At the Drive-In

Posted on September 29, 2007

Originally uploaded by mfajardo.

This used to be summer for me. And just as the drive-in is dying out, so too are my summers.

This summer has passed by with barely a whisper. I hardly noticed that I didn’t go camping once, haven’t played a round of golf, and barely even got outside except to go to my car and take a run/walk a few times a week. When did being an adult become so ungratifying and boring? What am I doing with myself?

Maybe if i stare long enough, my answer will appear.

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Hero? Really?

Posted on September 12, 2007

Posted from my LiveJournal:

So I guess I should mention this, though a few of you have already heard.

Last night I’m driving down Rt. 22 here in Jersey, heading out to Sam Ash to pick up a new harmonica. For those of you not from Jersey (or have had the fortune of not driving here) Rt. 22 is freaking crazy, especially during rush hour traffic. So I’m tooling along, not realy paying attention to anything in particular. I notice this big blue car, probably a Lincoln or Ford, zoom by me, as well as a guy on a motorcycle. About 3 seconds later, I come around the bend to a scary sight.

You know how every so often, you’ll come up on an accident, looks pretty bad, but the cops are already there, and you think to yourself, “Well, the cops are there, so there’s nothing I can do. I’ll just keep driving so I don’t cause more problems.”? Well, that’s what went through my head when I saw the car on it’s side. But something wasn’t right about the situation. The first thing I noticed was the dust settling over the car. Then I saw people slam on their brakes. Then I heard crunching under my tires. Then, I saw the motorcyclist spin around and head back against traffic, revving his motor and trying to avoid cars. Then I noticed there were no cops. This had just happened.

It sounds cliche, but instinct kinda kicked in. Well maybe not instinct, but certainly the years of training (yes, in the Boy Scouts…you’ll want me around some day). I pulled over to the side of the road, turned off the car (windows open, mind you…in NJ, that says stupid or emergency), and started running. I hesitated a bit, seeing the big blue Lincoln down in someone’s lawn, and assessing the situation some. Then I saw the motorcyclist - how he got to the other side of the road, I may never know - and he’s running up to the overturned car too. I didn’t notice that the car was facing backward until much later. What I saw when I reached the roof of the car was that it was resting on a destroyed tree and there was a woman dangling from her seatbelt inside. The most surreal part? SHE WAS ON THE GODDAMN PHONE CALLING 911! Holy hell. The biker and I both knew that the situation was dangerous and we needed to get the woman out. Thankfully, she had a sunroof on the car, and the battery was still working. We got her off the phone and opening the sunroof. It was a tight squeeze as the roof rack was a little in the way. I told her to brace herself and unbuckle her seatbelt. She fell down and we started to pull her out. I asked her if she was ok, because it looked like her legs were trapped under the console. She said she was ok (holy freaking miracle) and about 4 of us (2 too many, if you ask me) pulled her out. We got her to to the grass and then the cops showed up, then had us move up away from the car. It was then I realized that the car was resting on the tree, and had a good chance of rolling on us. Ok, so some of my training escaped me in the heat of the moment. I was just glad there was no gore going on there. That would have sucked. Thankfully, she had barely a scratch on her. She was definitely in shock though.

After all the excitement died down, there wasn’t much for me to do, so I kind of wandered around a little, tried to keep the woman from wandering into traffic and watched as the cops cordoned off the area. When NOT ONE cop asked to talk to me, I decided to get the hell out of there and head to my destination.

Of course, that wasn’t in the cards.

I get to my car, get in, and turn the key. Nothing. Yep, battery’s dead. Greeeaaattt. So I head back to the accident scene and kind of wander around the edge, looking for a cop who doesn’t have anything to do. After about 5 minutes of the cops looking at me wondering what I’m doing, I make eye contact with one and call him over. I ask him if he can give me a jumpstart, and he says no. But he will help me push the car off into the side street. Greeeaaatt. Thanks so much officer. He and another cop push the car, and then I’m stuck again. So the woman whose lawn the Lincoln was on was nice enough to give me a jumpstart. And then I was on my way.

And yes, I did get to Sam Ash. I bought a harmonica. Key of C.

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