How does a Fortune 500 company’s IT department run out of blank cd media, I ask you? We have a stockpile of post-it notes, paper clips, 35/70 DLTs, 3 1/2-inch floppies (FLOPPIES!), and dry-erase markers big enough to sustain us through a nuclear winter, but not a single blank cd. When a cohort of mine needed 5 blanks and there were none to be found, I volunteered to make a lunchtime run to Best Buy to pick some up. Not that it is at all relevant, but I got 100 bitchin’ Memorex Black CD-Rs, which are many times cooler than normal, non-black CDs.
On the way back to work from Best Buy, traffic was slow due to an accident some ways up the interstate. As I got closer, I saw it was a Ford Expedition with the front grill smashed in and cop car pulled off on the opposite shoulder. Strange, I thought. That’s the same color Expedition that my dad drives.
As I got closer still, I saw the owner of the vehicle, standing with his back to me, talking to the cop. Strange, I though. That guy is the same height and weight as my dad.
As I passed, I caught a sideways glance of the guy’s face. Strange, I thought. That looks exactly like my dad.
I drove to the next overpass, and made my way back around to see if it was indeed my dad. And sure enough, it was.
I pulled off onto the shoulder, in front of his vehicle and surveyed the damage. Front grill smashed, bottom bumper pushed down about a foot, Air bags deployed. I asked if he was ok, he said he was. It was a minor fender-bender, 10mph maybe. The truck he hit was fine and had left the scene earlier. He was waiting for a tow truck and Enterprise rental to being him a loaner car. As always, he had things under control. Nothing to worry about, just a minor accident, he said.
What I didn’t say, but thought to myself, was that this is strange. Dad has been a semi-professional racecar driver for many years. He is at home doing 200+ MPH in his Supra at Texas Motor Speedway, so how does this sort of thing happen? When he taught me to drive, the focus was always on scanning ahead on the road to survey what other drivers were doing. Driving, he taught me, was about situational awareness, anticipating what other drivers are doing and keeping yourself safe.
Maybe he is just starting to slow down a bit. He is 61 years old now, but acts half that. I hope his body can keep up with his lifestyle.
October 19th, 2005 at 11:21 am
[…] My musings about dad’s health proved prophetic. After his accident last week I opined that there may be something wrong with his health, and there is. […]