Ignore the children looking all safe in that photograph, what I want to direct your attention to is the practice of the DOT now placing signs in the middle of the road. Signs have no business taking up lane space in an already narrow city street. Streets are designed and paved for cars, not people. People are welcome to cross when they have the right of way and I'm actually a huge advocate of that after a few incidents of slamming my fist down on some car hoods while trying to cross. But signs have no business being in the middle of the street.
I demonstrated this fact yesterday afternoon. I was driving home from work and I was going around a corner where cars infamously waver out of their lanes to keep their speeds high. A car in the outside lane began to veer into mine; I adjust my truck accordingly to not get sideswiped and BANG! My side-view mirror crashed into the crosswalk sign that hogged the middle of the road and part of my lane. It should be mentioned that there's NOT AN ACTUAL CROSSWALK THERE.
The glass explodes like someone shot it with a sawed-off shotgun and the mirror flips into my driver-side window, cracking the window glass. Then the mirror shoots right off the side of my truck and dangles by its wiring. Holy fuck that was fast and loud and scared the shit out of me.
The crosswalk sign is okay. Apparently too many people were hitting it and knocking it down, so the DOT decided to reinforce it with steel poles. Awesome.
I'm so horrified over what just happened that I decide to abandon that lane altogether and merge into the right-hand lane. Only I was so shaky that I drove up on the curb. I reached the traffic light and stopped. I had a crap day at work, followed by exploding glass and a near miss involving a woman jogger and a tent of a stroller.
I think I'll cry a little, I thought. It's been awhile and I think this would be an okay time to do it. So behind the wheel stopped at a red light I begin to sniffle.
And of course. Of course because I live in a city of 6 million people Scott would pull up next to me and see me cry through my open window. That's right.
He flipped up his helmet visor, "What happened to your mirror?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
He pulled his motorcycle right up to my window to inspect the damage, and he hovered over me and grinned that I- know- you- and- I- know- you- did- this- to- yourself- because- damn- you're- accident-prone smile. "What did you do?" he smirked.
"I broke my mirror!" I wailed.
Scott followed me back to my parking deck and helped me reattach the now shell of a mirror. We tested the remote mirror control and it still worked, but the puddle lamp had also blown. He made a list for me of things I needed to buy from the parts store. "None of this should be too bad," he consoled. "I'll fix all of this for you."
"But you work everyday."
"I have Monday off. I'll just drive you to work and do the work on your truck then. And add brake pads to the list. I don't want you driving on yours anymore. It's not safe."
He's worried for my safety. He's going to fix things when I break them. He takes the bad and makes it go away. This relationship stuff is pretty awesome.
Or maybe just he is.
1:01 PM
3 weeks ago
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9 comments:
so great!
ps. when my dad handed his car down to me my sophmore year in college.. i happily drove it up to clemson, pulled into my brother's apartment complex and waited for him to come out. he did, and the first thing he said was, "what did you hit?" apparently, my folks had failed to mention that the week prior, my mom was driving my car in the rain, spun and hit a sign in the middle of the road, and then.. decided to give the car to me. scratches and all. so i would later think it was something i did.
funny people.
awwwwww! :-)
With my hormones the way they are I probably would have backed up and finsihed mowing down the damn sign. :P Then been really pissed off again later after I'd realize the damage I had done to my own vehicle. LOL Guys that fix things are very handy. It's quite nice.
I know what you mean about those signs, they suck, esp. on the narrow streets. I've come so close to hitting them and now that I know they are reinforced, I will be even more careful of them!
I love handy guys!
> This relationship stuff is pretty awesome.
Or maybe just he is.
Bit of both I reckon!!
Someone who puts your safety way up there on their list of priorities = good catch.
Oh, and someone who can fix all that stuff = even better.
But someone who'll let YOU attempt to fix it all and show you how to do it, and spend a day with you working on your truck without once being condescending because you don't know what things are called = keeper!!!!!!!
You are a liability behind the wheel or on a bike. You drive like I do. If I wasn't so convinced that I am Venting (Canada's answer to Blue soup apart from the cleaning obsession which is, frankly, totally bizarre), I would be convinced I am you. In fact, I think I am you. I am so you. :) xx
wow its like a scene from a movie lol
This confirms it, you're SO MUCH like one of my BFFs here. Only she drove into the side of a cement parking ramp and deployed her airbags.
I'm very VERY happy no one was hurt, but that is all very scary. Thank you to S. for fixing it like a Superman band-aid.
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