Skip to main content
On the way home from school, Aaron (and Chris and Em and Devon) were sideswiped by another teenaged driver. The poor kid spoke very little English and was obviously terrified. Aaron wrote down a notebook page worth of information about the other car, the driver, the passenger; he had three addresses and phone numbers, license plate numbers, vehicle identification number… I think if the kid had had textbooks with him, Aaron might have jotted down the titles. He was very very thorough. The other kid didn't even take down Aaron's phone number. After my initial rush of terror when Devon started out saying: "Hello, Mrs. McPhee, I have bad news," (note to Devon, always start out by saying "we're all okay!"), I was just so relieved that they were okay, that Aaron and his passengers handled themselves so well, that they were smart and calm and kind to the other driver.

Of course, it took me until at least one o'clock in the morning to fall asleep. I kept thinking about what could have happened. Why the heck do I do that?

Comments

listeme said…
No worries!

Besides, I'm paranoid. I'd probably have been terrified even if you HAD said you were all right.

Popular posts from this blog

This was in the mail: Life’s Too Short To Clean Your Own House. A lovely brochure, featuring a lovely couple, with two lovely blond children, sitting in a lovely family room. The dad is reading a book with one of the daughters. The mom is laughing over a laptop with the other daughter. A pretty picture. Short answer portion of the quiz: 1. Why did the advertising folks choose to put two girls in the picture instead of a girl and a boy? 2. Why did they choose to have the mom pose with the laptop? 3. Who cleans the housecleaners’ houses? Bonus question: are the perky college students pictured on the inside of the brochure real housecleaners or just models?
I have to confess something. I enjoy reading Anne Lamott. Okay, okay, I know that makes me more touchy-feely than I usually admit. She is very lovey. She talks about mystical things. She freely admits to praying (although she uses the F-word frequently in her books about “faith”. I like this in a person.) She talks about breathing. She is very real, and I admire this. She talks about her parents and her son with a mix of love and frustration and grumpiness. She admits, in public, in her writing, to sometimes being angry, sometimes disliking her loved ones, to having to work very hard to forgive them. I like to think I’m like her in a lot of ways, but I don’t share this ability. I can’t easily look at someone I love, look them in the eyes, and say “I’m really angry with you.” “I am mad.” “That was a bad thing you did. To me.” Instead, I’m the sort that says, “Oh, gosh, I’m sure you didn’t mean to run over my dog. It’s okay. I was meaning to get rid of that old thing soo...
Censorship update : According to Em's civics assignment: " Inappropriate news topics will not be accepted. If you are unsure of what is considered appropriate, please consult your teacher or your parents." (The assignment sheet printed that sentence in bold type.) Her entire summary: Source : Washingtonpost.com Headline : House Defeats Gay Marriage Amendment Main Idea : Debating whether or not gay marriages should be banned Summary : People in the House of Representatives debate about banning gay marriage, and it turns out they won't be. :) (Penciled smiley.) Connection : This connects to civics because it has to do with making laws and debating which are big parts of the government. Now, besides the fact that this is a danged sketchy summary and I'd like to throttle her for that, the only opinion she offers is the little smiley. She is brief and matter-of-fact. Practically boring! If anything, the article that she summarized is even ...