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3 seconds to change my priorities - Max the Hero?


maxg

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So I left the office all happy with my 300 GB drive all setup and ready to roll on the home system. Wife and her secretary in the car - on the way home - not a care in the world.

Stop at the lights next to another car on my right. Lights change. A moped (little motorbike) runs up between us and tries to turn around the car next to me - cutting him up badly. He doesnt make it.

The car hits him and knocks him backwards and sideways - in slow motion it seems down towards the road. Suddenly I realize with some horror that he is falling in the path of my, now moving, car. His head is on a direct course for my front right tyre (passenger side). I slam the anchors on and watch him disappear from my view under the line of the bonnet (er...hood).

I am convinced I am going to hit him - so much so I am braced for the bump as the wheel rides up over his helmet. It doesnt happen.

We fly out of the car - both SMWBO and I - and run around to see if he is still alive. He is looking at the tread on my tyre. His nose is about 1 inch from the rubber!

Passers by all come running up. I realize most are ushering prayers and thanks to God - all aimed at me. I dont think I have ever received so many blessings in such a short space of time.

The guy in the car next to me - who hit him jumps out of his car - and into tears in an instant - more blessings are bestowed in my direction.

The motorcyclist himself gets up slowly - others are already pushing his bike to the side of the road. He is fine seemingly - a few bumps and bruises no doubt - but nothing major - another blessing for me of course.

Within minutes we are all off and on our respective ways - as if nothing has happened.

Now here's the thing. I may have come across as the hero of the piece but it was all so automatic that I really couldnt take any credit - I was just damn lucky - and so, obviously, were all concerned.

Thinking about it during the evening the following occured to me regarding the motorcyclist:

1. If had been 10 years older - and slower in reaction - he would be dead.

2. If I had been slightly more absent minded - he would be dead.

3. Interstingly if I had been 10 years younger - a boy racer away from the lights - he would be dead.

4. If I hadnt serviced the car, and changed the brake pads last week - he would probably have been dead.

Add to all of that the miriad other factors that could have gone against him and the fact that he is still alive today is nothing short of a miracle.

Really screwed me up for the evening I can tell you - suddenly listening to music and playing with the computer just didnt seem important.

The line between hero and idiot villain is way too small sometimes - in this case it is 1 inch long!

Needless to say I drove into work today at a snail's pace with eye's peeled.

Damn I hate motorbikes!

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Phew, that is a horrorstory! Very glad no one was hurt. Even though rationally you can say it was not your fault, it will always haunt you and yes, in those moments our passion seems trivial. (for a day)2.gif

Also very glad you were not transporting those huge tsiki.. Tsiari, **** lost it, amps you recommended to Dean!6.gif

Tim.

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Well, as things slowly change for me, my priorities also are changing.

But for you Max, the combination of things that led to you avoiding running him over leads me to believe even more strongly that we have someone watching over us. In this case it turned out to be whoever is watching over the both of you.

You did not hit or rum him over, you were not hurt. For both, I am glad.

It's good to see what we really are - like the song "Dust In The Wind."

It's how and who we cover that matters.

Merry Christmas Max,

dodger

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Sometimes things happen in life that causes us to stop and re-think our situation. For you it was yesterday, for me it was my sons accident. Truly, there are angles watching over us. Little things that we don't even think about can change the course of our lives. Stopping for a cup of coffee, changing our mind on which shirt to wear, taking a few extra minutes in the shower etc, that change our planned lives cause us to miss that distracted driver that ran that stop sign, or that guy in a hurry that changed lanes without looking. In your case, you were the one that was able to stop in time and affected the life of the bike rider forever. Life is too short to let the small stuff get to us and remember everything is small stuff. Count your blessings and forget about the small stuff.

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Emphasis on the wannabe status there Fini - thanks!

And thank you all for your input / responses. It was a shock I think that will live with me for some time to come.

Hopefully tonight I will put it behind me and listen to some music - something light I think....

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ditto mike colter's comments,especially re the good people here on the forum, and as charles dickens' character tiny tim said "... God bless us one and all.."

Max, like many others here, i always find your posts to be thoughtful and, frequently, thought provoking. Merry Christmas to you, your family and all those here on the forum. Patrick12.gif

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----------------

On 12/15/2004 5:54:55 AM maxg wrote:

1. If had been 10 years older - and slower in reaction - he would be dead.

2. If I had been slightly more absent minded - he would be dead.

3. Interstingly if I had been 10 years younger - a boy racer away from the lights - he would be dead.

4. If I hadnt serviced the car, and changed the brake pads last week - he would probably have been dead.

If he was 10 years older maybe he would of had better judgememt, and none of this would have happened. At least you gave him a chance to age another 10 years.

]

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Kids are protected by all of the adults around them. They grow up to believe that nothing bad can happen to them. The young man in question had the opportunity to grow from his mistake.

Max: The next time this happens, you may not be able to stop through no fault of your own. This is why it is wise to carry good insurance. The insurance cannot prevent accidents, but it helps after the fact.

In the US, the majority of collisions are caused by folks without insurance. Hence it is good to carry uninsured motorist coverage as well personal injury protection.

(I do not sell insurance or own stock. However, the bad drivers seem to want to pick my rear bumper to hit. The deer seem to like my front bumper.)

Bill

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Max,

All those "what if's" you pondered, think them only in passing. "What if's" are a waste of brain waves and can bring on alot of unnecessary anxiety. There is a reason for everthing in the big picture, it was not his time. Be thankful that the outcome happed as it did and enjoy each day to the fullest always.

Tom

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Max,

Hats off to you and your response timing. More importantly, hats off to you for trying to realize that something bigger than all of us just happened here.

This thought may be for a whole different forum, and I may not go anywhere with this, but I'll try anyways. As humans, we tend to be as short-memoried, as we are myopic. I can understand you forgetting about this incident a few weeks from now. But I would care to wager that even the kid will soon be sipping coffee at the end of his lunch break soon, with this incident pushed far to the back of his mind.

Something deeper, and I don't know what it is exactly, should come from this for the both of you.

Woah, I almost freaked myself out! Was just watching the Bus Hijacking episode in your country and I guess I'm just in that sort of mood.

-F

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