Why I Love Cars

nwm wreck 2
Originally uploaded by aaronjmaier.

Coming through downtown New Westminster on the first day of my tour a silver Dodge pickup, filled as I would later find with thousands of dollars of dental equipment, stops along the four-lane Columbia Gate Highway to allow me to cross. A chubby German fellow slowed beside him, and just before coming to a stop a black Toyota Matrix smashes into the back of the truck and mangles the Kia beside it. I drop my bicycle and run to the SUV to find both airbags deployed. A young Japanese girl in the passenger seat cannot speak in a state of shock when I ask if everyone is OK. A young man rubbing his face emerges from the mess of glass and dental tools in his lap to reassure me that no one is injured. The couple hug each other as the dental equipment salesman describes the scene to the emergency dispatcher on a company cell phone and the German fellow assesses the damage to his new Kia. I wait to serve as a witness and contemplate the miles of road ahead of me on my journey.