Sixteen-year-old Susan and her friend Marcy were texting each other all afternoon. They were best friends and lived across town from each other. Marcy asked Susan if she could come over to do some studying. So Susan went to her dad and asked if she could borrow the car to go to Marcy’s house to work on a thesis they had in one of the classes they were taking together. He said it would be okay if she would get back at a decent time because he needed to get up early to go to work the next morning.
She got into the car, adjusted the seat and mirrors, buckled her seatbelt and turned the radio to her favorite station. She put her cell phone in her lap in case Marcy or anyone called or sent her a message. Sure enough before she got to the end of the street Marcy sent her another message. When Susan pulled up to the stop sign she replied to Marcy that she was on her way and she would be there in a few minutes. She laid the phone back in her lap and she would check it every few minutes while on her way.
Susan was all excited about going to her friend Marcy’s house. She was swaying her shoulders side to side while she sang along with the song ‘The Power of Love’ by Huey Lewis and the News that was blaring on the radio, while trying to dance in her seat. Marcy forwarded Susan a message that she had received from another friend that Thomas, the football team’s star running back, was interested in taking Marcy to a dance. Susan quickly replied, ‘That’s cool’ and put her phone back in her lap.
Susan sniffed and rubbed her nose with one hand. She sniffed again and felt uncomfortable. She gently put her index finger in her nose to try to relieve the discomfort that she felt. She searched diligently with her index finger in her nasal cavity for that annoying discomfort. While all of her attention was on her attempt to dig out that hidden buried treasure that was lodged in the deep, dark recesses in her nasal tunnel she failed to see the light at the intersection that she was coming upon had turned to yellow then red. By the time she saw the big dump truck that was about to sideswipe her it was already too late. When emergency crews arrived and pulled Susan from the wreckage, upon looking at her they knew instantly what had happened. Eyes and mouth wide open in shock with both index fingers buried to the knuckle in the nook of her nostrils.
Long before there was drinking and driving, talking and driving and yes, even texting and driving there was ‘picking and driving’. What makes this the worse of distracted driving is the fact that practically everyone that drives on the road has a nose and has had some kind of nasal negligence while driving. Whether it is flicking one out the window, having one flicked on your windshield from the driver in front of you and you swerving to try to avoid it to losing one off your finger somewhere in your vehicle and taking your eyes off the road to look down and try to find it.
Poor old Susan never made it to her friend Marcy’s house and her dad’s car was totaled. (But he did get that new truck he was looking at in the magazine when Susan left wishing there was some way he could afford one.) Susan left behind a husband of fifteen years and three small kids aged seven, nine and twelve whom she will never see grow up to be… Well, whatever they grow up to be she won’t see it.
And the moral of this story is: DON’T PICK AND DRIVE!
And that my friend is a true story… Okay, most of it is true… Okay, okay it is a complete fabrication of my imagination but it could be true I do know a few people named Susan and Marcy and I know a lot of dad’s.
And remember: You can pick your friends and you can pick your nose but I wouldn’t suggest picking your friends nose…Even if they ask. Have a great and safe driving day!
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