Five years ago I could have killed someone. I was driving home from work, overtired and under-caffeinated. Cake was on the radio. I blacked out, swerved out of traffic, hit a parked car, hopped the curb, and smashed (finally) into a chain link fence post. Thankfully, no one was physically hurt. The parked car was empty. My car, which would be totaled by the insurance adjuster, had saved me from damage by martyring itself. The fence post barely moved. The police came, wrote their ticket, and left. My Scion's carcass was towed away. I walked home. All told, it could have been worse. But one thought stays with me even now: Thank god no one was on that sidewalk. If they were, they would be injured or dead; and it would be my fault. It reminds me how fragile we are, how easily our lives as we know them can end. A split-second, unconscious decision can result in a consequence that changes your, or someone else's life, forever. This is the problem with no-knock warrants: they leave...
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