A near Death Experience

by Mike Collier

The closest thing to a near death experience I've experienced is one time on the interstate. I was about three miles from home, coming home from work, and a major thunderstorm was in progress, a real "the-sky-is-falling" downpour. I was doing about 70 mph. (I was traveling that speed before I hit the rain and I didn't see any reason to slow down. The traffic was heavy, I remember two tractor-trailers in front of and behind me. I was in my small pickup. I discovered my tires were almost bald because I started hydro-plaining like crazy. I remember a violent wham wham as my front end was going left to right to left, and then I was spinning completely in circles.

This is when the near death part came in. I remember having what seemed like an out of body experience. One thought I remember is that I was grateful that I had my seat belt on. This was because I would have felt really stupid getting killed on account of not having buckled up. This was a small consolation, but nonetheless, one I was thankful for.

I remember sliding down the interstate backward, now viewing the 18 wheeler not far behind me. I wonder what he was thinking. Well, I lucked out and my rotation brought me completely around, still traveling around 50 - 60, and I was heading forward again. I somehow ended up in the grassy middle of the interstate and came to a stop, heading forward. My next cogitative thought was to get going again as fast as possible so as to avoid any more unwanted attention than I had undoubtedly already received. The next day I got new tires.