Gumptionista Under Pressure

The hit and run accident I was involved in was a few years ago on the 5 freeway in Los Angeles. I had pulled off the freeway to the nearest Starbucks, because the traffic was horrific, and I was easily looking at a two hour commute. My drink of choice is usually an iced coffee, but that day I really felt like something sugary and sweet, so I went for the java chip frappuccino. I no sooner got back on the freeway, and I was rear-ended by a large SUV. It happened so fast that I didn’t even realize I had been hit. The frozen coffee drink was now over my head, and in every crevice of the front seat of my car. I must’ve squeezed the cup when I got hit, because the straw ended up in the side pocket of the passenger door. Unbeknownst to me, the make of my car is known to shut down under impact, so I was stalled in the travelling lane during rush hour traffic. Because the person that hit me didn’t see me pull over, he assumed he was off the hook, and fled the scene. Everyone was honking and yelling out their windows at me, not realizing I was stalled. I lost my cool, swung my car door open, stepped out of my car, my hair still dripping in frappuccino, and waived my hands around like a crazy person and pointing to each one of the honking cars yelling, “Shhuuuttt uuuppp, I am stalled! I am stalled!” The vehicle behind me was one of those pick-up trucks with giant tires. A man about 5’ 5” jumped out of the truck to calm me down, and offered to push my car off to the side of road. Just after getting my car into the breakdown lane, it miraculously restarted, and I proceeded home.

Although 90% of the SUV’s license plate number was embedded in my bumper, it wasn’t enough for the police to identify. I couldn’t believe that in bumper-to-bumper traffic, not one person took the time to write down the license plate number of the car who hit me. From that day on, I swore that if I ever witnessed a hit and run, I would do the right thing, and almost a year to the date of my own accident, that’s exactly what I did.

Putting on Your Bullet Proof Gumptionista Vest

One of my favorite Gumptionista moments came a few years ago when I witnessed a hit and run accident. I remember the day clearly. I was at a red light making a left hand turn. At the light on the other side of the street, a man slowly stopped and then rolled into the car in front of him. As soon as the light turned green, the woman preceded to pull over, but the man made a quick right turn and took off. I could not believe what I was seeing. I immediately chased after him and thankfully he was stopped at another red light. I wrote down his license plate number, details of his car, and whatever features I could see from behind. I went back to the scene, hoping that the victim was still there. I figured I could hand off the information and continue on with my day. Unfortunately, she had already left. I called the police, who showed up in minutes to take my report. I’ll never forget the officer saying to me, “ya know, people get killed doing this sort of stuff.” I responded, “well Officer Canterbury, this wasn’t going to happen on my watch. I was the victim of a hit and run accident a year previous and I wish someone had taken the time to do what I did today.”

About an hour later, I got a call from Officer Canterbury, indicating that the same car had hit another vehicle and the man left the car at the scene and walked home. I was asked to come and identify the man, who was drunk out of his mind, standing in his yard with another officer. I positively identified him and he was taken into custody. I received a call from Officer Canterbury later that night, thanking me for taking the time out of my day and doing the right thing. Apparently, I was the only person who came forward and this man went to jail for DUI for the second time for hitting three cars that day, drunk. I thought at that moment, I have on my Gumptionista bullet proof vest and as long as I was doing what I believed, nothing and no one could hurt me.