The 405

I was booked for webseries in Los Angeles the day after Thanksgiving.
Vaughan and I had been out of town for the holiday.
We were headed to my job which was in Venice, when our car ran out of gas on interstate 405!
A couple of motorists who stopped behind us helped Vaughan and I to push the car to the far-right lane.
We had no way to get off the highway because there was a cement barrier on our right.
We called 911 and and were told to stay in the car with out seat belts on.
After a while we saw that cars were flying up so fast, it was likely we would be hit in we stayed inside and did nothing.
I decided to get out and stand  in the door to wave people to the other lanes.
Vaughan then got out and tried standing on the cement barrier.
I got a red skirt from my luggage in my truck, hopped up on the trunk, and started waving it to draw attention to the fact we were a STALLED vehicle.
Vaughan started walking and ended up a hundred yards or more away to wave at traffic.
He said everyone that passed him got over, but what he did not see was they got back into my lane and at least three came flying up and I believe were close to hitting me.
This was one of my worst nightmares come true.
People were passing by and taking pictures with their smart phones, smiling, waving, and blowing kisses...
My respect for humanity has dropped a few more notches...

People, you do know what they say about karma, right?

It took the police about 45 minutes to arrive.
They used their car to push ours very fast for several miles until we reached an off-ramp.
We were pushed into a Park & Ride lot, and that's when my driver's side tail-light was torn partially out.
An officer told me I was not supposed to stand on the car as I had, and that when people see that they think the person is crazy or suicidal.
If I saw someone standing on a stalled car on the highway, I would NOT assume they were CRAZY!
I would assume they had broken down, and were trying to keep STUPID people from hitting them! 
What is wrong with people!?!

In my case, I think I did the best I could, and if I had stayed in the car, I might have been injured or killed.
People just don't pay attention enough to count on them to see your emergency lights in daylight.
And I am betting the ones that got close, even when I was on the trunk, were too busy texting to see that far ahead.
They were breaking the law themselves, using a cell phone to snap pictures while flying down the highway at 60 + miles per hour!
I had called my parents, who were 65 miles or more away, and amazingly, they arrived not long after the police left us!

They brought us a can of gas.
We convoyed to the nearest gas station, and headed for my job in Venice.
I actually made in there just about 5 minutes late!!!
I had a line to say, and was done in under an hour.

My parents insisted on staying overnight in their car to take me to work the next monring.
At about 1am, my mother called to say she was having a gallbladder attack and was going the the emergency room.
Thankfully, see was treated and will hopefully be scheduled for surgery soon.
She's been waiting months since the initial diagnosis because she has no insurance, and no government agency has seemed to be able to help her.