Friday, June 5, 2009

Stumbling upon the man in a yellow raincoat



"Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind, than I am of what is true." ~Robert Brault



I should have posted this sooner, but busyness is my middle name… anyway, here it is.


It was raining hard last June 3, 2009. I went to National Book Store, Market Market to buy sticker paper. I was about 5 meters away from the gate of the place where I work when I had to halt and let a van pass before I make a left turn. Vehicles and a motor bike rider are all at a safe distance. tuned to NU 107.9, I set my left signal light on and made that anticipated turn.


Then just like a fast forwarded movie on a pirated DVD, I saw the motorist that’s about 20 meters away zoomed and accelerated towards my direction. Obviously he was trying to beat me in making that turn. My senses told me that he’s not going to make it so I immediately stepped on the brakes. CRASH! He hit my front, right side fender, leaving my bumper paint cracked, dent on my car and my right park light hanging out.


I got out of the car with mixed emotions: Anger, frustration, worry, disappointment, etc. But I tried to breathe deep while I walk towards the careless motorist. As expected he was trying to over rule me with his angry disposition. The only thing I can think of saying was… “Why didn’t you hit the breaks?”


I called our security guard, asked him to alert the Police of what happened (so I can file a police report and have the guy blottered) and asked for an umbrella. It was raining hard and I don’t want to look wretched in an already miserable happening. There was a lot of discussion while waiting for the police to arrive (which like in the movie are always late at the scene of the crime). The man was pointing out that I made a sudden turn, which I debunked by recapping how everything happened. I told him: “How in the world will I make a sudden right turn, when I just came from a full stop?” I told him I saw him sped up trying to beat my turning. I retold every single detail of what happened even pointing out the weight of his impact which made him almost landed on top of my car’s hood (thanks to his feeble legs clipped onto the motor bike preventing him from flying over). I took my camera out and took pictures to document the accident.


The man’s angry disposition turned into an annoying I-am-the-victim-here character. He started talking about how hurt he feels and how much damage caused his bike that he is still paying in installment, down to a I-have-a-family-to-feed drama and I that he is just an ordinary employee, yada, yada, yada. All I could say were, “I don’t care”, “it’s not my fault” and that he should have thought about all of those things before he turned his bike’s accelerator. I said those words in the most heartless manner… but deep inside, I feel pity for this man.


I wanted to confiscate his license, take the original copy of his vehicle registration. But what good would that do. It would not be able to pay for the cost of repair of the damages on my car. More so, by the looks of him, he barely have the money to afford having his motor bike fixed (I might be being too judgmental at this point).


Tired waiting for the ever unreliable police officers, half drenched in the rain, worried of things to finish at work and harassed by the situation, I decided to just let it go. I told the man to just leave, go home or wherever he is going. I reminded him to take this as a learning experience and make sure to be more careful next time – if there is even a next time. I parked the car, went inside and busied my self with work, trying not to rekindle what happened and moved on.


Many would disagree with my decision of calling it off. I bet most would even go all the way with this sort of accident. This is “all the way” for me. Sometime, we just have to learn to accept that things happen to us beyond our control, sometimes beyond our comprehension. This one, I made sure I was in control. I knew what I wanted: I didn’t want to stress my self with something as temporal as a scratched fender or with a man who could not even explain his side nor admit his mistake. I just want to be kind, I don’t want too many worries in my life. I decided to let karma take its universal responsibility on all of what’s happening.



"When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel." ~Harold Kushner




Photo documentation:


15 comments:

ACRYLIQUE said...

Woah. That's harsh.
What a shame for that man. What comes around goes around... :)

APIR DUDE!! :)

The Green Man said...

@ ACRYLIQUE: Well, naawa ako sa kanya and I don't want to be stressed... mahirap na.

Well, si Lord, Buddah, Ala, Bathala...etc, na ang bahala sa kanya. Sana lang matututo sya at magingat na lagi :-D

Ikaw din ingat lagi :-)

jamie da vinci! said...

good thing it wasnt anything serious.

The Green Man said...

@ jamie da vinci!: Good thing I stopped or else he hit the passenger side door. Mas malaking astos pa. Haaay... U hope he'd take care driving next time.

Ikaw ingat din palagi :-D

ACRYLIQUE said...

Naku Manong Patal. Ingat ka namn. Wag maging asshole sa daan. :)

keb said...

A haha, I hope these guys know what's the real meaning of the word "matuto." Well kahit anu pa kasing gawin sakanila, eh they will go back again from what they have done. Ganun yata tlga, kasama sa pagiging Pinoy. ahaha, Nice post! keep it up dude!

The Green Man said...

@ keb: At home we live by example. I hope this guy learned something from this excessive.

We all have choices and it's always nice to choose the good ones :-D

Thanks for being with me Keb... I will keep in tune on your blogs :-D Keep in touch buddy :-D

Luis Batchoy said...

hay... reckless imprudence, thats my pending case. Mabait mo naman to let it just go. The taxi driver I had a spat with is less forgiving and even filled charges in court claiming more than 30K damages in repairs. Wow... overhaul na yun no. hehehe.. is your car a kia sportage? Same yata tayo eh

The Green Man said...

@ Luis Batchoy: OA naman yung taxi driver na yun. But I must say... he know his rights. Madalas naman kasi yung mga ganyan nadadaan sa magandang usapan. Nakakainis lang talaga minsan.

Yeah, I am driving a Kia Sortage. Her name is ARA. Buti nalang matibay yung kaha ng Sportage :-D

Halong ka bro.

Luis Batchoy said...

huhuhu hidlaw ko kay cappuccino ko, my own kia sportage. Hay! Indi sya ya nga he knows his rights ah, mangwarta gid sa ya matun. Whew! Oh well.Halung ka man kag balik balik ka pirmi sa blog ko ha?

The Green Man said...

@ Luis Batchoy: Baw, nami man name sang Sportage mo... Cappuccino. So sweet. Tuod man nga nagahanap lang sang kuartang na nga driver nga na... te halong lang next time sa driving.

Te ano man gina drive mo subong?

Sige lang pirme lang ako naga check sang blog mo... basta pirmi ka lng man balik balik sa blog ko. ok. Xdeal :-D

Diin ka pala istar subong? Dra ka sa Iloilo? Ako dri sa QC. budlay pangabuhi dri.

Luis Batchoy said...

wala ko car subong. ginbaligya na to. Natural gid na ya nga budlay ang pangabuhi. Ri ko di Iloilo. Dira ka lang sa QC ah, antusa lang, amo gid na ya. Nami na para kung mag review ko for the bar dira ko simo maistar. Heheheh... san o ka di mapuli? Pabal-a ko kay updan ta ka lagaw. Hehehe

The Green Man said...

Wow,bar. Ano gina buol mo? Law?

Sige lang hambla lang takun sano ka kadto dri for review... pro gamay lang akon nga balay. hahaha. Nagarent lang ko takon with a friend.

Dugay nako last naguli dra. Sige lang kung may sobra lang kadto ko dra, lagaw ta.

Luis Batchoy said...

huo ah... dugay pa to, dasun pa tuig ah. Plano ko daan sa UP ma review. Meanwhile, sturyahanay lang ta ah. Daw nami nga may makilala man ta nga kasimanwa.

Me said...

you were right. you we're in control and you certainly did the right thing. it's just a car. good thing that man was not hurt. don't worry, your kindness will surely not be forgotten by that man and through your example he'll see God's unconditional love for him.