Saga continuation

Last week, while I was on my way to Austin to visit folks, I nearly died in my car. I was on the service road of I-35, and wasn't paying attention to the road. To be so incredibly middle-class, I was looking for a Starbucks that the sign on the highway told me was off this exit. I was so concerned with looking for the entrance to the coffee shop that I didn't notice the light had turned from green to yellow to red. I looked up, freaked, tried to stop, realized that wasn't going to work, and then went through the light. I could have been killed, or worse, killed someone else. And all because I really wanted a cup of coffee. How pathetic.

But I was reminded again this past week that sometimes that person who sped through the light might be a dumbass like I was while looking for some coffee, but sometimes that person has a pressing need. (Need I say that defensive driving is a good thing?) The last post I made, about the the day I took the GRE, was also the last time I went straight through a red light. That time, though, there was a reason beyond coffee.

After I took the GRE, I continued down the road to go visit my friend Laura, who lived in Houston at the time and worked at Compaq. While well equipped with my toilet paper in the car for the trip, I was already emotionally and physically exhausted, and this was also in a time before I lost all sense of modesty. Laura was going to meet me after a 3/4 day at work at her apartment, but she wasn't there when I arrived. No problem, right? I've got AC in the truck and music to listen to, right? Well, yes, if you disregard the tiny little problem that presented itself forcefully in my gut shortly after ringing the doorbell to no avail. Oh shit. Literally.

I knocked on the people's door across the way - no luck. I went to my truck, thinking I could spot a place to do some business - no luck. The parking lot and apartment building was a wide-open field with windows and doors and pitifully few cars for cover. I jumped in my truck, sped out of the parking lot, ran two redlights and swerved across traffic in order to get to the Church's chicken store right down the road. I made it to the bathroom, which I'm happy about. But now when I think of it, I wonder what the price could have been.

After that, I called my friend and told her to call me back when she got home. I wasn't moving out of that joint until I knew I was able to go inside her apartment. I don't think I left her apartment again during that visit. I let the anxiety at my IBS issues take control. It wasn't the first time I did that nor the last.