Crash Into Me

Okay, this is an anti-Bush advertisement (you need QuickTime to view it, but it's worth it), and the ending has some profanity (bleeped out), but it made me snort when I heard it. The actress, whomever she is, really sells it. And I love the squirrel running through the background midway through the shot.

I got rear-ended three times yesterday afternoon - by the same man. I was first in line at a stoplight, minding my own business, listening to Snow Patrol and rocking out, when the Oldsmobuick behind me tapped my bumper. Very lightly, though; he must have just rolled into me.

So I check out the situation in my rearview mirror, and see that the very old man has put his car in reverse and is backing up. I wasn't going to even bother getting out of my car to check the bumper, since he was probably only going about 5 mph when he hit me.

I resumed rocking out, and then ...

*BUMP*

The old man hit me AGAIN! Very lightly, but still!! So now I'm watching his every move in my rearview mirror. He backs up again - I can see his wife, who is in the passenger seat, gesticulating wildly - and then he puts the car in drive and then he gives it some gas to go forward and I'm watching watching watching and then ...

HE HITS ME AGAIN.

Which is when I decided I was going to have to get out of my car and somehow dissuade this guy from his apparent desire to be a battering ram. I put my car in park and turn off the ignition, then I get out and go to the man's window. He's dazed. His wife is screaming at him. He's fumbling with the shifter and looking around. His wife screams more and tells him to take the keys out. I'm standing on the curb, at a safe distance, hoping he doesn't jam on the gas instead and send my car hurtling out into a busy intersection.

The wife gets the keys out of the ignition, steps out of the car, then leans in to tell the man to GET OUT RIGHT NOW. He steps out and I ask him if he's okay, and he starts crying. The wife goes to check my bumper, so I joined her - there's not even a scratch on it. I tell her the bumper doesn't matter; I'm more concerned about the man. She tells me he's on medication.

Me: "So why aren't you driving?"
Woman: "Because I don't know how."
Me: *stares*

So I help get the man into the back seat of his car, get my car out of the intersection, go BACK and drive their car out of the turn lane and into a gas station, and then wish them luck - the wife was on the pay phone calling someone - and go on my way.

It was just sad. The wife screaming at the poor man, the man being so out of it on meds, both of them thinking he was in any condition to drive ... I understand wanting to maintain your independence in your old age, but not at the expense of your and others' safety.

Anyway, I consoled myself by buying a sage green suede jacket that night at the Nordstrom Half Yearly sale.

Posted by Highwaygirl on November 4, 2004 06:40 AM to the category Randomness