The Accident

There are two kinds of people in this world. People who listen to other people and people who don't. The former tend to lead safer and calmer lives. Because they listen to other people, they tend to make not as many mistakes. They work hard in school, get good jobs, get married early, save for retirement, and die a peaceful and quiet death. They are loved by all for the entirety of their lives. Then there are the others. These motherfuckers do not know how to listen to other people. They do not learn from other people's mistakes, they need to make their own. It is not that they do not know how to listen to society, they simply choose not to. They cannot be bothered. They believe that the rules don't apply to them and they tend to pay the price. When everyone asks why they ask why not? They are the rule breakers, the delinquents, the rebels, and the idiots. Whether they are a positive force for society, we can never truly know. But one thing is for sure, they make life a whole lot more interesting. Both for themselves and the people around them. This is a story about one of those others.

Yao had recently learned how to drive. He grew up in New York so he never really needed to know how to operate a car. He always had the subway. Oh, how he loved the subway. He especially loved having a student MetroCard back in high school. Three rides a day for free! Those were the good times. These days, when he was home from college, he would have to pay for his rides. He hated that. This summer his dad forced him to get his driver's license.

"But dad, I don't want to. I'm a New Yorker I am never going to need to learn how to drive," said Yao.
"It's an essential life skill. And you don't know where you are going to be after college. It could be somewhere else," said his dad.
"I'm going to be back in New York. I know that in my soul."
"Better to be open to all outcomes son."
"Ugh, but dad come on."
"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
"What is the point of a license if I am never going to use it?"
"You go to school in Wisconsin, you don't think it would be useful to learn how to drive?"
"No. I have friends for that."
"Also there is no guarantee you're going to get your license. It's tough in New York. It took me three tries to get it."
"Ok. I know I can learn to drive if I want to. I just don't want to. And besides, driving is going to be obsolete in a few years when autonomous cars come out. Long live Elon!"
"I'll tell you what. If you pass your driver's test on the first try I will give you $100."
"Well, when you put it that way...."

Yao started taking driving lessons the next day. It was nerve-wracking at first but eventually, he got the hang of it. He actually started to enjoy driving. In addition to the classes, he would practice with his dad in their Toyota Sequoia. He thought he was a great driver. This thought was further confirmed when Yao passed his driver's test on the first try. His dad was shocked but he happily gave Yao the $100. Yao returned to college in the fall excited to show his friends his newfound talent.

"Wait you know how to drive now?" asked Malcom, his best friend.
"Yup," replied Yao with a grin.
"No way. New Yorkers can't drive."
"Passed the test on my first try."
"Show me you're license." Yao took his license out of his wallet and showed it to Malcolm. "Well, fuck. Who in their right mind gave you a license?"
"The great state of New York. That's who."
"Lousy democrats. First Hillary Clinton and now this. I feel bad for everyone else on the road."
"I have a need, a need for speed!"

Malcom had a car. At first, he was hesitant to let Yao drive his car. It's not that he didn't trust Yao, it was just that Yao was an idiot. He wasn't careful, he flew by the seat of his pants. It's hard to trust someone like that with your car. But, over time, Malcom started to let Yao drive. Yao wasn't half bad. He still drove way too fast on the highways but, overall, he was a good driver. He drove with confidence and got a little bit better every time he got on the road. After a few months, Malcolm had no problem lending Joe his car.

Naturally, Yao became very confident in his driving abilities. He thought he was the best driver ever. The only problem was that he was also a college student. What do college students want to do more than anything else? Party. What are at those parties? Alcohol. What does not mix well? Driving and alcohol. Who did not know that yet? Yao.

Well to say that Yao didn't know that drunk driving was bad was not entirely true. He obviously knew. But Yao was not like most people, he was one of the others. He felt the rules did not apply to him. Plus he drank so often that he never really thought he was drunk. The most he ever got was buzzed. He figured he was always in control. So when late one night, he and his friends got the munchies, he volunteered to drive them to the nearest Taco Bell a mile off campus.

"Dude are you sure?" asked Malcolm.
"Yeah, I'm fine bro" replied Yao.
"I don't know man, I got a bad feeling about this."
"It will be fine bro, I'm not that drunk."
"Just promise me you will go slow and you will be careful."
"I will be careful, I promise."

And just like that, they were on the road to Taco Bell. Yao made sure to be extra careful and drive with precaution. His friends made it a point to be extra quiet while he drove so that he could be at the top of his game. Yao got them to the Taco Bell, through the drive-through, and back on campus safely. Everything was alright, just like he promised it would be.

Then the habit formed. Yao became the go-to late-night driver for food. His hand would always be the first one up when it was time for Taco Bell. It didn't matter how much he had drank that night. He was so confident in his ability to drink and drive that he knew everything would be alright. Plus, the distance was never that great. He was never worried.

Then it happened. It was a night just like every other night. Yao and his friends got fucked up and it was time for the late-night Taco Bell run. Just like every other night, Yao's hand was the first hand up to drive. The only difference was that this time he was not going to be driving Malcolm's car. This time he was going to drive Adam's car, another friend of theirs. Adam was a recent addition to the friend group but they all felt like they had been friends for a long, long time. Adam drove an
Audi R8.

Yao had never driven a car so powerful. Just a tap on the accelerator and the car would jolt. It was like nothing he had ever driven before. A true high-performance sports car. Yao was shocked but he was not afraid. He was, after all, a masterful drunk driver. His confidence was sky-high. The three of them got in the car and were on their way to Taco Bell. They got to Taco Bell fine and got through the drive-through fine. They got their food and started their ride back. Everyone was relaxed and a great song came on. Yao turned up the music and the three of them started jamming out. Yao picked up speed. He was comfortable driving at slightly higher speeds now, he had been doing this exact same drive for a while now. It was late at night, and there were no other cars on the road. Up ahead was an intersection where Yao had to make a left. The light was green. Yao was going with speed. He didn't think he could make the turn in time. He started to slow down.

