Strange regrets

Previously I posted about how my father almost shot me in a moment of inattention.

In the spirit of full disclosure I feel compelled to now tell how I almost killed my father and the rest of my family.

The family was on vacation, making a long trip by car. With six people in the family and not much money, we couldn't afford to fly. Much of the driving would happen late at night. My father, a cab driver for much of his life, could drive far into the night without problem, a trait I seem to have inherited.

Given the size of the family relative to the size of the car, three people needed to be in the front seat. So, being the oldest, I got the honor of sitting between my mother and father. It was late and everyone except my father, driving, was asleep. I kept waking a bit and looking through the windshield at the road whizzing by.

The thing was, from my vantage point it seemed like we were going at about a 30 degree angle relative to the painted lines glowing in the headlights. In other words to me it constantly seemed like we were driving off the road. I would wake a bit, notice this, be bothered by it and wonder if I should do something, then fall back asleep.

At some point, though, I decided something finally had to be done and I experienced a moment of feeling responsible for solving the situation. So I reached up, grabbed the steering wheel, and yanked it to the left.

My father was taken by surprise and the car lurched into the lane for oncoming traffic.

Fortunately he was on top of things enough to quickly yank us back, and there had been no cars in the other lane at that particular moment. He was puzzled by my action, to say the least. I fell back asleep, giving no explanation.

As with the gun incident, this one has stuck with me. For two seconds a lot of lives were suddenly at stake due to something I did, and I have no idea exactly what was going on with me.

I have never done anything like that again. It was a unique moment in time.

Comments

[Will]

You think that's bad? Once a toddler ran out in front of me when I was on a swing and my outstretched feet totally decked her.

[Ronald Hayden]

My swing story: We used to go fishing at this big lake that had a picnic area and big solid swings where the seat was made up of inch-thick slabs of wood.

I was sitting near the swings and one of my siblings was swinging. I think they may have jumped off the swing, and the big heavy wooden seat suddenly arced further, and connected with my head.

This is the only time I think I have ever been rendered instantly unconscious.

My next moment of awareness was my mother screaming from the car and running up to me...

This story may explain more about me than I'd like.