Work Stories: Episode 22: Crash Boom

Last week on Work Stories, I wrote about that time when I saw the guy dressed as a dirty Michael Myers.  It was something that I found funny at the time, and still find funny now.  It brings chuckles to me whenever I think about it.  It was a funny experience.  Anyway, that’s behind us.  Now it’s time for me to move onto another story.

This story takes us back to the time when I used to work at a hotel.  Technically, you could consider this to not be a work story, since it didn’t happen at work.  It actually happened when I was headed home.  I’m going to count it as a work story though, because if it wasn’t for me going home from work, it never would have happened.  Work had as much to do with this as me being in the right place at the right time.  So it’s a work story.  Deal with it.

When I worked at the hotel, I did not have a license that would allow me to drive on my own.  I needed a different way to get to work then.  I had a bike, so I rode my bike twenty minutes every day to get to work, and twenty minutes to get home.  Well, maybe fifteen to get there, and twenty-five to get home.  It was downhill to get there and uphill to get home.  The timing was different.  I always rode my bike to and from work.

One night, after a long shift at work, I got on my bike and started my way home.  It’s not a really exciting tale of riding my bike.  I put my feet on the pedals and pushed.  It’s basic bicycle kinetics.  I changed to a lower gear when going uphill, and I switched to a higher gear when I wasn’t going uphill.  That’s just how bike riding goes.

About halfway home, I approached an intersection that I would normally just ride right through.  The night I’m thinking about was different.  I got to the intersection, and there were police and firetrucks.  Why?  There had been a massive car accident in the middle of the intersection.  I didn’t see any bodies or anything.  I got there after all the people had been removed.  But there were car parts all over the place.  It was a mesmerizing sight.

There were also some police officers hanging around.  When I got to the intersection, one of the officers waved me through.  I know I always say “I never thought this would happen.”  I’ve probably said that a few times during the work stories.  Once again, I never thought that I would ride my bike through a car accident, but I did.  I rode right through the aftermath of a collision.  I didn’t look back once I was through, but I could always think back to what I saw.

That’s about all I have for this week’s Work Story.  It’s just some imagery that has been in my head for years now.  I’m glad to have shared it, even if you don’t get much out of what I’ve written.  Stay tuned for next week when I share another story that happened to me while I was at work.

Until then, don’t poke a sleeping bear.