Throughout my life I’ve had a tendency to attract and be attracted to incidents beyond the average experiences of average men. Little choices, correct or otherwise seem often to lead me into the Twilight Zone. Someone told me yesterday it’s because I’m a story teller and actively seek the origins of tales to tell. That may be so …. but….
The day had arrived. Five weeks of a visiting sister in law from South America and we were finally on our way to Miami International to catch her long awaited return flight. Nearing Miami we got off the beaten path in order to lunch at a very nice Colombian restaurant… “Mi Pequeno Colombia”. The food was outstanding though I must confess the thought of her missing her flight put a ball in the pit of my stomach and so I rushed it along . I was beyond determined that no missed flight would occur.
With a belly full of empanadas, maduros and chicharone we headed back to the highway where my normal predisposition to the abnormal reared its ugly head. A few miles was all it took to realize….
“We’re lost”
The wife eventually convinced me to exit the highway to seek directions and I could hear the time ticking away loudly in my mind. The exit we chose naturally enough, took us to another endless stretch of highway until somewhere in a very industrial area we came upon another exit. The exit veered right and low as it started at the beginning of a bridge. Just beyond the exit law enforcement had a car pulled over and the hapless young driver stood there with no shirt or shoes, his appearance the epitome of someone royally screwed.
I could see him and the officer up on the bridge as I entered the gas station below to seek directions. One short minute was all it took to be given proper guidance and in that time I exited the station to discover the routine traffic stop had blossomed into a full blown “jumper” situation. Well I got in the pickup and wheeled it around to stop at the four way stop sign and we had front row seats. We could hear the officer try to calm the blubbering jumper who edged his way further along the bridge to sit directly in front of us.
Other patrol cars sped into the intersection from different directions to block access and I sat there torn… I mean I really wanted to see the scenario played…… but I could hear the clock ticking….and the ball came back to the pit of my stomach.
I tromped on the gas to fly between the patrol cars as I glanced up at the jumper directly overhead and veered a hard left to accelerate up the ramp to gain access to the highway.
We barely made highway speed when we saw the sign…..
Miami International Airport exit 1 mile
