jethromoore
All American
2529 Posts
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Circa : July 2000
I had just gotten my Jeep back from the shop about a week ago. I had a 3" suspension lift installed, along with 32" tires, rims, etc. This was basically my dream ride and it was finished. All I had to do was drive around with the top down, like I was doing that afternoon.
School had started the day before (Wednesday). I had gone gone to one class, British Literature II, with instructor Matt Morris. I was headed to work on this Thursday, with the top down and the cd player blaring through the speakers I had just installed in the trunk. I drove the 1/4 mile from my house to the highway entrance ramp and proceeded down the ramp. Everyone who drives knows that you have to accelerate up to speed on the entrance ramp to merge with traffic at 65 MPH. You can't merge safely if you're going 25.
I made one critical mistake. I changed the song on the cd player, taking my eyes off of the road for all of 3-4 seconds. When I looked up, the car in front me was stopped at the end of the entrance. The woman had her left turn signal on, and was looking out of her window, waiting for a 25-car gap, so that she could merge onto the highway from a dead standstill.
At this point, it was too late. I had 2 options - 1) Swerve right, crash through a sign, some trees, and severely fuck up my Jeep. 2) Swerve left, merge into the empty highway (I'd guess there was a 12-15 car length gap), and continue on my way.
I chose to swerve left. It was wild, but I made it onto the highway without hitting anyone because nothing was there. Unfortunately, I over-corrected to the right, and the Jeep swung around sideways. I realize this all happened in a matter of seconds, but it felt like I was frantically turning back to the left for 5 minutes, and consciously aware that if traffic caught up to me and didn't stop that I would be T-boned at 65 MPH, and probably flip several times down highway 421.
My terror ended as I hit the grass in the median and there was a sudden lull. I remember thinking, "whew, glad I'm out of the road" as I slid down the grassy bank. I hit the bottom of the median and everything stopped. I thought it was over. About 2 seconds later, I remember the Jeep lifting off the ground and it rolled.
The Jeep came to a rest upside down, with me hanging there by my seatbelt. THE MORAL OF THIS STORY IS TO WEAR YOUR SEAT BELT. I WOULD HAVE CERTAINLY BEEN THROWN INTO ONCOMING TRAFFIC ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY IF IT WAS NOT FOR THE SEAT BELT.
I was a little freaked out, but all I wanted to do was get the hell out of there. I undid the buckle to the seat belt and came crashing down onto the grass. I crawled out of the window hole, which was vacant since the top was off. The woman who had stopped at the end of the entrance ramp came running over and said, "That was some smooth driving!"
I wanted to call her a cunt, but I just said "thanks."
The state trooper came, and since this was a 1 vehicle accident, and my Jeep was obviously totaled, he decided.. to write me a ticket for failure to stop causing an accident or some retarded shit.
I called in to work and told them that I had been in a wreck and would not be coming in that day. I went to the hospital to get checked out and to get a note for work/school and because I belong to the upper-middle class. First World Problems.
I took the next day off of school/work because I was extremely sore and had no vehicle with which to transport myself. I figured that everything would be ok because this was a very serious wreck, and even though my body wasn't mangled and sprawled across 421, I was still shaken-up and sore.
Back to Forsyth Tech. The British Lit II class met every Mon/Wed/Fri from 10:00-10:50AM. I returned to class on Monday and waited until after class to speak with Matt about my absence on Friday. There was a line of students waiting to talk to him.
The guy in front of me told Matt that he missed all of the previous week because he had gone to the beach and didn't want to come back. Matt told him that was no problem and not to worry about it. I assumed that my situation would certainly be fine and had no qualms or reservations about approaching him with my reason for my absence. This guy and Matt finished up and I stepped forward to relay my story.
I started by apologizing for missing class on Friday and then told him about flipping my Jeep. He immediately responded with, "Ok, but the next time you miss class I'm dropping you." Surely he was joking, right? No one could be that strict with their attendance policy, right?
I told him that this was a very serious wreck and offered to show the documentation that I had from the hospital. He told me that he did not want to see it and that I would be dropped from the class the next time that I missed a day. I really couldn't believe he was saying this to me, but I just walked off. At no point did he ask if I was ok.
The next few weeks were very difficult for me transportation-wise. The Jeep was obviously totaled so I was forced to find a ride to class. This wasn't terribly difficult on Tues/Thurs because my classes were in the afternoon, but that 10:00AM MWF British Lit II class was tricky. I had to rely on my then-girlfriend to give me a ride. In fairness, she was cool about it, and I was making it to class, even though she lived 30 minutes from me, and it was 20 minutes from my house to Forsyth Tech.
Then, in late September, we cut it extremely close. I arrived in front of the building that the class was in 2 minutes before class started. I ran up the stairs as fast as I could, and arrived to class.. 10 seconds late. I'll admit that being tardy is tardy, but it was only 10 seconds, and Matt Morris knew that I was having to bum rides to school.
So, if you haven't already formed an opinion of Matt Morris, let me explain exactly how much of a mother fucker this guy really is. Class immediately stopped when I walked in, and Matt informed me that I had missed the quiz. I asked him what quiz, having no idea what he was talking about, and he told me that he had given it out about 8 minutes ago. A quiz at 9:52AM for a class that starts at 10:00AM? I just said ok, and figured that I would talk to him about it after class.
He spent the next 10 minutes giving a lecture on the importance of arriving to class on time. So being 10 seconds late to class, under extreme conditions, was somehow detrimental to my academic career, but making a class full of students listen to his rant for 10 minutes of their valuable class time wasn't? He had already called me out like I was some freshman high school student. It was blatantly obvious he was talking about me to everyone in the room.
I told him after class that it was unfair to give a quiz before class officially started and he told me that I needed to arrive early. I explained to him that I had no vehicle because I had been in the wreck, and that being 10 seconds late wasn't that big of a deal. He told me that 2 tardies equaled an absence and that he was going to drop me that next time that I was late.
Things were fine for a couple of weeks. I made it to class on time and was glad that there was only about 8 more weeks of class left.
One morning in October, it rained. My ex-girlfriend had to sit in traffic due to a wreck on I-40. We left my house with about 10 minutes to get to Forsyth Tech. She drove wildly, knowing of the consequences of being late (see 2 paragraphs up). I could see Forsyth Tech at the next turn, and as luck would have it.. we hit a red light.. behind another car.. that wasn't turning right. We were stuck and I was fucked.
We pulled up in front of the building at 10:00 on the dot, but I wasn't going to go through being late again. I would have just exploded, called Matt a faggot, told the class that he was a dicksucker, and probably gotten expelled from Forsyth Tech. I just walked into the registrar, filled out a drop form, and let that be that.
About a month later, in between classes, I was standing outside smoking a cigarette. From the door on the side of the building that British Lit II was in emerged Matt Morris. He walked towards me, noticed me, and said, "There he is!" to which I responded, "Go fuck yourself you damn dirty human-ape hybrid." I'm sure this amused the students who were standing nearby, but what was I supposed to do? Be buddy-buddy with this asshole?
I had never met Matt Morris before taking British Lit II. I have no idea why he hated me. If you read reviews of him on professor ratings sites, it seems like most people liked him, or at least enjoyed his class.
Maybe he'll see this post, register for TWW, and explain why he hated me.  1/10/2011 9:17:38 PM
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