07-21-2008, 04:48 PM
Yesterday (Friday, the 18th) I picked Paul up at work in the center of town. We then were on our way to a nearby, local restaurant to fetch our Friday dinner. Just as the light turned green at the intersection we were waiting at, Paul suddenly changed his mind and headed straight through the intersection instead of right because he wanted to go up the hill to pick up the pistol he left at his buddy's auto repair shop that morning after using it to kill another buddy's cow which was very sick and old and could no longer stand on its feet. He didn't want to wait until the next morning even though he would be going up there anyway. The sudden impulse to change direction led to a very interesting though jolting event.
After leaving his buddy's garage we headed back down the hill to the same intersection. We were first at the red light, waiting to take a left. We were very involved in a conversation about the poor cow. Suddenly, our truck was bumped from behind. It startled the heck out of us and I yelled in angry surprise. WTF??!! Then the van behind us bumped us again. I turned around to look at the woman in the van. Paul jumped out of his truck and walked back to her van and began yelling at her. The preferable ideal of cooler heads prevailing at that moment failed to manifest. Anyway, she had lost her brakes. She had been pumping them as she came down the long hill and towards the bottom of the incline the brake pedal went to the floor preventing her from stopping. That's when she bumped us. No one was hurt and there wasn't any real damage to either vehicle. Paul and I drove over to the police station to find a cop while she pulled into an adjacent parking lot to wait.
When we drove back to the parking lot the poor woman was very upset and shaking so I talked to her for a bit. I felt bad for her because we had been angry at first in our surprised reaction and Paul yelled at her. Initially upon impact and for some dumb reason, I thought she bumped us on purpose. (Conspiracy, you know?)
The cop tried her brakes and they worked but her work van was going to be towed in case she lost her brakes again on the way home. She was too afraid to drive it. I don't blame her.
If this womanââ¬â¢s van had not been stopped by our truck, she would have ended up in the middle of the very busy intersection and no doubt there would have been lives lost or serious injuries attained. Do you see how Paul seemingly spontaneously inserted the truck into that physical spot for that moment? I think this was a karmic balancing of sorts because lives were prevented from being messed up. This is the second time something like this has happened. The day my beloved cat, Buddy, died in March of 2002, Paul saved the life of a man while at work who had fallen down after getting out of his car and the car was about to roll over him.
After leaving his buddy's garage we headed back down the hill to the same intersection. We were first at the red light, waiting to take a left. We were very involved in a conversation about the poor cow. Suddenly, our truck was bumped from behind. It startled the heck out of us and I yelled in angry surprise. WTF??!! Then the van behind us bumped us again. I turned around to look at the woman in the van. Paul jumped out of his truck and walked back to her van and began yelling at her. The preferable ideal of cooler heads prevailing at that moment failed to manifest. Anyway, she had lost her brakes. She had been pumping them as she came down the long hill and towards the bottom of the incline the brake pedal went to the floor preventing her from stopping. That's when she bumped us. No one was hurt and there wasn't any real damage to either vehicle. Paul and I drove over to the police station to find a cop while she pulled into an adjacent parking lot to wait.
When we drove back to the parking lot the poor woman was very upset and shaking so I talked to her for a bit. I felt bad for her because we had been angry at first in our surprised reaction and Paul yelled at her. Initially upon impact and for some dumb reason, I thought she bumped us on purpose. (Conspiracy, you know?)
The cop tried her brakes and they worked but her work van was going to be towed in case she lost her brakes again on the way home. She was too afraid to drive it. I don't blame her.
If this womanââ¬â¢s van had not been stopped by our truck, she would have ended up in the middle of the very busy intersection and no doubt there would have been lives lost or serious injuries attained. Do you see how Paul seemingly spontaneously inserted the truck into that physical spot for that moment? I think this was a karmic balancing of sorts because lives were prevented from being messed up. This is the second time something like this has happened. The day my beloved cat, Buddy, died in March of 2002, Paul saved the life of a man while at work who had fallen down after getting out of his car and the car was about to roll over him.