CREEDE HINSHAW: Finding a blessing at an accident scene

This is not exactly a Christmas story, but it sure involves a gracious and unexpected gift. There were no presents to unwrap, but then again, there were no crumped bumpers or door panels, either.

Last Friday I had driven to Starbucks to get a cup of coffee on the way to a golf game. That particular Starbucks will redeem my empty bag of their coffee for a cup of coffee, so I had just placed my free coffee into my cup holder and was backing out of a pretty tight parking lot.

I saw the red Kia in my rearview mirror at just about the exact moment that I heard a thudding sound. Yes, I had backed into another car, my right rear bumper hitting the Kia somewhere on the left passenger side.

I didn’t stop to think who was at fault. As I think about it now, maybe both drivers were at fault. We were both backing out of a parking space. But what I know is that at that moment, I felt like I was the driver who had made a big mistake.

Both of us got out of our cars. I told the other driver how sorry I was that this had happened. She came around to the passenger side and opened her rear door, which made me even more nervous. I surmised – incorrectly it turned out – that she had an infant in the back seat and was checking on a child. All she wanted to do was to see if her back door opened and closed properly. It did.

Next, she checked the front door. Same thing. It opened and closed just fine. She gave a very quick survey of her car; told me she was good with everything and that these things just happen.

I was so taken aback by this generous response that I tried to talk her into taking a longer view of things. I told her I would give her my name and phone number in case she wanted to think it over.

Again, she demurred. She said everything was just fine, reached out and gave me a hug, and got back in her car. She and I both drove off in cars that were undamaged.

But she left me with a feeling of deep gratitude over the way she extended grace and acceptance to me. I cannot begin to know what was running through her mind, but I can think of many motorists, in the same situation, who might have reacted with far more severity. I was imagining a call to the police, filling out insurance reports and a distraught motorist.

Instead I met a gracious young adult who assured me there was nothing to get flummoxed over. My coffee tasted better on the way to the golf course that morning, and I resolved to pass the same graciousness on to others during this season of Advent.