Brush With Death
No, I'm not talking about the last moments of the Packers-Vikings-Denver-Cardinals games, I'm talking about me, Friday night, outside Schuba's down in Chicago.Schuba's sits on an intersection with stop lights in all directions. I was walking directly across the street in the crosswalk when a white Ford Explorer sped through the intersection, not seeing me. The Explorer was coming towards me and turning left in front of me. I stopped, let the Explorer pass, and then proceeded immediately after it passed.
As I got halfway across the street, a black Expedition came along at a high rate of speed as if it was following the Explorer. In the crude diagram below, I'm trying to illustrate that the Expedition cut the corner really close, putting it on a direct path with me.
It's wheels were squealing around the corner and I could hear the engine rev as the driver planned to accelerate through the intersection. When I saw the Expedition, it was approximately 20 feet away from me and bearing down quickly.
Lots of things briefly go through your mind at moments like that. I briefly thought about the pain of being smashed by the grill, I briefly thought "should I stop, go back, or jump ahead?"
The Expedition saw me at this point, and swerved to it's left at the same time I decided my only chance was to run ahead towards Schuba's.
Fortunately, the Expedition then swerved to it's right as I scampered safely onto the sidewalk. The SUV missed me by about 6 feet. Looking back, the SUV was traveling so fast that it really could not change it's trajectory. Had I not saw the SUV coming and decided to jump ahead when I did, I might not have made it to the other side of the street.
I continued running straight into Schuba's, noticing that about 5-10 people sitting in the window of the bar saw the whole thing happen. They stared at me, scanning my expression for a look of terror or relief or shock, but felt relatively calm. I never really felt like my life was in danger until later that night when I relayed the story to friends.
A few beers, a great Crime and Judy show, a long drive, and I was home, in bed, and asleep by 2am.
<< Home