If a tree falls in the forest

This is a story about how a car accident I was in a few days ago probably saved some lives.

Last Thursday at 5 p.m., at the beginning of rush hour, I was driving south on a section of Route 1 which is a four-lane highway (two northbound, two southbound). I was in the left southbound lane, stopped with my blinker on, waiting to make a left turn. In front of me was a Honda Civic, also stopped with its blinker on, also waiting for a break in the northbound traffic to make a left turn.

All of a sudden a Toyota Rav-4 slammed into the back of my car, pushing me into the Honda.

Luckily no one was hurt. The Toyota was seriously smashed (airbags, leaking radiator fluid, steam rising, front end demolished). The back of my car was heavily damaged, though my car (a mighty Subaru Legacy) was drivable. The Honda had a dent in the rear bumper.

I called 911 and police and a fire engine (just in case) were there in less than five minutes. The police stopped traffic in both directions. The couple in the Honda and I pulled our cars into the right lane, so an arriving tow truck could collect the Toyota. The man and woman from the Honda and I leaned on a guardrail at the side of the road, waiting for a police officer to finish with the Toyota driver and come talk to us.

Without warning, a tree behind us (on the other side of the guardrail) suddenly cracked at its base and fell, missing the guy beside me by inches and smashing into the Honda. It was large enough to shatter the rear window and heavily damage the roof and rear of the Honda.

We all jumped. "Damn, I've never seen anything like that before," the police officer said. I silently agreed. The Honda driving couple went ballistic.

A few minutes later the police officer finished with me and I drove home, rear bumper and bodywork flapping as I went. As I drove, I realized that if that tree had fallen as cars were going by at 50-60 mph there would have been a serious accident, almost certainly with people killed. It's easy for me to say this, since it wasn't my Honda the tree landed on, but a lot of people who don't even know it were lucky that day.

When I got home and called my insurance company to report the accident, the adjuster had this comment:

"I've processed a lot of claims. I thought I'd heard them all, but I've never heard a story like this." When the Toyota driver's insurance company called me to arrange for repairs, that adjuster told me the same thing.

Note to police officers: the next time someone tells you "that tree just jumped in front of me," it could be true.

Patience of Job II

I recently had a great job interview, and really hope I'm offered the job, but it won't hold a candle to my favorite job interview of all time.

Years ago I interviewed at an ad agency whose name I can't recall for a copywriting position. I really liked the agency and the creative director who interviewed me, and was hoping he'd call me with an offer.

A few days later he did. Yes! All was right with the world.

He started talking about the things about me that had impressed him, including certain projects. "I really like what you did for (this client) and (that client)," he told me.

Unfortunately, none of the clients he mentioned were mine.

He was a bit bubbly, and took him a couple of minutes to pause for breath. When he did I was honest: "I'm really flattered, but none of the work you mentioned is mine."

"Well who the hell's work is it?" he asked me. I had to plead ignorance. "Who am I trying to hire?" he demanded. Again, I had no idea.

"But if you can't find out who it is, I'd still love to be considered for the position," I told him. He cursed — not at me, I think, but at the situation — and hung up.

He never called back.