To the editor,
I am writing to thank the person in a black Volkswagen who hit my wife while we were cycling along Quinpool on September 13 around 7:45pm. We've always been curious about how fast an ambulance, fire truck and police car could respond in such an emergency (remarkably fast, thankfully), and it was a real treat to see the inner-workings of the QEII emergency room. I would also like to thank the person driving the car for speeding up and leaving the scene. Those situations are always awkward; it was nice not to have to deal with paperwork while my wife was lying on the pavement near a busy intersection. You probably wouldn't have wanted to hear my worries about whether her back was broken (thank god it's not) or whether she would be able to finish school. Also, I would like to thank the several passers-by and people in cars surrounding the scene for ignoring my pleas for help. It's good to know my conviction that human decency continues to degenerate day-by-day holds true. (The women and a man who eventually stopped to help happily caused me to question my original assumption about human decency, however).
A word of thanks to mayor Peter Kelly while I'm at it. It's fantastic the city doesn't bother to clutter up its streets with useless bike lanes. A handful of lanes that go nowhere is perfectly adequate. Besides, where's the adventure in safely cycling through the city? That would just be boring.
Seriously, I would sincerely like to thank the paramedics and emergency personnel who took such good care of my wife, and the police officer who is still looking for the criminal who did this. I would also like to sincerely thank, in advance, anyone who might have any information, no matter how minor, for calling HRM police. Heck, I'd thank the person if they turned themselves in. It would probably destroy my growing lack of faith in humanity, but that's one disappointment I think I could live with.
By Matthew A. MacDonald