"You can make this light!" said Adam who was riding shotgun.
"Nah man, don't think so," replied Yao.
"C'mon bro, don't be a pussy," said Adam.
"Yea bro, don't be a pussy," added Malcolm from the back seat.
"Nah," replied Yao.

The light flashed yellow.

"Dooooooo it. Doooooooo it. Doooooo it," Adam and Malcolm were cheering in unison.

Fuck it. Adam smiled as he took his foot off the brake and slammed it on the accelerator. The car picked up severe speed and made it to the intersection just as the light turned red. Yao turned the steering wheel while the car was going full speed. The car screeched as it turned. Yao slammed the brakes. BLAAHM. The car slammed onto the curb with a loud thrash. Something made a noise by the back wheel. Yao stopped the car.

"Fuck! Everyone alright?" asked Yao.
"Fuck man," said Adam as he got out to check the state of his car.
"I'm okay bro, are you okay," said Malcolm from the back seat.

The three of them got out of the car to inspect the damage. The car was okay for the most part, but the tires had rammed into the curb pretty hard. Both the tires and the rims were damaged heavily in the crash.

"Dude I am so sorry. I will pay for all the damages," offered Yao to a clearly distraught Adam.
"Fuck, man. My car," said Adam. He was checking the tire pressure.
"I am really so sorry. I should have stopped. Fuck me," said Yao.
"Don't beat yourself up too much man. We're all okay, that's the important thing," said Malcolm trying to comfort his friend.
"Adam, I mean it, I will pay for the damages," said Yao.
"Thanks, man, I appreciate that. Think the tires are good enough to get us back to campus," said Adam.

They drove the beat-up Audi back to campus and went their separate ways. Adam drove, the entire experience had sobered him up. All things considered, they had probably gotten off easy. No one was hurt, that was the important thing. But mentally, Yao felt he had let his friends down. The recklessness of his actions hit him like a truck. Nothing too bad happened this time. But a lot could have happened. What if there was another car coming? There could have been a collision. What if the police were present? He could have gone to jail. What if there were pedestrians? He could have killed someone. During his freshman year, one of his classmates died crossing the road one night. The driver was drunk. He could have been that driver. The thoughts of guilt consumed him. He considered himself lucky to have gotten off so easy. Needless to say, his drunk driving days were over.

The next day Adam took his car to the mechanic to get his car fixed. The car needed two new tires and two new rims. Total cost: $1400. Needless to say, Yao did not have that kind of money. Adam paid for the repairs. When Adam confronted Yao with the cost of the repairs, Yao was devastated. He was already feeling down, and now he felt helpless. He took out $400 from his bank account, all he could afford to give at the time, and gave it to Adam. Yao earned $500/month through the campus work-study program. He spent the rest of his junior year paying back Adam. At first, Adam was understanding, but after a while, Adam got tired of waiting for the money to show up. Yao couldn't do anything about it. He had no other sources of income. The accident tore their friendship apart.

Yao was the one behind the wheel when the accident happened, a majority of the blame should go on him, but not all of it. Why did he try to make that turn? A turn he knew not to make. Because of Adam mostly, and a little bit because of Malcolm. They were the ones egging him on to make an ill-advised turn. Calling Yao out when he was actually in the process of doing the right thing. All of them had a role to play in the crash, but Yao is the only one that paid the price. There is honor in that, but also some injustice.

As difficult as it may be to stomach, as a society, we have to encourage risk-taking. Why? Because most people are far too afraid of uncertainty to take on any risk at all. But if no one takes risks, then we don't move forward. The people who are stupid enough to think that they can change the world are the ones that actually do. The idiots and the delinquents are also the innovators. If all of us were content to live on Earth, none of us would ever push to live on Mars. Now Yao by no means is a visionary, but a delusional belief in oneself is something that, when put to the right cause, can be a very valuable asset. Both for the individual and the collective. All we can hope to do as a society is punish Yao for taking on the wrong types of risk and reward him for taking the right types of risk. There will always be accidents, but some accidents actually change the world for the better.

Most risk-takers know what they are getting themselves into. Failure is a given. Just like Yao, they have no trouble paying for their failures. They know that failure is the status quo, and they expect to pay. But what about Adam? He gave the green light to Yao, no pun intended, to take on the risk. To attempt to make a turn that Yao knew he should not have attempted. But he paid no price when that risk backfired. Where is the honor there?

One can't help but think about banks. Just a few weeks ago one of the biggest banks in the United States went bankrupt. Was anyone actually surprised? History is full of banking failures. Every bank goes belly up at one point or another. There is no such thing as a bank that has stood the test of time. Not one. Why is that? Because they take on a lot of bad risks. And who could blame them, while there is a government around to support them, banks exist in a risk-free world. In the good times, bankers collect huge bonuses making bets that make pennies risking dollars. The CEO of the very bank that just went bankrupt in March of 2023 collected a $3.5 million bonus in December of 2022. In the bad times, when the bank goes belly-up, they cry for a bailout. Contagion! Systemic risk! The end of the world as we know it! They privatize the gains and socialize the losses. And our politicians, to remain in office, bail them out. Who pays the bill? Taxpayers. Poor people. But what happens to governments that continue to bail out entities that they should not be bailing out? Well, if history is any indicator, they also go belly up. Something to think about.