SoCS: My Not So Wee Accident

August 7, 2021 by JoAnna 23 Comments

“Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “wee.” Use the word “wee” or find a word that contains it and use it in your post. Have fun!“

I wish I could say I had a wee accident, but that would not be true. I wish I had been able to say, “wee!” as I drove my car into the picnic table, but I was more like, OMG or WTF in a sort of out of body experience. People rushed to see if I was okay. I assured them that I was. Embarrassment and disbelief were my worst injuries.

I remembered pulling into the rest area parking lot on my way to the mountains. I’d stopped about two hours earlier for lunch and stretching and only had two more hours to go in the six hour trip. I remebered looking for a shady parking space, picking one out, turing into it and my car ran over the curb into the sturdy metal rest area picnic table.

Now I know there’s a name for what happened: Pedal confusion. It can happen to anyone, but it happens more in old people. I’m sure being tired was a factor. I stepped on the gas instead of the brake. I still find it hard to believe and embarrassing. It also happens more in confinded areas like parking lots. I’ve actually done this twice before over the years though not recently until two weeks ago. Both previous times, I was pulling into a parking space, but didn’t do any damage as I was able to correct my mistake quick enough. And there were no picnic tables. One person I lamented to said she rear ended someone by stepping on the gas by mistake. I’m glad no one was hurt.

People were very helpful. They called the police, EMS, and even a fire truck just to be safe. In spite of my assurances, EMS checked me out and everything was normal by then. There was a police officer who was very helpful. He said he could get a tow truck faster than AAA’s estimate of 45 minutes. The tow truck arrived in about 20 minutes and the police officer took me (in the cramped back of his police car) to the car rental place and made sure I would get a rental before he left. Maybe it was because I was a older ? woman driving alone. Maybe it was my father’s Bible in the car door pocket. Maybe he’s just a good cop and it was a slow day.

So anyways, I managed to have a good swim in the pool the next day and kayaked on the lake with the goal to stop thinking about the accident (after I had read at least three articles about pedal confusion.) I managed to drive the rental car back home without incident. My messed up car is still 4 hours away and needs a LOT of work. My husband says, that’s why we have insurance. He encouraged me to “get back on the horse.”

Eventually, I’ll have to go back and get my car which makes me nervous. I don’t enjoy driving anymore and talk to myself saying: “My foot is on the break. The break is in the middle.” I stay on the brake as much as possible in parking lots. Once in the parking space, I put on the parking brake. When I move my foot to the gas, I go slow and say, “Easy does it.” It makes me nervous just to write about it.

Deep breath. Another deep breath. Maybe some day, I’ll get my confidence back about driving. But I don’t want to drive long distances if I can help it. I’d rather sit here on the couch and watch TV while petting my cat.

I had prayed for safety and mindfulness at the beginning of the trip. Well, at least I was safe, because I was not hurt. Just my pride. Yeah, so I get more humilty. Okay. I am thankful.

To wrap things up, what does make me go “Wee!” in a fun way? Like swinging high in a swing. I’m not so much of a “wee” person. Maybe the ocean on a day when the waves aren’t too rough and they tickle me with foam. I wouldn’t mind swinging on a rope swing over a lake and jumping in, as long as I know the water is deep. Maybe riding a horse would do it. It’s been a while.

What would make you say, Wee?

Oh, swining a grandbaby on a swing. That would do it!

My granddaughter’s not a baby anymore.

Be safe and be mindful.

Update: Trying to wake up this morning, I stumbled upon this Ted Talk which made me realize my practice of mindful driving has become not so kind and a little bit shaming. So I was thankful for the idea of kind attention Shauna Shapiro shares in this video.

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For more streams of consciousness, rules, etc. visit Linda Hill at:

https://lindaghill.com/2021/08/06/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-aug-7-2021/