The Amputation of My Driver's Side Mirror

It was a simple airport run to pick up two passengers--one from the airport, and one from the Amtrak station. I got ready to leave on time, and right before I left the house, I felt like the Lord told me I would need my pocketknife. I grabbed it, thinking it wouldn't hurt to have it along even if I didn't have a use for it.

I started driving down the interstate and had gotten to the middle of nowhere on the way to the airport. The speed limit was 75 mph, and I was in the far left lane when my driver's side mirror, buffeted by the strong wind, started to crack off. 

I think the car had been wrecked before I bought it, because the mirror was already loose. From the day I bought it, it was disconnected from all the proper attachment bolts and was just hanging on by one giant screw that someone had put in (ghetto repair style). So as I was driving down the road, little pieces of the brittle plastic started flying away, and soon the mirror was jerking violently back and forth, totally useless for viewing anything in, and I was afraid it was soon going to disconnect completely and smash into somebody's vehicle. 

I pulled over onto the left-hand shoulder, put my flashers on, and got out. "How convenient that I have my knife!" I thought. As cars and trucks thundered by me at close range, I started using the back of the blade as a screwdriver to remove the single screw that was holding the mirror in (which now had a dangerous crack running through the plastic). It was a tough screw and I would never have been able to get it out with my fingers. "Thank you, Lord, that I brought this along," I was saying. 

I got the screw out and pulled the mirror off the door. OH NO! It was still connected by a wire as thick as my little finger. I couldn't leave it dangling by the wire, but I couldn't see any way to disconnect the wire. I could just imagine how it would be--the mirror flipping around, banging into the side of my vehicle, glass shattering and getting into my tires...no, it must not be. What would I do? I considered putting the screw back in and seeing if it would last, but I knew it wouldn't last more than a few minutes, and I was going to be back in the same boat. What? what? what? I couldn't go home, because I had to make it to the airport.

Then it dawned on me, and an exultant laugh burst from my lips--"Let's solve this problem HAITI STYLE!" With a bit of destruction! An amputation! There was my pocketknife right in my hand. Just cut those wires! 

I was certain it was NOT the "right way" to do this, and I surmised that I would regret it later when I went to get a new mirror, but it was the best thing I could do. I hacked away at the bundle of wires until they were all severed, put the mirror on the floor by the back seat, and continued on my way in my now-illegal vehicle. 

It's SO DANGEROUS to drive without a driver's side mirror! I highly do NOT recommend it! Especially on a 4-lane highway going 75 mph. Check your blind spot! Compulsively! But I picked up my passengers and we made it back without incident.

Happily, God provided for another mirror, a brand new one, and it got mounted securely and even re-wired back together. Praise the Lord!