First of all this was not my accident. This was an accident that changed the way I view people.
The day that this picture was snapped was on our last day in England. It was the first and only day that it had rained in the roughly two weeks that we were there. So, wishing to not be completely soaked we stayed warm and cozy in our little flat. We were watching, as luck would have it, Singin' in the Rain.
While watching the best part of the whole movie my travel companion and I heard a really loud bang, followed by the loud sound of glass breaking right outside of our window. We were concerned by the sounds coming from outside so we ran the whopping two feet to our front windows.
When we looked outside the picture above is what we saw. A very distraught young man and an uber efficient woman. From what we could gather she had stopped and he didn't realize it, causing him to ram into the back of her car. Immediately after the accident happened both people got out of their cars and exchanged heartfelt apologies all while taking pictures of the accident. They also traded insurance information and phone numbers.
I know this sounds like something that you would see everyday in the States but what followed is what was astounding....
No one yelled.
No one got upset.
The bumper on the back of the woman's SUV had mostly been ripped off. She struggled to get it dislodged when suddenly a man walking by stepped off the sidewalk pulled the bumper off her vehicle, stowed it in her back seat, and went merrily along his way. He didn't gain anything from helping but he did it anyway.
While the accident victims were exchanging details a man from the cafe they had pulled in front of brought them coffee free of charge. (If you look at the picture closely you can see them sitting on the curb.) He just brought the coffees out, told them they were there and went back inside.
The accident was resolved within a matter of minutes. It was handled with such dignity that I wouldn't think it to be such an unpleasant experience as some of the accidents that happen here. Everyone jumped in to help regardless of what they would gain from it. It completely restored my faith in humanity and made me fall in love with this beautiful country just a little bit more than I had been before.
No comments:
Post a Comment
The reason I took up blogging was to make new friends and share my stories. I would love to hear what you have to say.