Felt lucky to be alive, though...

So yesterday I was driving to class in my sister's car when suddenly the Bronco in front of me drove full-speed into a parked truck.

That's right 'parked' and 'full-speed.' There was no curve in the road, the truck wasn't parked at an angle...nothing. She was just driving, then drove off into the truck.

I thought "She must be high" and switched lanes quickly, noticing the fearful and disturbed looks on the faces of everyone on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, I had to immediately get back into the right lane since the next light was where I had to make a turn. Wary that she was high, I looked into my rear-view mirror and sure enough she is swerving in reverse away from the truck.

At this point I am surrounded by cars that are either parked or stopped at the light, so there is nowhere for me to go. We are all just sitting there stopped, but obviously, this hasn't affected her braking patterns before. All I can do is watch my impending doom coming at me in the mirror, with the front of her car smashed and her windshield wipers going nuts (it wasn't raining).

In those few split seconds, I begin a Hail Mary and take a deep breath, remembering that it helps you to absorb the impact more if your body is relaxed. "Okay, I'm about to get crashed into...stay calm."

Thankfully, at the last moment she swerves at an insane speed onto a road going off at a sharp angle just behind my car.

Phew.

The road she turned onto is still in the general direction I am headed, so I drive in a semi-paranoid fashion hoping she doesn't come flying at me again. I arrive safely with a sense of exhiliration and renewed gratitude at life...and I cross the street very carefully.

I've been duped...

I'm sitting here at a cafe, working on a 'Personal Statement' and surrounded by a guy itching his ear with a banana, a young couple hotly debating what morality means, an artist who has been doing amazing sketches all morning and a few less noticeable people with their coffee, laptops, cell phones, newspapers etc.

So that's the scene.

And I'm minding my own business with my coffee, my yellow Maggie's Place shirt on, a stack of "important papers" to go through, job applications to check on and trying to put together a 500 word narrative of my life when this guy who just planted himself at the table in front of me approaches:

"Excuse me, what's Maggie's Place?"

Confusing his tone with sincerity, I answer, fully engaged: "It's a non-profit that I used to volunteer for that runs homes for pregnant women."

"OH, oh yeah..."

I again confuse his tone, this time for familiarity: "Oh, have you heard of it?"

"You should get Palin there." "yeah?" "Yeah, she'd be a great advertisement."

At this point I'm a bit confused, thinking: "Does he mean because she's 'pro-life?' Oh wait maybe he's referring to her daught..."

"What's your opinion of abstinence-only education?" "I don't have a fully-formed opinion about it yet..." I hadn't finished my sentence yet, which was going to include that it should at least be included as legitimate and not just laughed at like it was by my pervert high-school teacher, but I'm interrupted:

"Well, Palin's all for it, and she's got a 17-year old knocked-up daughter. Abstinence-only and her daughter is knocked-up!! But don't worry, she and her boyfriend aren't going to have sex anymore until they get married." (Sarcastic tone accurately noted).

This time he is the one confused. He thinks the incredulous look on my face has to do with the facts he has laid out so plainly to me, but actually it's because until this last part I was so naive that I thought he actually wanted to engage in a conversation, and only just realized that he really is just being arrogant, presumptuous and obnoxious. I'm burdened about how best to reply, but relieved of that when he triumphantly proclaims "I don't make this stuff up! It's in the news!!" and walks away muttering "It's in the news! It's in the news!!"

ARGHHH!!!