in which I had run a different errand, or arrived perhaps ten minutes earlier.

         But we have no way – short of second sight - of knowing when to do this or of knowing what might have happened.  Life is full of ‘what-ifs’ and ‘if onlys.’ When you chose to stroll down that street instead of the other one you may have just missed running into a long-lost friend – or enemy. When you were too tired to finish all 18 holes of golf and left after the first 9, you never learned that thirty minutes later lightening hit the tree overhanging the 15th tee.

          This came home to me today as I was on my way to exercise class at the YMCA. I was running late and already had missed the first five minutes. I took my usual route: off my street, down a hill, right onto Main Street, and two miles to Boston Road. This is a tricky turn, involving fast moving traffic, a bad corner, and peering almost in back of you to see who’s coming.

          When I got to this intersection, I found about five police cars, a tow truck and an ambulance. I was still stewing about being late so it wasn’t until I reached the Y that I thought how things might have played out if I’d been on time.

          I could have been that car on the flatbed with a grill like an accordion.

          And on that note, 

Happy New Year All!

11 comments:

  1. It's so true. Timing is everything! Strange that you would be deemed at fault for that accident with your car door. Shouldn't the other person have looked before pulling into the parking space?

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  2. Ain't it the truth? We never know what the "might have been"s that we missed are. But I still don't see how that accident at Home Depot could be deemed YOUR fault. Sheesh. Now there's a New Years lesson for me. Very thoughtful post, Marty. Thank you, and Happy New Year! :-)

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  3. The universe works in mysterious ways....Happy New Year to you...may it be a year of good timing.

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  4. They are called accidents because we do not plan them. You are one lucky lady and I certainly hope this is the only close call you have in the coming year.

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  5. I've framed that thought myself.
    Cannot believe, however, the insurance settlement.
    Happy new year.

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  6. Not sure I understand the insurance co logic. Sheesh. I think of that every time I see a recent accident on the road ahead of me. What if I had left a few minutes earlier? Sometimes we are just so blessed.

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  7. Oops, Happy New Year and may there be no near misses in the future.

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  8. We could second guess ourselves for our whole life. Happy New Year.

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  9. Wow that doesn't even make sense..if you were sitting still..good grief! I guess the bright side is that no one was hurt. Have a Happy New Year and blessings to you and yours.

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  10. Happy New Year! Insurance companies seem to have some strange rulings. Hope you don't have any more close calls:)

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  11. Right there is your guardian angel keeping you safe by making you 5 minutes late.
    I do think that insurance companies get it wrong so many times, how in the world is it your fault that car hit your door? You checked for traffic before opening it, right?

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