Every Tuesday, my friend and I meet at a diner on 4th St. in Lubbock, Texas. We have been meeting here since September and love it; we even have a regular waitress that knows us and our orders. The week finals start, students study wherever they can find free wifi and an environment where they won't get distracted. We naturally went to our favorite diner for free coffee refills and a quiet place to focus.
My roommate, a good friend and I were all sitting at a table talking and getting ready to go to work. About five minutes passed as we settled in to work on our homework and knock out some studying, when the bone-chilling sound of breaking glass, and people's terrified screams filled our ears.
I looked up from my computer to see an SUV in the restaurant, not in the parking lot where cars should be. As people started screaming at the driver to back up, she quickly put the car in reverse, hit the car parked behind her, and came back at the restaurant a second time with more speed than before.
With fuzzy ears and a shaking body, I could hardly bring myself to stand on my own two feet. Looking around, I could see that our waitress had been pulled out of the way and the terrified faces of customers that had just witnessed this insane incident.
The three of us were far from the wreck and were all unharmed, away from even a shard of glass. We moved our table away from the remaining entrance to allow EMTs to bring in a stretcher and help the ones that had been hurt in the wreck.
We watched as people in the restaurant crowded around two fallen customers and someone called 9-1-1. The woman driving the car stayed in the vehicle, waiting for someone to tell her to get out.
The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that the reason she drove through the wall is unknown and remains under investigation. They also reported that three people were injured during the crash, however, their injuries were said by first responders to be ranging from minor to moderate, none of which seemed to be life-threatening.
When everything had been taken care of and all of the statements had been given, my two friends and I waited to see what was going to happen next. We wanted to be sure everyone we knew was alright. When we got the okay to leave, we headed out with pounding hearts and shaking hands.
There are many different emotional responses to an incident like this, and the three of us all had separate reactions, making it easy to comfort each other in the aftermath of the wreck. Being involved in something so out of the ordinary always has the possibility to end in disaster, and we are lucky everyone was okay and no serious injuries were reported.
Gorge's Cafe opened the following day and staff was ready to serve their community again.
