Sep. 29th, 2004

i took the dog out tonight for his run. We were on the down hill side of it, Max was walking so i know the car wasn't moving very fast. We came to a spot where there is a huge hill of gravel and sand dumped on the road, narrowing it down to one lane. i saw the man. But he didn't see me until he was flying in the air. He stepped right into the right front fender of my car. i couldn't have been going more than 2, maybe 3 miles an hour at the most. He got up immediately. The other workers came running to see if he was ok. All i could think to say was 'the man walked into the car!, he didn't even look before he stepped off the curb!' He showed me his hand, he had two puncture wounds in the heel, and a barely scraped knee. The puncture wounds looked as if he landed hand flat on some stones.

Another man, better dressed, wearing a plaid shirt and docker type pants, came running over to the car, shouting "NO English, No English! Go away!" i just wanted to see if the man was ok. Max was stading beside the car, he didn't make any attempt to scare away the men. The manager, i suppose that's what he was, just kept shouting No English, Go away!. So i drove on. i finished Max's run, but couldn't stop thinking about the man i'd hit. It was his fault, he did step right into the car. Not in front of it, but into it. He didn't even look before he stepped off the curb. By the time i got to the road to go back to the apartment i was in tears.

When i got back to the apartment, i called Master first thing and explained to Him what had happened. He said not to worry about it, if they told me to go away. Then i got to thinking that almost every non-English speaker can say no English. The go away should have indicated to me right away that man knew more English than he wanted me to think.

i saw Master's truck pull up behind the apartment, but didn't see Him turn to go into the parking. i kept expecting Him at the door at any moment. He finally knocked about 20 minutes after i had seen Him on the road. He said He'd gone over to the construction site and talked with the manager. He said He asked if anyone had been hit by a car recently. The manager right away asked if my car was damaged. Master told him no, that i was only concerned about the worker. If he needed to go to the doc, we would take care of it. The manager pointed to a man shoveling gravel and said that was he, and he was ok. Master spoke with the manager some more. Seems the workers are Afghanis, they work for another company and are moonlighting on this construction job. The manager was afraid i would call the police, that's why he told me to go away. If the police get called in, the workers could lose their jobs because they are not working for the sponsor who hired them. Not only could they lose their jobs, they could be deported. i didn't want to make trouble, i just wanted to make sure the man was alright.

Master described the man the manager pointed out. i don't think it was the same person. i feel some better about leaving the scene of the accident, but now i am worried that the man who stepped into my car really did get hurt, and the manager, wanting to keep this extra work on the hush hush, showed Master someone else, so we wouldn't make a stink. i hope that fellow is ok.

Max, bless his heart was the picture of docility during this whole thing. He made no aggressive move toward anyone. The area is the perfect place for Max to do a city run. i don't want to have to find a new place for him to run in the city, and i told that to Master. But, i told Master, i was afraid the men would be rude to me if i took Max back tomorrow. Master said that since this was an illegal job, those men would do everything in their power to avoid any kind of disturbance. And the manage told Master he hoped the job would be done tonight and tomorrow they would be gone.

i will probably have a bad dream about this.
i took the dog out tonight for his run. We were on the down hill side of it, Max was walking so i know the car wasn't moving very fast. We came to a spot where there is a huge hill of gravel and sand dumped on the road, narrowing it down to one lane. i saw the man. But he didn't see me until he was flying in the air. He stepped right into the right front fender of my car. i couldn't have been going more than 2, maybe 3 miles an hour at the most. He got up immediately. The other workers came running to see if he was ok. All i could think to say was 'the man walked into the car!, he didn't even look before he stepped off the curb!' He showed me his hand, he had two puncture wounds in the heel, and a barely scraped knee. The puncture wounds looked as if he landed hand flat on some stones.

Another man, better dressed, wearing a plaid shirt and docker type pants, came running over to the car, shouting "NO English, No English! Go away!" i just wanted to see if the man was ok. Max was standing beside the car, he didn't make any attempt to scare away the men. The manager, i suppose that's what he was, just kept shouting No English, Go away!. So i drove on. i finished Max's run, but couldn't stop thinking about the man i'd hit. It was his fault, he did step right into the car. Not in front of it, but into it. He didn't even look before he stepped off the curb. By the time i got to the road to go back to the apartment i was in tears.

When i got back to the apartment, i called Master first thing and explained to Him what had happened. He said not to worry about it, if they told me to go away. Then i got to thinking that almost every non-English speaker can say no English. The go away should have indicated to me right away that man knew more English than he wanted me to think.

i saw Master's truck pull up behind the apartment, but didn't see Him turn to go into the parking. i kept expecting Him at the door at any moment. He finally knocked about 20 minutes after i had seen Him on the road. He said He'd gone over to the construction site and talked with the manager. He said He asked if anyone had been hit by a car recently. The manager right away asked if my car was damaged. Master told him no, that i was only concerned about the worker. If he needed to go to the doc, we would take care of it. The manager pointed to a man shoveling gravel and said that was he, and he was ok. Master spoke with the manager some more. Seems the workers are Afghanis, they work for another company and are moonlighting on this construction job. The manager was afraid i would call the police, that's why he told me to go away. If the police get called in, the workers could lose their jobs because they are not working for the sponsor who hired them. Not only could they lose their jobs, they could be deported. i didn't want to make trouble, i just wanted to make sure the man was alright.

Master described the man the manager pointed out. i don't think it was the same person. i feel some better about leaving the scene of the accident, but now i am worried that the man who stepped into my car really did get hurt, and the manager, wanting to keep this extra work on the hush hush, showed Master someone else, so we wouldn't make a stink. i hope that fellow is ok.

Max, bless his heart was the picture of docility during this whole thing. He made no aggressive move toward anyone. The area is the perfect place for Max to do a city run. i don't want to have to find a new place for him to run in the city, and i told that to Master. But, i told Master, i was afraid the men would be rude to me if i took Max back tomorrow. Master said that since this was an illegal job, those men would do everything in their power to avoid any kind of disturbance. And the manager told Master he hoped the job would be done tonight and tomorrow they would be gone.

i will probably have a bad dream about this.
How could he not see my car?

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Julia Klein

June 2024

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