A few years ago, I was driving home after doing some paperwork at the offices for the company I work for. It was a school day and as I was driving through a school zone, a woman ran a red light, going so fast that my car did a complete 90 degree turn. I hit my mouth and jaw on the steering wheel so hard that I whited out for an uncertain amount of time. All I know is that once i recovered, there was a constable or deputy there (I don’t remember which one, but I’ll refer to them as deputy so I don’t have to type more).
As I gathered my glasses, phone and insurance from the glovebox, I felt a metallic taste in my mouth. I had cut the inside of my lip with my teeth and was bleeding. A lot. After the deputy questioned us and got a statement from both myself and the lady who hit me, she proceeded to tell me that she believed that this was the lady’s fault. The lady was seen by the paramedics who arrive on scene before me and it was very brief. She had a minor arm injury. I, unfortunately, was concussed (although the inside of my lip stopped bleeding, thankfully). The paramedics kind of implied that they wanted to take me to the hospital, and even though I was a enrolled a local service that provides help with medical bills, I didn’t have health insurance and didn’t want to pay for a ride in an ambulance. Reluctantly, they let me walk home, as I was only a few blocks from my house.
The very next day, I tried to get the police report and afterwards got a lawyer to help with this case. The lawyer accepted the case without hesitation and said that while we waited for the police report, I should see a chiropractor for the body aches I was feeling in the meantime. But days went by, and after going to a nearby precinct almost daily, there still was no report.
About two weeks later, I am at the chiropractor’s getting my therapy (which was essentially just those automatic back massagers) when the chiropractor barged in, looking very very irritated. He proceeded to tell me that I need to leave because my lawyer had dropped the case. At this point, I was very confused because I hadn’t talk to my lawyer all day.
Turns out the deputy had just posted the report (AFTER TWO WEEKS!) and changed the story to make it seem like I was turning (I wasn’t, I was hit so hard that my car turned!), so there was no case.
To summarize things (and excuse my language), I got fucked. I got fucked by everything that was supposed to help me out in the circumstance that I found myself in. I lost the car that my grandfather helped buy for me before he died and got NOTHING from it.
But that’s just my luck. I have to live with it.
All this to say, I’ve found enjoyment in walking now.
You can mostly go at your own pace, avoiding traffic. It gives you time to really look around and notice things around you that you never really would notice otherwise. And being from a big city, there are a lot of interesting things and people you wouldn’t notice if you were focused on anything else. Some time last month, I noticed a car with two people in it with face paint that was akin to mimes. And then your mind can just wander… Where were these mime people going to or coming from? Are they even mimes? Why are there mimes even around here? Is this the beginning of some sort of mime-gentrification plot?
I guess it’s good exercise, too… and yes. In this big ol’ city, it can be VERY difficult to get around to certain parts of town without a vehicle and I’ve got ways to get around that.
But you know what?
I like walking.
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