Image by Lee Bennett via Flickr
Drive by
Did you have a choice —
Starbucks in one hand and
one hand on the wheel,
as he waddled over the centre line?
Did your foot hesitate, move
from gas to brake
or did you simply
drive on,
oblivious to his
small iridescent head,
caught between the paradise of one ditch
and the other?
Ironically, after writing this emotional and judgmental response to a real life situation, I experienced how difficult it is to do the right, sensitive, caring thing when it happens right in front of me. It’s just not that simple.
This morning I was able to stop for a family of ducks crossing the road by our school. Cars on one side of the road had already stopped when I saw a mother duck and 8 little ones heading toward my side. I put on my hazard lights, and prayed for traffic beside me to stop too. Then, with only 4 ducklings safely off the road and 4 more trying to hop up the curb, the traffic began to flow around me and I had no choice but to drive on.
Believe it or not, I cried as I drove away, and whispered a prayer that they would all be safe. I thought of jumping out of the car and ushering them to safety. But, logic took over, plus I was wearing my pj’s, and I realized that it’s so easy to judge when we don’t know all the facts, so easy to make blanket statements (or write poems) when we don’t know the entire situation. I humbly stand corrected.
Obviously human,
LAE
Related Articles
- “Officer saves ducklings” and related posts (blameitonthevoices.com)
- Officer Rescues Ducklings (neatorama.com)
- Police officer saves ducklings stranded in road (newslite.tv)
BUDDY BREATHING 