Tuesday Musings: The Accident That Was No Accident

Driving in New York City is every bit as frustrating as you think it would be. The taxis constantly cutting you off, the horn blowing, the headphone wearing pedestrians who just love to text while jaywalking. And let’s not forget the never-ending search for street parking. For these reasons, I pretty much leave my car parked during the week and make full use of public transit (which comes with its own frustrations, but I digress). On a weeknight a couple of weeks ago, I made a split decision to meet up with a friend in Brooklyn shortly after getting home from the office.

I’m always down for a hang in Brooklyn…until I start thinking about the logistics of getting there from my place. “Ugh. The last thing I feel like doing after commuting home is getting BACK on a bus or a train to Brooklyn. Maybe I’ll just drive. Parking won’t be as bad. Plus, it will be super late when I head home.” And late it was. Around 3:00 AM, I’m driving along Canal Street and hit a sea of break lights. Great. Now, NYC is notorious for bumper-to-bumper traffic at random times. It once took me nearly an hour to get through one traffic light on a Sunday afternoon. But this was ridiculous. The cause – a closed lane in the Holland Tunnel…which I was planning to take. *Long sigh*  Ok, Lincoln Tunnel it is. I attempt to bypass the gridlock and keep it moving, but a garbage truck has decided it’s a good idea to block the intersection. So I wait. Well, a man behind me decides he doesn’t want to do the same, and tries to go around me and the garbage truck. Before I have a chance to process what is happening, I hear it. That sound of two cars, mine and his, scraping each other…paint to paint. *Another long sigh accompanied by an eye roll*

Much to my surprise, this dude does. not. stop. So, I do what any self-respecting city dweller would do. I chase after him. I watch the news enough to know that confrontation is not a good idea; so I plan to just get his license plate number and deal with it later. Imagine this scene – the person who just swiped your car is directly in front of you. Stopped at a red light. Like nothing happened. I just shake my head and grab my phone to jot down the plate number, when a cop car pulls up next to me and hits the quick siren. I immediately think I’m about to get nailed for texting while driving when the officer in the passenger seat motions for me to roll my window down.

“Did that guy just hit you?”

“Yes,” I say flatly.

“Pull over and just stay in your car.”

They go straight into Aggressive NYPD Mode and corner the guy. He immediately shows both hands, all “don’t shoot” style (for the record, I do NOT blame him). Long story short, he was not drunk, or even purposely trying to get away. Hence, the calmly stopping at a red light not even two blocks up. I think he was just tired and didn’t realize he grazed my vehicle. In any event, we politely exchange information. I agree to delay filing a police report as long as he starts the process of getting the minor damage repaired in the next couple of days. But, of course, not before half-jokingly informing him that I am a lawyer. A lawyer who is not afraid to hunt him down and sue.

During the whole half hour spent on the side of a city street, I was more tired than upset. Once I was finally on my way, all I could think was, “At least I got his information. Seems like a decent enough guy. Hope he comes through.” Thankfully, he did. As promised, he met me at the auto-body shop a couple of days later. We got a fair estimate and decided to use the place.

“Hey, I’m out of the country for two weeks. Can you schedule the repair for when I return? I’d like to be here when the work is done…just to make sure it’s satisfactory.” My antennas didn’t go up. I actually believed him, so I agreed. Plus, as a chick who’s negotiated  car purchases and dealt with shady mechanics and the like all on her own, it felt good to have someone who wanted to look out for me for once. As promised, he reached out exactly two weeks later, and we made plans to meet once again at the auto body place.

I arrived promptly this morning, and as promised, he showed. Yes. Still honest people left in the world. We exchanged pleasantries.

“How was your trip?” I asked.

“Amazing. I was on tour in Singapore with an orchestra. I’m a trumpet player. Are you into music at all?”

Now if you’ve read the About section of this site, you know that my law practice is entertainment related, and I’m a certified “music head.” And if you know me personally, you know that for many other reasons, he couldn’t have asked me a more perfect question. As it turns out, that accident at 3:00 AM was no accident at all. What I thought was a random encounter turned into 1. legal work, 2. a request to speak at a prominent organization, and 3. the possibility of collaborating on another project I’m working on. And as I type this blog post, I received a text saying that the repairs are paid for, and my car is ready to be picked up. I’m still kind of stunned at how this all played out.

I was talking to my brother about the whole chain of events, and he responded, “good thing you weren’t hostile with him that night.” Yeah, good thing. I guess there is something to this whole idea of keeping calm and carrying on. I’m getting better at it. Mainly because I’ve finally realized that nothing has ever happened to me. Every chapter of my story – the good, the great, the bad, and the gut-wrenching – has happened for me. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still trying to find the silver lining in some things (yeah, that one jerk from 2006 to 2009…nevermind). But for much of my story, I’m well aware that some of my greatest disappointments were actually dodged bullets. And some of the choices that I felt forced to make ended up ushering in some of the most amazing opportunities I have yet to encounter.

So when the difficulties of life creep up from behind and sideswipe your plans, take a deep breath. Know that it’s never a coincidence. Learn the lesson. Expect the blessing. And keep on keeping on.