This past Friday afternoon I was involved in a hit-skip while riding my bicycle in my neighborhood
The driver of a pickup truck, likely distracted and driving aggressively, cut a left turn - from a stop - so sharply that the side of his vehicle collided with the front of my bicycle, sharply bending the front wheel, twisting the handlebars, and badly damaging my helmet as the impact knocked me to the ground
I had some considerably rough language for the guy, who did stop and promise to call an ambulance before fleeing the scene. I didn’t capture his license plate, and it probably wouldn’t matter regardless
All in all, a (another) new front wheel and (another) new helmet, plus a scraped knee and a sore ankle is about as good an outcome as I have any right to hope for, and I’m extremely thankful that he didn’t hit someone’s child, or pet, or someone not wearing impact-armor on their skull
Without a doubt, I’m furious with the guy amd would love to give him the proper Cutting Words he deserves. Here’s the thing, though: while I was regaining my senses, bike twisted amd bent in the street, easily a half dozen people I have never met, seen, or spoken with stopped to offer help, a ride, a call, anything they could do. Within a span of 5 minutes I experienced a single careless, reckless act of unintentional harm followed immediately by multiple acts of genuine, selfless care for a stranger in distress
On his PBS show, Fred Rogers once shared that his mother, when discussing scary news with children, would always tell them to “look for the helpers” - I’m unimaginably grateful to live among so many helpers