Close Call

I took the one (sidewalk) less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
--Robert Frost

Yesterday, I left work early to ride my bike to the dentist in Arlington Heights. I stopped at a lamppost to pick up the bike lock that I left there in the morning, so I didn’t have to carry it downtown and back, and decided, since I was now on the sidewalk, I’d continue around the corner to the dentist.

A few pedal strokes on the sidewalk and I hear a screech of car tires from right behind me.
“Why do you always end up down at Nick’s Café?”
“I said, ‘I don’t know, the wind just kind of pushed me this way.’
She said, ‘Hang the rich.’” (--Robbie Robertson. I couldn’t resist another Candian quote.)

I turn to watch a big ol’ Oldsmobile veer left, across oncomming traffic, over the curb of the frontage road, and smack into a wide tree. CRASH! The sound was almost fake. Violent, horrible sound …like your wife telling you she’s pregnant with number four. (Paula, if you read this, I'm just joking!)

I call 911 as I approached the vehicle, its wheels still spinning at 40 mph. I’m thinking, “There’s no way I’m going to be able to get this woman out of the car. And what if it blows?” I know, too much TV. Then I turned into a green steroid user and, in a rage, lifted… No. Can you tell this experienced kinda messed with my head?

The tree is practically in her lap. Air bags, flying grass and dirt, smoke. And the 70-80 year-old woman conscious and looking at me in disbelief, as if to say, “I didn’t do anything. Get me out of here!”

Before I could even try the door handle, two fire fighters come running out of the building where I dropped my bike. “We got it.” Seems the fire department is directly across the street.

I tell the 911 dispatcher that the fire department is here and the ambulance arrives in less than 30 seconds. I hung out for a bit until it was clear that no one wanted me as an eye-witness, and sat in a dentist chair hoping the woman will be OK, wondering why they insist on “soft” toothbrush bristles but it’s OK to scrape at your enamel with a metal prong, and very thankful that, for whatever reason, the Oldsmobiel was more inclined to go left… instead of right.

Ride safely.
Dean