Watch Out For The Idiots!

This is part of a daily mantra I hear from Steve as I leave the house. It includes "I love you" and "Be safe" as well. We both know about the idiots out there, the ones behind the wheel. Yesterday was a day in point. I was backing out of my parking spot at the rec center. In summer it's always one under a solar panel canopy for the shade, despite a longer hike to the club. I looked of course, then eased the back out to about 4 feet past the row of cars, when suddenly a white car whooshed past me instead of stopping. Had I not caught him as I was continuing to check windows and mirrors I would have been in an accident. 

I do heed Steve's good wishes.

I've been noticing more cars pulling that "trick" in parking lots recently. It can be at the rec center or the grocery store. There's an abundance of idiots, more than I've noticed before. They often blow the 4-way stop at the corner. Some speed down our 25 mph street at over 40. But so far I've been lucky.

Not everybody has gotten away with it.

When I was leaving the center today, I walked out just after a major accident. You might wonder how a parking lot incident can be a major accident. Apparently one of them has been speeding through the lane between the rows of cars like it was the street, and not limited to 30 mph  either. I noticed people from all over that parking lot (it was just filling up for somebody's big party inside and I passed the set-up on my way out) heading towards the wreckage. A smaller grey car was missing most of it's front and who knows what else as it was in pieces strewn over the pavement in a line about as long as our living-dining room is. A closer look showed the airbags deployed. 

A white SUV was a bit past it, sitting in an area where three other cars might have parked. It hadn't filled up yet because there were still a couple shady spots available. Now it wouldn't fill up for likely hours. I heard discussion that it also lost some of it's pieces, but also that it had been temporarily airborne!

HOLY SHIT!

While I returned to the car to retrieve my camera I started hearing a pair of sirens. Two county sheriff cars were heading there, and just before I stopped taking pictures a large paramedic truck pulled in. It was getting a bit crowded, and somebody was going to need my parking space. It was time to get home before some other idiot went by.

After all, I'd promised Steve on my way out the door that I'd watch out for them. And that I loved him too.