This weekend I went out to dinner with my dad and when we left the restaurant I hopped in the car while he did his normal scan of the side of his car (you'd be surprised how little respect people have for police cars and how bold/stupid a lot of them are when it comes to things they'll do to cops cars), well turns out someone hit his car in the parking lot of the restaurant, preceded to back up and destroy the fence, and then (according to the people who saw it) ran over the curb to get onto the road. (Most likely in a panic realizing that they had a hit a police car)
I was so shocked that someone would do this in a crowded public place and then just drive off! I understand there were witnesses and they probably didn't have a pen and paper handy to write down the license plate number of the car, but I just couldn't believe that person just LEFT! (P.S. the witnesses say it was a U-Haul truck, so if any of y'all happen to see a truck with a little front end or back end damage, holler at your girl) ;)
But, then I got to thinking...
I remember three or four years ago I was home for Christmas break and since I went to school out of state and flew home I had to rely on my parents extra cars to get around. I was lucky enough to get to drive my dad's GINORMOUS diesel truck. (During the break my friends and I lovingly nicknamed it 'Big D', it was ridiculous). But anyways, I remember driving it to the mall to get some presents and I pulled into a spot that was a liiiiiittle too small for that gigantic automobile...so small in fact that I ended up hitting another car and getting STUCK! Okay...so...obviously I panicked, called my dad (who was too far away to come save me) and he called the Sheriff's office to send someone to come help me. EMBARASSING! But it was seriously jammed so tight in there I just couldn't get out by myself. A sheriff deputy came, saw me wedged into that little baby spot and after like 20 minutes of slight wheel turns and backing in and pulling up over and over we finally managed to get the car out of there and I just remember thinking, I wish this officer wasn't here so I could just drive away...I was so scared that my dad was going to be mad at me (which he wasn't, the most level-headed guy I know!) and I was so embarrassed, I mean really...who the heck realizes they can't fit the biggest car in the world in the tiniest spot at the mall?! Of course I left my information there for the person and they were so grateful! They called me the next day to thank me for leaving everything and not driving off (she was a wife whose husband was deployed in Iraq)...but I still had the thought in my mind...if only I could have gotten away with it, I would have...
That's TERRIBLE to think, I know it is...and now here it's happened to someone I care about and I found myself SHOCKED that someone didn't leave their information...hmmm...funny how that works out.
It really got me thinking about the way that people act, why we do the things we do, act the way we act, REact the way we do...
There is absolutely NO explanation I can think of...literally for EVERY situation that something happens to you and you feel like a victim or you wish someone else would have been more courteous, I'm sure we can pinpoint a time in our lives when we've acted the same way to another person.
Whether it's being a courteous driver or expecting someone else to be...Losing your wallet and wishing someone else would return it or deciding whether or not you should keep money you found in someone else's wallet (I mean no one would ever find out)...etc.
In a perfect world, in every situation we would always ask "If this was me on the receiving end, how would I want someone else to react?"...but of course that's not the way things work.
As human beings we're naturally afraid...afraid of the consequences of telling the truth...afraid of getting into trouble...afraid of practically everything and it's really sad. Fear holds us back so much and it makes really good people not the best at times...In my mind that U-Haul driver is a dirty, ugly, mean looking man who probably breaks the law all the TIME (jerk!) but in reality, it's probably just another hardworking person (or scared teenage girl...though why she would be driving a big u-haul truck makes that scenario unlikely) who was too afraid of how much it would cost them or how much trouble they would be in to stop and do the honest thing...and I can honestly say...I've been there! I understand...my situation forced me to be a good person and looking back I'm glad that it did.
I wish other people would do the same sometimes.
P.S. I am not a deep person, so I know a lot of you brainiacs can see things from a different perspective as me or you might have a great explanation and I would LOVE to hear it! :) This kind of stuff is so interesting to me.
P.P.S. Every U-Haul truck I see for the next few weeks will be getting a thorough examination by me ;) ...jerk!
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