objects in mirror are closer than they appear.

i was driving at high speed on the freeway. as i drove past this huge metal object on the shoulder lane, i thought to myself, "good thing that's not on the road." next thing i knew, i heard this loud bang/thump/scrape/clank beneath my car. i had run right over another huge metal object. i thought for sure all 4 of my tires and the entire bottom of my car was taken out. it sounded so awful. the ford focus in front of me quickly exited to the shoulder lane and had at least 1 flat tire, if not 2. i decided to follow the car to the shoulder lane, expecting my car to be in the same shape as his. however, as i continued, surprisingly, i did not have a flat. as i continued, i drove past the huge truck carrying the culprit metal objects causing so much danger and hassle, parked in the shoulder, and watched the guy trying to secure way too many jagged metal objects in the truck despite the size of the back of the truck. all the metal was housed in thin clear plastic only.

advice: never drive behind a truck filled with big things while on the freeway. i learned from a cohort who did a neuropsych hospital internship rotation that most of the brain damaged patients she saw were there because of injuries and accidents caused by large things flying out of trucks on the road and into their cars. it could have been worse. the metal object could have flown into someone's windshield today. i'm actually grateful to the ford focus because i think if he had not run over the metal object and gotten a flat, as a result causing it to fly to a different location (that which would be beneath my car), it would have been me. and perhaps a flat tire would have been the least of my worries.