An Itsy Bitsy, Teeny Weeny Car Accident
The traffic light was about to change, and as I was looking up at the red circle, my car was slammed from behind. In the mirror the young lady behind me had a look of surprise upon her face, for her car was also hit in the rear. It was a chain reaction of four vehicles. The guy in the back was driving an old and heavy jalopy that decided to stall as he was coming to a stop. At that moment the power steering and power brakes failed, and so he slammed into the next car. That car suffered somewhat of an accordion affect and will likely not be repairable. The next one seemed not to be damaged. My car had a tiny little scratch on the back bumper, and that was all.
The man who initiated the accident quickly checked with the other drivers to make sure everybody was alright. He was quite apologetic as he explained what had happened. The lady driving the second car was upset and talking rapidly about how her glasses had been broken and her head was hurting. And her elderly rider was talking of neck pains. However both quickly got out of their car and walked around with seeming ease. As we were calling 911, a man of Asian ethnicity arrived upon the scene. He was the owner of the car causing the accident, as apparently the driver was his employee. The rest of us were standing to the side of the road, comparing notes and gathering our composure. He walked up and quickly spoke with scorn that this was not an accident needing the assistance of the police. After all, he said with a convincing aire, no one was hurt and neither were the vehicles! It appeared to me he was intimidating some folks, and so I told him it was our duty to stay put until the officer arrived and that he would best serve the situation by leaving the others alone.
The police officer surveyed the situation, interviewed all of the drivers, and filled out his multitude of paperwork. As we were talking, he looked at me and asked, "Don't I know you?" I told him that I was a pastor but do not remember meeting him. Later, I did remember. He was one of several police officers whom I met courtesy of my daughter's many brushes with the law!
As time dragged on, I had a nice conversation with the fellow who caused the accident. He recently moved here from Morocco. The gentleman for whom he works is now upset with him, and may terminate his job. I told him, in my opinion, the accident was not his fault but the fault of the crummy car his boss required him to drive. This seemed to make sense. Then he asked me about my church and we talked a bit about God. He told me he was a Muslim, and that in Morocco the Jews, Muslims, and Christians have found a way to get along with one another. I replied that such is the way it ought to be. Then he offered to provide free help for our church web site! I thought that was awfully nice and thanked him for his kind spirit. To me this was affirmation, once again, that when you move beyond appearances and labels that most people are quite decent.
I told the officer I was not interested in making an insurance claim. He seemed surprised and walked me to the back of my car and showed me a long indention on the back bumper. I sighed, and told him that it was compliments of my garage. For about a half-second I considered that it would be rather convenient to secure a new bumper and perhaps a new paint job courtesy of the situation. But I was pretty sure that God was watching.
The good policeman said I was free to go. Figuring I deserved it, I pulled into the nearest McDonalds and had a chocolate milkshake.
