This morning, I was surprised for the first time in a very long time.
I was in the parking lot at work, looking for a spot, riding at about 7-8mph. I always go slow in lots and I always expect that any of the cars can suddenly pull out (even though we're talking arrival time.. highly unlikely for anyone to be leaving).
As I'm moving, I'm occasionally turning my head to the left to look ahead for spots. Then.. an SUV blows by me on my left at about 25mph. I have to admit I was completely surprised. I failed to apply my own advice that I give to all my students: "what if" .. in this case the "what if", in addition to cars pulling out should have been "what if some dummy decides to pass me?".
Even though I was in the parking lot at work, sharing space with co-workers, I should have still accounted for worst case scenarios. It doesn't matter that the driver was a completely careless idiot who didn't think about my safety.. it was up to me to know he was there and it should not have surprised me. If I had actually made the left into a parking spot (no.. at that point I would not have done a head check because I was so sure no one would do something so stupid as to go into oncoming-traffic-lane and pass on left in this situation), I would have gotten hit.
A very good reminder for me to always be alert and always expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if the worst case scenario does NOT happen.
Hopefully, this post will serve as a reminder to others.. who may have gotten a bit too relaxed or too comfortable, that we always have to be on our game if we want to stay out of trouble out there.
I was in the parking lot at work, looking for a spot, riding at about 7-8mph. I always go slow in lots and I always expect that any of the cars can suddenly pull out (even though we're talking arrival time.. highly unlikely for anyone to be leaving).
As I'm moving, I'm occasionally turning my head to the left to look ahead for spots. Then.. an SUV blows by me on my left at about 25mph. I have to admit I was completely surprised. I failed to apply my own advice that I give to all my students: "what if" .. in this case the "what if", in addition to cars pulling out should have been "what if some dummy decides to pass me?".
Even though I was in the parking lot at work, sharing space with co-workers, I should have still accounted for worst case scenarios. It doesn't matter that the driver was a completely careless idiot who didn't think about my safety.. it was up to me to know he was there and it should not have surprised me. If I had actually made the left into a parking spot (no.. at that point I would not have done a head check because I was so sure no one would do something so stupid as to go into oncoming-traffic-lane and pass on left in this situation), I would have gotten hit.
A very good reminder for me to always be alert and always expect the worst and be pleasantly surprised if the worst case scenario does NOT happen.
Hopefully, this post will serve as a reminder to others.. who may have gotten a bit too relaxed or too comfortable, that we always have to be on our game if we want to stay out of trouble out there.