Simon was a man cursed with the most mundane of things, but it became the bane of his existence. Every traffic light he encountered turned red. It didn’t matter what color it was before, it would almost instantly turn yellow as soon as he approached.
Since getting his license at age 16, the red lights made him late for everything. From dates to his grandmother’s funeral to being late for classes and jobs, he had been running late for most his life. It wasn’t just when he drove either. Anywhere he went, from walking to taking mass transit to being driven places, the red lights slowed him down constantly.
One day, his wife, fed up with his constant tardiness gave him an ultimatum. He could either stop being lazy—as she saw it—and make it to his son’s game, or she would leave him. He had been fired many times for being late, and had missed so many dates and so many of his son’s baseball games that she was fed up with him.
Simon sat impatiently at a red light, knowing the one a block away would be red as well. He had left early, but the red lights always backed up traffic. He gripped the steering wheel tightly. He thought about doing something he never had before: running the light.
He knew the light took forever to change, and he didn’t see any police cars. He loved his wife, and really didn’t want to lose her. He looked around one last time to check for any police and boldly made his move.
He was promptly broadsided.
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