2007-03-08

In which I share a surprising event�

I�m a pretty good person to have around following a crisis.

I tend to remain calm and rational. I am able to analyze situations and solve problems well under somewhat stressful circumstances e.g. injuries, getting lost in the woods, near drowning, etc. I attribute part of this ability to lots of training and the other part to my general temperament.

I�m not sharing this to brag, like �Hi, I�m Megan. I�m a Taurus. I�m smart, funny and good in a crisis. Call me.� No, I�m sharing this to highlight the fact that, although I excel at handling the after-the-crisis part, historically, I suck at handling the immediately-before-the-crisis part.

I�ll be riding in the passenger seat of the car when I see a deer about to cross the road and my only reaction will be to point and say, �oh,� while I brake, on my side. And given that Geoff and I don�t own a drivers� ed type car with dual brakes, I will have done nothing constructive to help prevent the possible collision with the deer. Or, I will get cut-off in traffic, nearly hit, and only after the situation happened will I think, �Man, that would have been a good time to use my horn, or at least my middle finger.�

Never have I had the appropriate gut response at the time a crisis was taking place. That is until yesterday.

Yesterday, I was driving out of the parking lot of the train station and this man started to pull out right in front of me without looking. And do you know what I did? I HONKED AT HIM. I don't even know what came over me. I slammed on my brakes to avoid being hit and my left hand just slapped the horn automatically. After nearly 14 years of driving, I finally used my horn.

I think this may be a big turning point for me. Who knows, I mean, first the horn, maybe next I�ll be riding at dusk on a country road and be able to exclaim, �Deer, incoming, two o�clock" without hesitation?

This will be like having a superpower. I�ll be Reacts-Appropriately-to-Crises Woman!

Or something like that. Clearly, I�ll have to work on the name.

If finding a moniker were a crisis, I bet I would come up with a good one.