Filed under: daily
There’s this crazy phenomenon that I’ve experienced twice in my life.
When I was fourteen or fifteen, I was sitting behind the driver’s seat in a tiny little two-door somethin’ or other. My best friend Carly was next to me. My cousin Justin was passenger and his friend Chris was driving. I was zoning out or looking off, like I do, when suddenly in very, very slow motion, Carly was diving into my lap. I had all the time in the world to think, “Why is she coming into my lap? Is she going to lay down? Is she reaching for a hug? Why does she look so scared?”
BAM
The tiny little two-door somethin’ or other spun out once, twice, who knows, and off went the impact, driving away as fast as his pile would take him, without stopping to see if he’d hurt anyone. The seconds it took for Carly to realize there was a car about to hit her side and to instinctively move away from the impact felt like several minutes in retrospect.
When I was seventeen, I left work at the grocery store one day. It was hot and the dashboard of my beloved 1980 El Camino was virtually gutted – no air, no radio, hardly even a securing glove box. I took the time to crank the windows down and put my hair up before pulling out of my space. Once in drive, and only at the very last second did I notice the much larger than me Ford F150. I clenched, just as I’ve always been advised not to do, squeezed my eyes shut, tucked my head down and enough time passed for me to think I’d missed it entirely and could resume my drive home before I was rocked into reality by the collision. It was El Camino front end vs. F150 driver’s side door and he lost. My prize was to shell out $600 to him, but also an unknowing insurance agent, as the guy didn’t report me.
How is it that in that terrified last second, time slows, dripping down like molasses, your mind ticking off individual thoughts… but it all happens so quickly.
That phenomenon?
Sums up the summer of 2009.
-CJ
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