Cheap Thrills

I watched the Woody Allen movie Match Point last night and it annoyed me; the story was too predictable and I wish it had unfolded via honesty rather than deception, but I did like the idea that luck plays a much bigger part in our lives than we think or want to believe it does.

I got lucky tonight and so did the lady who pulled into my lane as I was passing her on the inside coming down Pike Street past Broadway; she bumped the trailer sending me tipping over the top of my bike and getting all tied up in my handlebars. I wasn’t hurt; the trailer was only slightly bent; I got the cheap lesson about trying to go too fast pulling cargo; she got an inexpensive reminder to watch what fuck you’re doing when you’re behind the wheel of a car.

Some good Samaritan helped me extricate myself from my tangle; my wheel was turned almost all the way around catching the fender under the down tube; I didn’t give him the thanks he deserved.

The driver herself stopped and was as apologetic as she was relieved she didn’t hurt me. I was nicer to her than I was to the guy who door-prized me that time, but I could have been nicer. When she asked me what she could do, I said, “What can you do? Just go on and have a happy life.”

I wish I would have said, “You can thank your good fortune that you didn’t really hurt me,” but I guess she already had.

After a few minutes of deep-breathing, I was able to tow the trailer to Westlake Center where I fixed the hitch and Aaron bent the frame back to straight. The cooler I was carrying sustained no damage and the beer inside proved to be no worse for wear when we got up to Greenlake where most of the leftover was consumed.

Cheap thrills, indeed.