A bit of happiness in my idiocy
Last week, I was biking home from work, and I caught up to a couple lanes of traffic stopped at a red light. I did a dumb thing—I tried going through a space between two cars where there really wasn’t space for me. As I tried to get through, I hit the car mirror on my right, which fortunately was hinged to move back easily when encountering an idiot like myself.
I stop, look up, and the woman in the car—can’t hear her, her windows are up—gets a pained expression on her face, and she’s mouthing, “Are you okay? Are you okay?” And I’m saying , yes, I’m fine, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, and I readjust her mirror as I continue apologizing profusely.
I ride off, thinking what a dumb idea that was, but I got past that and thought about what she did. Her first reaction was to be concerned for my safety. That was kinda nice to run into randomly.
August 20th, 2007 16:29
I’m afraid I’m a bit more cynical than you. Her first concern probably was “Is there a personal inconvenience to me somehow attached to this incident?” which came out sounding like concern for you. It could have been genuine, and that would be nice, but …
August 20th, 2007 17:35
Go ahead and thank her on the ‘missed connections’ section of your local craigslist.
It’s a nice story and will brighten many days.
August 21st, 2007 04:52
I’m sure the leer and the exposed boner helped her choose an appropriate response.
Should have tried that on that semi driver (cough).
August 21st, 2007 05:07
Wait, you found a nice person? You should have taken advantage of her, it seems to be the thing to do these days.
August 21st, 2007 09:15
Bill: nah, I was there. I reviewed it from several angles right afterwards, and I’m comfortable with my conclusion.