Dangerous intersection

When the maids arrived this afternoon to do the cleaning that I physically can't, I had to go down two long flights of stairs to get them and then bring them back up those stairs.  The elevator had chosen that precise time to go out of order.  Excellent.  I went back down once more to leave the apartment to them and to my son, who doesn't mind moving from room to room while they work.  It was 3:00 o'clock -- Happy Hour! -- so I went next door to The House Sports Pub for a cheap beer and a plate of sliders with potato salad.

I had my face to the big screen, though I was ignoring the sports, with my back to the street.  Suddenly the friendly young bartender dashed from the pub and then came back inside, shaken, saying he'd just seen a man hit by a car out in the intersection.  It's a busy one, Greenwood and 87th, with stop lights and walk signs, but during rush hours, drivers can be impatient with foot traffic.  I've crossed there at least once a day since moving here last year.

It wasn't long before a fire truck roared up, then a police car or two, and finally an ambulance.  The good Samaritans who had instantly gathered to surround the man in the middle of the road, comforting him where he lay and preventing cars from getting near him, were dispersed after giving their accounts to the police.  The young man whose car had hit the pedestrian was visibly beside himself with anxiety and distress.  I could see him through the window when I turned in that direction as he held his hands up to hold onto his hair as if to keep his head from flying off.  I felt for him.

Aaron the bartender told me he saw the victim answering questions asked by the EMTs, "So at least he's alive.  That's the good news."  

I sat a while longer after scooping the remains of the good potato salad and tasty barbecue into a little box, glad that the intersection had finally cleared of rescue equipment.  But you better believe I'll be even more vigilant when I cross Greenwood from now on.