A Month in the Life

It Could Only Happen to Me

So, Merry Christmas to you and yours! It’s good to be back in the blogging world, if only for this week. So check this out, the other day I was standing at our receptionist’s desk, and two men come in and say call the police department, a man just had a bicycle accident. Okay for real. I just looked at them, and asked, “a motorcycle accident?” “No, an accident on his bicycle in our company driveway, he’s not responding, so call the police department.” I just couldn’t believe it, but no time to “think”. So I look up the police department number (because in Nashville if its not life threatening you have to call a different number than 911) about a quarter of a mile down the road and call them. “Hi, I’m Chauntay, down the road, a man had an accident on his bicycle in our driveway.” “Excuse me, Ma’am?” “A man has had an accident, he is unconscious, oh wait, they say he’s moving now, there’s blood everywhere, there’s a big gash on his head”. “Ma’am where are you located?” “I am at 659, right down the street, across from Bell Ford.” “I’m sorry Ma’am you are out of our city limits. You need to hang up and call Metro 911”. I was stunned. For all he knew this man could have been run over and he says HANG UP AND CALL 911? Are you kidding me? I said, “Sir, do you know where I’m at? I can SEE you from my front porch of the company. We’re just down the hill.” “Ma’am, our city limits stop at the cemetery (which is our next door neighbor). Sorry.”

Disbelief

I’m completely stunned. So I thank him, hang up and call 911 Emergency. A lady answers. Here we go again. “Ma’am, a man has had an bicycle accident in our driveway.” Silence. “Is he breathing? I have to ask that.” “Yes, he just started moving. There’s lots of blood though.” And then I heard sirens (pronounced sirenes here in the South, ha). Thank God. I thanked the operator and assume that someone else beat me to the call. I then ran to the door to see, for the first time, exactly what had happened. I see a BMW pulled in our driveway and two police cars, a policeman interrogating a lady, asking if she hit him and her pleading innocence and good Samaritan! ((Side note: I think one day people just won’t stop and help anymore because it’s really not worth the hassle, or blame)) Then I hear the phone ringing (the receptionist is still MIA), I answer it and its Metro 911 Emergencies. The lady says, “Ma’am, I’ve checked our system and we don’t have a report for that accident. Could you go outside and see what police department is there?” I can’t believe it, but sure. “Sure, I’d love to. Hold on a second.” So I run to the “scene”.

The Moment of Truth

A man is lying there, looking of homeless descent. His hair is unkempt, he was wearing an older coat, larger than life, and he’s on a rickety old blue bicycle that looks like it crawled out of the seventies. He’s got a pool of blood around him and he looks completely disoriented. I immediately felt sorry for him. Bless his heart. I ran and asked the officer where he’s from; he looked at me oddly, and said “Berry Hill”. “Okay, thanks.” Berry Hill; the original police department I had called. I guess they realized they had a lawsuit on their hands. Their operator might be checking into unemployment as we speak, for the love. Anyway, I run back in and tell the 911 operator the glad tidings and hang up (thankful that SOME one was doing their job that day).

Bitterness?

I go outside to take another look, and say a prayer. But wait, what do I see? A bottle of alcohol lying on the ground. I found out later it was a pint of Jack Daniels. I never drank, so I have no idea, but after I showed them w/ my hands the width/length of the bottle and the color, everyone knew exactly what it was. Sad. I digress. Of course, it all made sense. Why else would someone crash on the sidewalk in the middle of the day, traffic, and in a driveway? He was drunk, plain and simple. A feeling of disappointment swept over me. I just stood there and stared at the mania. There were two police cars, a fire truck, and an ambulance, totaling 7 plus individuals, all for a man “riding drunk”. And to make matters worse, I’m not entirely sure that they didn’t take him in.

Soul Searching

I guess it just hit home this holiday season. We are all so fortunate to have homes, bicycles from this century, and even common sense. At what point do you lose all, or any of this? Simple answer. There is no point. You don’t wake up and become homeless, these things are gradual. You don’t get where you are in life, over night.

So my Christmas Wish? Take a second this season. Have a heart, be a little more lenient. Give some change to the person in front of you in line that’s a dollar short. Say a prayer when you see an ambulance flying by, pray for those on the cold mornings without a coat, volunteer at the homeless shelter. After all, “I am not what I should be. I am not what I will be but praise the Lord I am not what I was.” We all grow daily; why don’t you help someone along?

Your blogger for the week-
Chauntay Freeman

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