Hit By A...

There was a kid, similar in size to my own, standing between the sidewalk and the middle of the busy avenue, arms out, yelling "hit me." In the brief time I was nearby, I saw him jump back onto the sidewalk several times, just before cars and bikes reached him. 

As a parent who has, for years, feared that one of my children would be hit by a car, I was disturbed. As a person who drives in the city, and could be the person who hits him or the person who swerves into an accident in order to avoid him, I was angry. As a human being, I was dumbstruck. With so many people closely avoiding, or not being able to avoid, injury and death, how could it be that this kid was tempting fate this way--CREATING a dangerous situation for no reason other than some kind of thrill?

I continued on my way--I had somewhere to be, and it was unlikely that any words from me would have any more effect than the words from his friends. And with a police station and a hospital right down the block, if something were to happen...

Days later, the image is still in my head. Days later, I find myself wondering if I could have done something differently, could have told someone who could...I don't know what.

Mostly, I just keep hugging my kids, and trying to teach them the right things. And trying not to worry too much about them getting hit--by accident, or by bad choices--by a car, or anything else.