Friday, May 18, 2007

I am glad I didn't go out like this. . .

I leave work at 5:30 and start ambling down the rainy sidewalk of Broad St. in Boston. I am sort of staring at the ground a bit while crossing Broad St. A van is about to turn onto Broad St. as I am crossing. Instead of waiting for me to cross the street, the van began to accelerate very fast in my general direction. My quick reaction left me in a most unfortunate spot - I flinched so hard at the van that my slippery-soled, mildly dressy shoes just slipped out from under my feet, and I fell on my elbow and my back. There I was, practically lying down in the middle of Broad Street, with a van accelerating towards me, and now I was also completely out of his direct vision. "Oh shit, THIS IS NOT HOW I WANT TO DIE!" About a millisecond later, the driver slammed the breaks, skidded, and the van stopped about five feet in front of me. I sat on the ground for about ten seconds, slowly got up, walked by the van driver, and peered in the window. He was talking on his cell phone and never looked my way; he just hit the gas again quickly and drove away. I looked around at a few people on the sidewalk who watched what had just unfolded. They all had their jaws dropped, and after a few seconds they started shaking their heads almost in unison. One guy, who was about my age, said "Wow, I can't believe that just happened. What a dick!" Then we both sort of half-smiled, and I proceeded to amble home.