I saw a hit and run today.
I looked down for a second and when I looked back up, the lady in front of me was pulling out onto the main road when a guy in another car came out of nowhere right at her. My first thought before he smashed right into her was sort of an unemotional, “Whoa. That guy is going to hit her.”Right afterwards, “Damn. I’m going to be late to my meeting.” I felt a little guilty that I didn’t wonder if anyone was hurt first, which made me think about how desensitized we are to crazy things like this.
Next thing it was like, “Wait-a-minute! He’s not just pulling into the parking lot beside me, he’s taking off like a bat out of hell!” I tried to get his license number but failed. It was a white car. I’m sure that will help a lot. If life were anything like CSI, they’d catch him with any number of surveillance parking lot cameras and tire skid marks. This is real-life Fort Wayne, though, so he’s long gone and scott-free. Great, now I’m jaded too.
I pulled up beside the woman who got hit – only moderate damage to her car – and we rolled down our windows. As the people behind us honked their horns, I passed over my business card in case she needed a witness.
Desensitized and jaded, but I’m civic-minded. So, is that a start in the right direction or just the last thing I haven’t lost yet?