010 - "Do Not Go Straight!"

Episode 10 takes a turn, without a turn, for the worse.  If you are knowingly, or unknowingly, headed for trouble, there is a way out.

Email Bruce your stories at parallelproofpodcast@gmail.com, or to be a guest on the show.

Transcript

Parallel Proof Episode 10: “DO NOT GO STRAIGHT!”

Hey Everyone, this is Bruce, and this is Parallel Proof.  My journey to make sense of past experiences, their meaning, their purpose, and how I can forever be changed because of them.  There has to be a reason things happen the way they do.  Fate?  Coincidence?  Divine Artistry?  Dumb luck?  That’s what I’m trying to figure out.  You are here with me on this voyage, and I appreciate you hangin with me.  I have a question for you.  What past day-to-day adventure meant something to you, and what did you learn through that encounter?  I try and parallel past with present using the inspirational words available to all of us and prove I was spoken to.  It’s week 2 of the new year and I have already slid backward regarding a few of my resolutions I promised to keep.  Consequently, I feel defeated and unable to keep promises to myself.  What a great start to 2021.  One thing I have kept, however, is the pledge to try and make sense of my past and how it relates to right now as I write my thoughts down for this podcast.

But, enough of that, let’s get to it.  What a fun ride this is!

This is Episode 10: “DO NOT GO STRAIGHT!”

Speaking of fun rides, there is absolutely nothing like being able to drive a version of an extremely bland 4-door car called a Ford Crown Victoria in the most insane, heart-pounding, adrenaline pumping way.  You normally see elderly people cruising the streets in this vehicle also known as a Mercury Grand Marquis or Lincoln Town Car, and I get to drive the black and white Police Interceptor version of this normally lackluster, humdrum average sedan that pretty much invokes fear or nervousness in most people.

One thing cops on patrol crave doing is getting themselves into some type of wild craziness that makes the heartrate elevate so much you think you are about to blow a gasket.  I have had instances where, swear on my life, my adrenaline was pumping so violently, I literally thought I was having a heart attack.  The pain in my chest was so severe, it hurt like it was going to explode from the inside.  Now that can’t be too good for you, but on the other hand, like I’ve said in the past, it was a drug.  You get addicted and I was an addict, and no way am I going to rehab to curb this compulsion.

So, to get my much-required fix, I would run plates of any and every vehicle I could around me.  Every pile of rolling sketch passing me, I could quickly memorize the plate and punch it in the in-car computer.  Pull up to a stop sign or stop light, every ride around me gets their license plates entered.  Hoping beyond hope the screen attached to my dashboard, and dispatcher, alerts me of a stolen vehicle, the holy grail of patrol.  The lottery.  The gold metal.  The blue ribbon of awards.  1st place trophy.  You get the picture.

Routine patrol, and normally near the end of a shift, you chill somewhere doing paperwork, or just kick-it and hang out.  Out of sight, not searching for anything so you don’t get yourself into some drawn out incident that will cause you to go home late from work.  Getting off on time is a priority, unless you are some overtime whore.  I wasn’t.  I like to go home on time.  This particular day I’m working day shift and should be out of uniform and out of the station heading to my personal car by 4pm.  It’s also the time of year where the sun is going down early and it’s dusk at this time in the story.  I had a late call and I wasn’t able to rest in my patrol car, so I’m heading directly to the North station from said meaningless dispatch.  It is also nearish 4 o’clock, and yes, I make a big mistake.  I can’t control my urges for pain in my chest, so what do I do?  I am entering license plates with flailing fingers like a world renown pianist on a Steinway.  I can’t manage my dependance.

There it is!  A Honda Accord.  One of the most stolen vehicles on the roadways.  Right in front of me is this dirty looking, paint faded, hub-capless, Accord begging for me to investigate its worth to my adrenaline habit.  Fingers race over the keyboard, and, junk.  I just went fishing and caught a carp.  It’s crap, and now entered into the system that I found expired license plates.  Whoop dee doo!  Now that’s a let down, and also a time consumer that I am going to have to pull over and hand out a ticket to taking valuable time away from my couch sitting at my house.  Whatever.  Get this over with quickly.

I reluctantly pull over the Honda with my red and blue lights and make contact with this driver.  One male occupant and all seems pretty normal.  Pretty boring to be honest.  Not the high I required.  But, here I am.  I approach, ask for a driver’s license, registration, and proof of insurance.  He asks what he was pulled over for and I explain the delinquent plates.  None of the above pieces of identification can be provided.  I ask the driver for his name and DL number and he tells me.  It matches the registered owner of the car which is on my computer.  So, I am not that worried.  Let me scribble out a ticket real quick and let him be on his way.  I write him up for expired tags, no proof of insurance, and no driver’s license in possession.  It’s not an end of the world ticket.  Costly yes, but that’s the risk he took right?

So, I go back to the driver’s side and all I’m needing this man to do is sign the promise to appear and give him his copy.  The male rolls his window halfway down and I explain to him his next steps, aaaaand, NO.  He WILL NOT take the ticket to sign.  He is not saying anything to me.  Sitting there looking at me refusing to take the ticket.  Multiple times I plead with dude, saying, “Bro, just take the ticket and sign it.  Take the ticket.  If you don’t, I literally have to arrest you to make you see a judge.  You can do this on your own.  Sign the ticket, Bro.  You can be on your way.  Take the damn ticket!  It’s not that difficult!”  In an absolutely surprising and uncalled for move, this miscreant turns his head, looks out the front windshield, left hand rolling up the driver’s side window, right hand starting the ignition, and proceeds to put the car in drive.  “Dude, shut off the car!  Open the window!  Take the ticket!  Don’t run, Son!”  He stamps on the gas and his front wheel drive tires do a pathetic baby burn out and he’s off and running.  I bolt for my patrol car and the chase commences.  From drab and weary to dangerous and wily all in a matter of moments.

