A Fateful April 20th
So it was my day off, that 20th of April. How fateful you say? Well, herein lies the tale...
It's about 1:00pm, and I'm at my Starbucks, enjoying an afternoon with co-workers and surfing the 'net on my laptop. After a few minutes of checking email and scanning my usual spots (apple.com and monster.com, to name a few), I decide that my place at the bar in the back of the cafe wasn't comfortable, and moved over to a comfy chair next to the glass wall. About 20 minutes later, as I'm facing the bar I was just seated at and merrily typing on my computer, I'm suddenly turned sideways. Not just me, mind you, but my entire chair as my laptop quickly flies out of my lap. I immediately turn to my left, for as all this happens I hear a deafening roar and am bombarded by glass flying everywhere. Where I was seated a less than half an hour ago, a blue Ford Expedition now sits, motor idling as it comes to a stop. Loud screaming, glass breading, and general pandemonium reign over the normally quiet cafe. It's at that moment that my mind draws a blank, for in what seemed like a couple of seconds, my life flashes before my eyes and I wonder the following things. 1. What just happened? 2. Why am I facing this direction? 3. Why is there an SUV in the Starbucks? After all, this isn't a drive thru, much less a drive-in.
The answers flow just as quickly. 1. Ok, so for some strange reason, a person drove an SUV into the store. 2. I'm facing this way because the front passenger side of his bumper hit the side of my chair, which also explains why my laptop was unceremoniously launched into orbit. 3. Well, I didn't have an answer for #3, until a couple of the people who were still in the front of the store started shouting that the driver wasn't moving and we needed to get him out.
Great.
And so I move into action. I'm sure it was within seconds, but it felt like hours. I get up and look out the open side of the wall where the three glass panels used to be and see a coworker who was inside his car now come out and stand there looking as dumbfounded as I felt. My attention turns back to the inside as a couple of guys try to break the driver's side window with a chair because the SUV's doors are locked. I move over to look in the passenger side window and see the driver, a guy in his early 30's, splayed stiff as a board against his chair, with what looks like blood all over the rear passenger window.
Even Better.
By this time the drivers' side window wouldn't break, so those same guys moved to try to break a hole in the windshield. Meanwhile, a friend of mine (who was also at the front of the store at the time) came up to me with a long metal pole that had broken off from where the Ford crashed through our bar, and motioned to me to help him break out the back windshield. One big push with that bar and the back windshield was destroyed, making way for us to try and unlock the back door. As we moved to open the door, the men in front were able to unlock the doors and began to pull the driver out of his seat. Though unknown to me at the time, about 4 people had called 911 immediately after the truck crashed into the store, so the fire department and paramedics showed up just as the men were pulling the unconscious guy out of the SUV. Turns out the driver is actually not bleeding, as the 'blood' I thought I saw was actually mocha from our pump that was destroyed when the truck destroyed our bar.
And time is running out for me on this computer (at the library) so I'll have to finish later.
But I must finish with this:
God is merciful, and I've just witnessed a modern miracle.
It's about 1:00pm, and I'm at my Starbucks, enjoying an afternoon with co-workers and surfing the 'net on my laptop. After a few minutes of checking email and scanning my usual spots (apple.com and monster.com, to name a few), I decide that my place at the bar in the back of the cafe wasn't comfortable, and moved over to a comfy chair next to the glass wall. About 20 minutes later, as I'm facing the bar I was just seated at and merrily typing on my computer, I'm suddenly turned sideways. Not just me, mind you, but my entire chair as my laptop quickly flies out of my lap. I immediately turn to my left, for as all this happens I hear a deafening roar and am bombarded by glass flying everywhere. Where I was seated a less than half an hour ago, a blue Ford Expedition now sits, motor idling as it comes to a stop. Loud screaming, glass breading, and general pandemonium reign over the normally quiet cafe. It's at that moment that my mind draws a blank, for in what seemed like a couple of seconds, my life flashes before my eyes and I wonder the following things. 1. What just happened? 2. Why am I facing this direction? 3. Why is there an SUV in the Starbucks? After all, this isn't a drive thru, much less a drive-in.
The answers flow just as quickly. 1. Ok, so for some strange reason, a person drove an SUV into the store. 2. I'm facing this way because the front passenger side of his bumper hit the side of my chair, which also explains why my laptop was unceremoniously launched into orbit. 3. Well, I didn't have an answer for #3, until a couple of the people who were still in the front of the store started shouting that the driver wasn't moving and we needed to get him out.
Great.
And so I move into action. I'm sure it was within seconds, but it felt like hours. I get up and look out the open side of the wall where the three glass panels used to be and see a coworker who was inside his car now come out and stand there looking as dumbfounded as I felt. My attention turns back to the inside as a couple of guys try to break the driver's side window with a chair because the SUV's doors are locked. I move over to look in the passenger side window and see the driver, a guy in his early 30's, splayed stiff as a board against his chair, with what looks like blood all over the rear passenger window.
Even Better.
By this time the drivers' side window wouldn't break, so those same guys moved to try to break a hole in the windshield. Meanwhile, a friend of mine (who was also at the front of the store at the time) came up to me with a long metal pole that had broken off from where the Ford crashed through our bar, and motioned to me to help him break out the back windshield. One big push with that bar and the back windshield was destroyed, making way for us to try and unlock the back door. As we moved to open the door, the men in front were able to unlock the doors and began to pull the driver out of his seat. Though unknown to me at the time, about 4 people had called 911 immediately after the truck crashed into the store, so the fire department and paramedics showed up just as the men were pulling the unconscious guy out of the SUV. Turns out the driver is actually not bleeding, as the 'blood' I thought I saw was actually mocha from our pump that was destroyed when the truck destroyed our bar.
And time is running out for me on this computer (at the library) so I'll have to finish later.
But I must finish with this:
God is merciful, and I've just witnessed a modern miracle.
posted by Josh at 1:14 PM
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