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Monday, February 25, 2008

Relax and watch your SUV get smoked

After working on this story for a month, all I wanted was a bar-free weekend. No smoky smelling hair at the end of the night. No sleeping late because I'd stayed out so late.

I planned to take it easy and relax all weekend. And that's what I did, with the exception of a crawfish boil Saturday afternoon. It was a wonderful change of pace. I'm sure the party crowd had loads of fun without me, but I don't feel like I missed out one bit!

My pal Kate and I went to the Boardwalk yesterday to eat lunch at Sushiko, the only sushi place we could find serving on Sunday. I'd just turned off the exit ramp at I-20. Kate and I were sitting at the red light waiting to turn left, when I saw a giant 18-wheeler signal that he was about to turn left.

"Oh no," I said to Kate, before the truck even started spinning its wheels in my direction. It was a tight fit, and I was fearful that the trucker was going to swipe the front end of my car.

I tried to exhibit some faith in the trained professional, however all that was gone when he came within two inches of smacking the front left corner of my SUV. I laid on my horn and braced myself for the impact. He stopped. I backed up a bit, still panicking. I tried to get out of the truck's way but there was no where to go. A burgundy Tahoe blocked me in on the right and flipped me off when I tried to move out of the 18-wheeler's path.

I'm not the happiest driver you'll ever meet, but I was rattled by the lack of compassion on both sides of my vehicle.

The truck made the turn. He inched past me, just barely missing the entire left side of my car. Kate didn't say a word. Having ridden in my car more than anyone else, she knew better.

"Oh my gosh, you didn't think that was scary? I mean, the guy nearly took off the front of my car!," I asked her, searching for support.

"No, it was definitely scary," she said in agreement, possibly just to pacify me.

I've been pretty nervous on the road lately. I made a defensive driving joke once we pulled into the Boardwalk. Kate giggled, but maybe next weekend I won't drive at all.

2 Comments:

Blogger Unknown said...

Honestly, at first I thought you were saying 'oh no' at the tatted confederate flag hat wearer in the lane to the direct right of us.... he was pretty hot, and he might have had all his teeth.

2:31 PM  
Blogger Stephanie Netherton said...

I never saw the person you are talking about. My eyes were locked in to the big rig aiming for the dashboard of my car.

3:02 PM  

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