OK, I think I should say this about myself, even though I don't really want to.
I had an enjoyable but long day and night. In the afternoon I hung out outside TCF Bank Stadium before watching the North Stars-Blackhawks Alumni Game inside. (I'll say it again: The Wild need to be called the North Stars. That "N" skating around the ice? Beautiful logo, and it brought a tear to my eye.) As I hoped/suspected, the game was mostly on running time, so I had time to take a chance and light rail it to St. Paul and catch the championship game of the AA girls' hockey tournament. (I was a dozen seconds late, and I would have seen the puck drop if my Doc Martens didn't set off the metal detector.) Saw a thrilling game where Eden Prairie scored two goals only for Maple Grove to tie it before the Eagles scored the OT thriller as they enjoyed a 5-on-3.
Anyway, there was a lot of walking that surrounded all of it -- from the car to the stadium, then from the stadium all the way to St. Paul to the Xcel Energy Center, then from the X to the light rail station, then from Das Bank all the way to the car. It was such a relief to get to my car that I almost ran over someone.
I'm setting this up as if I'm blaming it all on my exhaustion over the walking. This is what happened: I drove out of my spot, which was alongside the street, and took a left. All the while the humidity in the air laid down this film that was hard to wipe away with used-up wipers. You know when you have damp, cool weather like this you get this dew on your windshield? I had that, and I was defrosting my windshield as soon as I started the car. I had a second left I needed to take on my way home, and I needed to slow down only just a bit because the light turned green almost as soon as I got to the intersection. I look at the cars coming my way just to make sure they stopped at the intersection so I could go.
One problem: This is the U., and I forgot that this is Saturday, so college students are going to be walking around, such as the girl I almost ran over just as I hanging that left. I saw her stop herself just in time to hear her say, "UH, EXCUSE YOU!!!" I'm pretty sure she could see me in my dark cabin; I just put my hands up like, "Sorry!" and drove through the left and out of her way as fast as I could.
Yeah, I was tired from all the walking I did. I also had to deal with the film in the windshield and the darkness. Finally, I wasn't used to waiting for pedestrians to cross because I haven't been driving around the U. lately. Oh, and one more thing: I don't think she would have screamed at me if she wasn't drunk, or at least if it wasn't a Saturday night and she thus wasn't, uh, keyed up for a night out. What I'm saying is is that if this were, like, a Monday night and I did that, I think she may have looked at me incredulously, but that would have been it. I make a point of pointing that out because I don't like getting yelled at.
But the bottom line is is that I screwed up. I should have been paying attention, even with all the obstacles I had while driving. And (I shouldn't really admit this either, but I'm putting it out there) this isn't the first time I've had a near-accident on the road lately. I don't know if I've driven this badly just recently or for a long time, but I've noticed that I've had close calls cutting in front of cars while changing lanes, haven't paid attention to slower cars in front of me while I look over my shoulder before I change lanes so I've almost run into them, and generally speeding and slaloming around cars that I wanted to get around. With all the guns that are around -- after all, this is America -- I'm surprised I haven't been shot on the road yet. Not saying that is justified. But I have to admit I could drive a lot better, and I hope to do so after this embarrassing incident tonight.
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