A few years back, a nearby shopping center was being renovated. Part of that renovation included improving the parking lot, with a small drainage ditch being dug near the edge. Before the drainage was completed, and before a fence was put around the ditch, there was a torrential downpour. Which leads me to the following pictures, taken as I walked through the aforementioned parking lot:
You may not believe what you’re seeing. I surely didn’t.
Look for the tail lights.
Ouch.
Though I’ve little doubt that the poor Mini Cooper was totaled, and that this was a very, very bad day for someone, I don’t believe there were any serious injuries. As such, when I pass by the now-fenced-in drainage pit, I amuse myself with the thoughts of the driver of the car. Did they first think “This puddle is deeper than I expected!”? Did they then fear they’d driven into a sinkhole, or perhaps believe they were being swallowed to the depths of hell itself? And then, how did they feel after about three-quarters of a second, when the car stopped falling and they realized they were relatively fine?
No matter how lousy a day I’m having, I know it’s not as bad as that poor driver’s was. And so it is that I can always be uplifted by a little drainage pit and the memory of what transpired there.
