good samaritan...

i helped this lady today...it made me feel good...it gave me a new perspective on the day that i was having...and being able to be there for someone in a time of trouble...made my day brighter...i was glad that i could be of service...

to that point...my day had been PRETTY BAD...this morning...i had to go to see my probation officer...yes, i said probation officer...as it happened, last week...i had traffic court...after presenting what i felt like was a compelling case, especially given the officer's clear inability to remember any of the details of the traffic stop...i was found guilty...because i did not have $175 on me that day...i was placed on probation until the amount could be paid in full...now...i was offered a payment plan...i could remain on probation and pay the $175 off over a period of six months...$35 per month...however...there would have also been a $39 monthly probation fee...thereby causing me to pay $444 for a $175 fine...which i NEVER should have been paying in the first place...yeah, right...

well...knowing that i would need to leave work to go pay the fine...i was driving in to work and it occurred to me that i would need to check to make certain that i had the paperwork with the directions and the amount that i would need to pay to clear my records...but alas...the paperwork was not in the car...SO....i had to turn around and go back to the house to locate the paperwork...

15 minutes of frantic searching later...i am again headed out into the cold and rainy day...but first...i have to stop and purchase a money order because probation cannot be paid in cash...so...i stop at my friendly neighborhood kroger and walk in to find the slowest line in the history of grocery store customer service department lines ever...

15 minutes after that...i am enroute to the probation office...as i approach the lakewood intersection...some idIot...who does not know how to drive in the rain, apparently has not been taught the use of a turn signal and obviously has no clue as to where he is going...cuts me off...causing me to swerve into the next lane, nearly running a car into the median...

here is where the cursing begins...wanna hear it?...here it goes....rackum, mackum, smackum...flilth, flam, flarth....and so on...

the directions to the probation office were very clear and my time in the office was quite uneventful...although...i do need to call back and find out why my receipt does not show a zero balance...

now finally...i can head to the office...so...i'm merging from 20 east onto the connector northbound when traffic comes to a dead stop...if i had not been able to steer onto the shoulder...the front end of my explorer would be forever a part of the work van that was in front of me...

so...i'm shaking and trying to steady my breathing and i'm saying...okay, god...that was two this morning...can i please get to work without the third strike?...

five minutes later...just two short miles of the office...i come around the curve of buford highway to find this silver mercedes parked in the far right expansion lane...as i am passing...i notice a woman with her head on the airbag of a totalled and smoking silver benz...it is without doubt that she'd just stopped spinning...

i pulled to the shoulder...backed up...i said a quick prayer...okay, god...please don't let me be one of those people who stop to help but end up dead on the side of the road...just at the time that i was getting to her...she got out of the car appearing to be dizzy...as she was too close to the oncoming traffic lanes...i led her to my truck...went back to her car...turned the car off, taking the keys out of the ignition and i removed her purse from the vehicle...

after giving her the purse, i called 911 and gave them directions to our location...she did have some injuries...her collarbone may be broken...she was definitely bruised on her right hand and was limping...i made her sit in my truck until the ambulance got there...two other females stopped...not a single man...shameful...it was good though that the ambulance and fire response time was less than five minutes...after they got there...they told us that since it was a single car incident that we didn't have to stay...besides...911 already has my contact information if they need me...

i tell you...god's timing is amazing...if i had come around that corner 15 seconds earlier...she probably would have spun right into me...

his mercies are new every morning...and i am thankful that he has mercy on me...

okay...didn't mean to get all juanita bynum on you...but you know...