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November 25, 2006
Cop Saves Blind Man - No Big Deal
by Jack Lee
Stockton, California, 2006: It was a bright winter day in November. A distant sun rose against a clear blue sky. The air was cold and damp as the night's frost melted away. As usual, the early morning traffic was light, save for two cars headed down a wide-open 6-lane boulevard. In the center lane was a black and white police car followed closely behind by a small Honda Civic in the outside lane.
As they approached the next intersection a blind man, perhaps in his late 60's, shuffled along with his white cane.
The man stopped on the corner, listened, and then tentatively stepped from the curb into the crosswalk while feeling his way with his cane. The man had only taken two steps then he paused. The little Honda and the police vehicle both slowed and gently stopped to yield the right of way and the pedestrian resumed walking slowly past the Honda first and then the police car.
It was at this point the officer noticed in his rear view mirror that another vehicle was quickly approaching them in the inside lane. He continued to watch for signs of slowing and as the distance between them closed, he could
now see the driver was talking on his cell phone, apparently oblivious why these two other vehicles ahead of him were stopped.
The driver was fast approaching that critical point where stopping for the pedestrian would not be an option. The older man was now just two heartbeats from stepping into the lane of an oncoming Buick! In almost reflex response, the officer laid on his emergency air horn.
Unfortunately, this not only startled the driver of the Buick, but the pedestrian who was directly in front of the horn! But, it caused the pendestrian to freeze in his tracks and there he stood, confused and frightened, swinging his cane wildly, as the driver of the Buick hit the brakes and skidded to a stop just inches from the man in the cross walk. Both men were obviously stunned and shaken as they mutually became aware of what almost happened. And the police officer, well, he just took a deep breath looked over at the stunned driver of the Buick and shook his head, as the blind man regained his composure and walked safely towards the sidewalk.
In another minute the morning traffic moved along as it always did. It was an otherwise unremarkable moment in time, where absolutely nothing bad happened, except in the minds of a few who were quickly brought together by fate and just as quickly seperated. It was business as usual, it was just another day, it was no big deal.
Posted by Post Scripts at November 25, 2006 10:31 AM
Comments
Jack, From my perspective this is a big deal...maybe not a "very" big deal, but a big deal none the less. The blind man was very lucky that a trained police officer was on the scene, The average citizen might not have been so aware of events as they were unfolding. The cell phone user, I hope, was startled enough to vow putting off use of the phone while driving...forever!
I saw a woman recently on the phone, attempting to put on a seat belt while driving through a parking lot across the lanes. She was not aware of other cars around her and did not even glance in my direction. an accident in the waiting as they say.
Posted by: Tina at November 25, 2006 01:11 PM