In the Blink of an Eye

Things can sometimes be measured in milliseconds. Nanoseconds. The blink of an eye.
There are these moments in life when time seems to slow and the rest of your life depends on what happens in that breath of time.

Better Safe Than Sorry

I see myself as a responsible, young driver. And I have only been in two auto accidents, but in my defense, neither of them were my fault, and to prove it, my insurance rate didn’t even flinch. The people who hit me paid for all the damages in full, which was great (my poor car!)
Anyway, last week, I was on my way to my violin lesson, so I was speeding down my street (my teacher is all about punctuality). At the end of my street is an elementary school. I made a mental note that the time was 3:30 and the school had just finished and gotten out. There would be lots of little kids running around so I should slow down and be more cautious. That I would rather be late, then to hit someone.
All this passed through my mind in a split second.

Probably two seconds after I thought this and eased on the break to slow down, two little kids, brother and sister, dart out in front of my car. I saw the scene unfolding, as if things were moving so slowly, as adrenaline was dumped into my veins. The brother wanted to cross the street to their mother’s car parked on the other side. He took his sister’s hand and pulled her after him, laughing.
The mother was standing right besides them, talking to another mother. She turned and screamed. The two kids turned and saw my car for the first time, heading right towards them.

It is amazing how fast the human brain works and that you can react with only a second to spare (literally).
In that tiny expanse of time after I told myself to slow down, all that happened, and I took it all in. I slammed on the breaks as soon as I saw them step into the street, just as the mother screamed. My car stopped probably only five feet away from those children.
The mother ran out into the street and hugged both of them, practically in tears, scolding them at the same time. She nodded thanks to me, and I knew that she meant it with all her heart.

My heart was racing, and it didn’t slow until I stepped out of the car with my violin. Even then, my hands shook. What if I had been a moment too late? My life, that mother’s life, those children’s lives would have been changed forever. What if I hadn’t stopped in time? What if I hadn’t the thought to slow down and not speed? I wouldn’t have stopped in time. I would be devastated if I had hit, let alone, killed two little children. (At the speed I had been originally going, about 35 mph, I probably would have killed them had I not slowed and had I hit them full on). These thoughts raced through my head, and even now I am scared by the idea of what could have happened.

I have a cousin, Kevin, who was hit when he was three, by an 18 year old driver, racing down the street. I know personally how it can change that family’s life forever. My cousin ran into the street after the ball he was playing with rolled down the driveway. My uncle, weeding the garden couldn’t react in time. It all happened in a second.
To this day, he remains severely retarded, although a he is a wonderful person and is loved by everyone. He has a great personality and a fun sense of humor in how own way, but he will never be normal. At 26 now, he will never get a real girlfriend, never get married, never have kids, never be independent. Never have what any normal person has. Just because of what happened in a blink of an eye.

Tags: General, Life, Local, People
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