NYtimes Lives Response

It was the title of this Lives post that attracted me to the piece: ‘The Driver Just Didn’t See You’. Just yesterday, my roommate was hit by a car while riding her bike. She is fine, however her story is eerily similar to that of René Steinke.

Aside from the coincidence of the two stories, though, Steinke’s resonates particularly poignant due to her ability to show and tell her story. She captures the complete characterization of the vet through one quote: “I know that if the situation were reversed, Coco would want you to be out of pain, too”. Though this quote does not directly tell me what the vet looked like, it showed me that this vet is a caring individual and good at his occupation.

Steinke continues with this technique when describing the impact of the accident: “I followed the ‘Walk’ sign, my eyes fixed on the white letters. I was halfway into the crosswalk when I saw the yellow grille of a school bus to my right, impossibly near.” Her precise detail conveys so much in a small amount of text. I find it clever that Steinke describes the bus as “impossibly near”. She uses two words to paint the image of the bus in its approach, though I am sure there were plenty more in mind. This idea of saying more with less interested me as a reader. It allowed for my mind to fill in the imagery of the environment, while the specifics Steinke did include guided me through her story. 

Also, I always appreciate enjoyable endings to stories. Steinke brought her story to an end in a simple and optimistic manner. The loose ends were tied together, and though being hit by a school bus and putting her dog down on the same day, Steinke left me feeling happy, for I know she was able to carry on with her life in a positive light.