It is a densely populated neighborhood we are flying through as I hop on the radio and call out my location, speeds, description of the Honda, description of the male driver, and direction of travel all while keeping an eye on the car, and an eye out for local pedestrians.  This is extremely dangerous due to the fact that the indication observed on my speedometer was topping 100 miles per hour.  My heart rate feels double that.  When people run, it’s always for some valid reason.

Now try and picture this.  The chase was about to get enormously complex and as wild as I have ever been a part of.  He is barreling down these side-streets blowing through stop signs without any regard for life and property.  What this man fails to realize, or fails to care about, is the fact that this particular street we are traversing eventually comes to an end at a “T” intersection.  There will be a stop sign and only a right turn or a left turn is your option to continue in a sane manner.  What stands grossly and quite obviously in your way ahead of you, beyond that “T” intersection, is an elevated concrete bike path lifted approximately 6 feet high by a sloping grassy knoll on either side.  Essentially, it’s a grass covered ramp that is 100% not supposed to be a ramp.  Directly across this road that butts against this incline plane is another “T” intersection mirroring the one we are about to encounter.

I think you can feel what is about to happen.  “Bro, DO NOT GO STRAIGHT!”  At 100 miles per hour, near dark, and a crazed now criminal, the stop sign wasn’t even a slight consideration as this 4-wheeled bull in a china shop hits the slope at full speed.  I observed, and witnesses confirmed, this Honda Accord hit the obstruction and launched into the air as high as the top of the streetlamps illuminating this path.  18 or so feet high, flying through the air like Evel Kenivel trying to make it over the Grand Canyon in that jet car.  The Honda is at a breakneck speed for the circumstances.  While pretending to be a future tense flying car made by Amazon or Tesla, the vehicle begins to make a 180 degree roll, and begins its decent, tires pointing up, and hood pointing to the ground.  Well past the bike trail, asphalt road dead ahead, upside-down car, 18 feet high, at 100 miles per hour, this is about to become a very ugly, vicious landing the unbelted fleeing driver in no way is prepared for.

Now let me pause.

Life, and time, blazes forward sometimes at speeds that are incomprehensible and feels out of control.  I discern I’m always chasing after something I can’t quite catch, to fulfill needs and desires and cravings.  Something has to make me feel better about myself if I could just reach out a little more and make it happen now.  Father Time and Mother Nature doing their best to remind me life is but a fleeting moment.  I need to make the most of what I have been given and take what I feel is mine.

Therein lies the parallel.

Hurling myself through life, chasing enticements, following cravings, tunnel vision, and ahead is a crossroad, a “T” intersection if you will.  Taking the direct route, without slowing down, is an option that will lead to hurt and pain along with devastating consequences if I launch myself into the treacherous path.  I ask myself, what am I chasing after that is leading me into a life of regret, or a moment that could flip my world upside-down in the negative?  Where am I heading that will certainly end in a horrible crash between choices and reality?

Joshua, in chapter 24 in the book about him, was reminding the Israelites of who God was, and what God had done for them, and what the Almighty had given them.  How God blessed them and kept them safe, directed them and destroyed their enemies.  But the Israelites had been worshipping other gods.  Joshua rips off some scathing words to them saying, “God is a holy God.  He is a jealous God.  If you forsake Him, and serve other Gods, He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins.  He will bring disaster on you.”  He goes on saying to them, “Fear the Lord.  Serve Him with all faithfulness.  If serving Him seems undesirable, then choose for yourself this day whom you will serve.”  We quickly approach convergences quite often that demand a decision.

Here is the intersection.  Continue on and reap the consequences of destruction, or slow down, stop, and think about the power and the goodness and the love of God, and make the turn toward Him.  The Lord has great things in store for those that regard Him and make Him the priority.  Joshua blurts out, “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  A note to myself, begin to slow down.  Remember the acts and those promptings I knew could only come from on High.  Turn toward Him and give Him all the credit along with thanks and reverence.  I am His child, and He is a caring Father.  He has done great things, and He wants to do amazing things, in us, and for us, and with us.  He has created you with a purpose.

Back to the story.

It was a massive accident.  Only the one car and the one driver.  He did it to himself and he paid the price for not easing up and making the correct turn.  The Honda falling from the sky and landing on its top upside down.  Windows shattered along with the driver’s back, leg, and split skull.  Pulling him physically out the back window was a very interesting way to free someone from such a wreckage.  If you must know, the driver had given a false name and driver’s license number he had memorized, and he gave me a chance to not only witness the spectacle I did, but also arrest someone taking flight with a felony warrant.

You may be at a crossroads.  Don’t go straight and continue on without the blessings of God.  Turn toward Him and ask for His help to navigate the road you are travelling.  God is a protector.  He is a shield.  A defender.  If you continue straight and don’t make that turn, just be prepared for the devastation that possibly awaits.  But also remember this, God chases after us, and desires our affection and a relationship with Him.  And when there is a collision between choosing the wrong versus doing what’s right, He will always be there to pull our mangled body, or broken spirit, or screwed up mind out of the wreckage.  Don’t go straight and flee, slow up and make the turn toward Him.  As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Thank you for hanging with me for a few minutes and listening to me trying to make sense of my life and how God fits in.  Please share this podcast with anyone who might find some of it interesting.  Email me your stories at the link provided in the show notes, and I will see you here next week.