I was talking to a coworker then…

I turned around and saw the smashed front-end of a white Lexus SUV. It was still rolling forward on the two-lane road. I continued watching as the dark blue Chevrolet trailblazer drove away. 

I ran over to the Lexus still rolling forward in the middle of the street.

The woman driving the wrecked vehicle was in shock.

My guess is that she was in her early 70’s. She had short, pretty gray hair and was adorned with silver jewelry.

I walked toward the vehicle as she clutched her face with both of her hands and began crying. 

The car came to a complete stop.

“Everything will be ok!” I said, “Are you hurt?”

She threw the driver’s door open and stepped out of the vehicle. The car was still in drive and traffic continued moving.

“Can you put it in park?” I asked. 

Several onlookers came running to the vehicle.

Everyone started discussing what they saw.

In the meantime, the culprit of the accident was long gone. None of us managed to get photos of the license plate. 

We managed to get the woman and her wrecked vehicle to the parking lot a few feet up the street and out of harm’s way. 

Still shaken, she began saying all of the words that came to her mind. Explaining, rambling, yelling, and apologizing. 

She told me her husband was in the hospital having a double knee replacement. His surgery just finished and she was making a quick run to the pharmacy. She told me how sorry she was and how scared she was to tell her husband what  just happened. 

“I don’t want to interfere with his recovery. I don’t want him to worry about me,” she said. 

“Everything is going to be ok. ” I repeated. 

We waited with the woman. I called the police.

While I was on the phone, she called her son.

After I finished my call, I listened to her call. I wanted to make sure she was telling her son the details I felt were important. 

Details like ‘was his mom seriously injured?’.

Details like ‘were the police on the way?’.

Details like ‘was her car still operable?’.

She was still shaken but reported the details well. 

She and her son went back and forth and she insisted that she felt fine. She told him that her car was wrecked but she believed she could still drive it.

However, she still insisted he come to the scene.

I don’t blame her.

There wasn’t anything he could do for her or to help the situation but still I understood why she’d want him to be there. 

He asked what she needed him for and she had no answer.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can do for you, mom.” he said. 

I wanted to grab the phone and scream as loud as I could.

‘Your mom was just involved in a collision on a busy road! What do you mean there’s nothing you can do for her?’ I would’ve said.

But I didn’t.

I let them work it out themselves.

A few minutes passed and the cops showed up and so did the fire department and so did the paramedics.

I was sure she was in good hands and no longer felt my presence was needed so I went back to work. I let everyone know where they could find me if they needed me for anything. 

I don’t know if her son ever decided to show up.

I kinda don’t think he did and I’ve since changed my mind about his reaction to her request. 

I’ve had the unfortunate pleasure of spending time around people that turn every little unfortunate event into a raging forest fire. 

Overreactions.

Like fire to a flame, their presence, their demeanor, and their attitude puts everyone into a panic. 

And I think it’s important to remember that we reserve the right to react to situations however we choose to. 

Just because someone else thinks something is a big deal, doesn’t mean you have to.

Who knows, the son might’ve known that the very thing that would’ve made the situation worse was his presence. 

I hope that woman is ok.