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Boy, am I morose today. I nearly killed a child this morning and I'm a bit preoccupied over the randomness of the universe.
The school run fell to me today and one of my ten-year-old daughter's little friends was at the drop-off zone for the morning unload. The school recruits students to serve as 'safety patrols', but they're more or less curb valets. I was teasing this girl because she'd called the house last night at 9:30 and hung up on me when I answered. She has a habit of calling late and I think she didn't realize what time it was and tried to duck out on the call when she heard me answer, completely forgetting about caller ID.
So I gave her a hard time and we had a little laugh and she told me to have a nice day and closed the door. As I was pulling away, I don't know what sparked me to check the mirrors. Perhaps something in my peripheral vision drew my eye. At any rate, right above the 'Objects in mirror are closer than they appear' warning was Olgita, all terrified face and hands clutching at the orange safety vest that she'd somehow managed to close into the back door of my car. I'd already pulled her off the curb and she was stumbling to keep pace with me.
If I'd given it a little more gas, she would have fallen. I could have dragged her or run over her and she and I'd be in The Citizen-Times already, headline news.
All's well. She walked away smiling, and only a little trembly. I had a stomachache until mid-morning. Of course, I'll soon forget this fright and life will roll right on, but right now I'm acutely aware that sometimes it all goes toes up for no reason at all.
Be good to each other.
The school run fell to me today and one of my ten-year-old daughter's little friends was at the drop-off zone for the morning unload. The school recruits students to serve as 'safety patrols', but they're more or less curb valets. I was teasing this girl because she'd called the house last night at 9:30 and hung up on me when I answered. She has a habit of calling late and I think she didn't realize what time it was and tried to duck out on the call when she heard me answer, completely forgetting about caller ID.
So I gave her a hard time and we had a little laugh and she told me to have a nice day and closed the door. As I was pulling away, I don't know what sparked me to check the mirrors. Perhaps something in my peripheral vision drew my eye. At any rate, right above the 'Objects in mirror are closer than they appear' warning was Olgita, all terrified face and hands clutching at the orange safety vest that she'd somehow managed to close into the back door of my car. I'd already pulled her off the curb and she was stumbling to keep pace with me.
If I'd given it a little more gas, she would have fallen. I could have dragged her or run over her and she and I'd be in The Citizen-Times already, headline news.
All's well. She walked away smiling, and only a little trembly. I had a stomachache until mid-morning. Of course, I'll soon forget this fright and life will roll right on, but right now I'm acutely aware that sometimes it all goes toes up for no reason at all.
Be good to each other.
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