Near Misses or Missed Chances


THIS I BELIEVE: There are tests in our lives which may pass
unnoticed. But how we react may well change the course of our
days.

Yesterday, early, a man in late middle age, with a cane and a limp,
came through my front door. His story was simple, after 37 years
of marriage, his wife was leaving him. I wanted to help him. But
he lives in Tennessee, and we don’t practice there. So I showed
him the office across the way where a Tennessee lawyer works. He
wanted me to drive over there with him, but I could not leave the
office unattended. Plus, I don’t get in cars with strange men. The
stairs were clearly a problem for him so I let him go out my back
door so he could go down a ramp instead of the stairs. I saw him
emerge safely from the bottom of the ramp, then I forgot him.

Later, I got the bank deposit ready, left spouse in charge of the
phone and went to the bank. There was no line and I was back on
the cross street in no time. One car was in front of me waiting for
the light to change. The light changed, at one time I saw the car
brake lights go off and a truck coming in the opposite direction hit
the white line and lock it up. The truck hit the front of the car,
knocking much of the front end off. I stopped and parked in the
road to see if I could help, but the driver of the truck was already
checking on the car and calling the police. So I got in my car and
returned to the office. Once there I called the police station and left
my name in case a witness was needed. As it turns out, I was. The
truck driver said that the car ran the light, not him. So I said, yes
you can list me on the report, and no that is not what happened.

Much later, spouse had gone and I was alone in the office once
more. I heard a key in the door and thought spouse had come
back. When the door did not open I went to it and opened it. It
was not spouse. The man jumped into a white truck, slammed it in
reverse, then squealed down the ramp. The back door is remote, I
am usually the only one parked there, I almost always keep the
door locked and no one could see if something happened back
there.

Be as wise as a serpent, as gentle as a dove. Easier said then
done. Maybe I should have disregarded my safety rules and driven
the man across the street. Maybe if I had I would be dead now. If
I had been the first car at the light and not the second, I might me
dead or injured now, or maybe I would have seen the truck in time,
or been looking off into space and missed the light turn and nothing
would have happened. If the back door had not been locked, the
man could have come in. Clearly nothing good could have come of
that.

So, did I have a day of barely escaping disaster? Or did I, by
helping the man in the morning a little bit, avoid death in the
evening?