Seeing through the blind corner

There’s a blind corner down by the allotments near the school that parents in SUVs have to crawl around. Whichever way they’re coming from, they don't know if the exit is safe. All they know is that it’s a high-risk area

They stick tight to the side when they really want to take a wide line for better visibility. But if they go wide, then they’re on the wrong side of the road. So, they crane their necks for an impossible view and slow to a snail’s pace

Often, they meet another car or a pedestrian and have to reverse uphill, around the corner, just to let someone else pass. There’s no rule about priority and no clear right or wrong. They just have to work out, silently, who will make the concession

Later in the day, those same two vehicles might approach the bend from opposite directions again. No preference or tribalism, just a situation, a state of affairs they've ended up in

Each driver only knows their own approach; information they have no way of revealing to the other. They can’t signal their intentions or even their existence to the person around the corner

Sometimes I’m walking by, partly wondering why they’re driving to school at all, but also thinking: I can see around that bend. I could tell you if you need to hold back or if it’s safe to go. Because I’m at the apex of the curve, I can see clearly both ways. I can see the risks of moving or waiting. I have a better view of the potential collision than either of the drivers

And I know how to drive a reasonably large SUV and what a pain they are to reverse on that bend at drop off time. I've got actual live knowledge and actual experience of being where they are

If they wanted, I could be the banksman for both of them, moderating their movements like a temporary traffic light. I have the knowledge; nothing complex, but enough to see what they can’t and keep them safe from avoidable risk. With a wink or a nod, I could be a traffic conductor, achieving something small but satisfying

And that, if you’re not with me yet, is the metaphor

In litigation, each party holds back key information that would unlock the impasse. If they could trust that information to someone who could control its release and deploy it for a result, they could reach their destination much more easily

But they won’t reveal it themselves for fear of exploitation. Nobody says what they really want. So, they give misdirections and head toward a trial

I’m there to tell them the realities of their approach. I help them decide if a move makes progress or if they should wait for the other side to move first. I get them around the bend without frustrating backtracking and name-calling

It’s usually just a mutual problem that needs a resolution, a blind corner with no right or wrong approach direction, only the toxic mix of uncertainty and urgency, and unknown but important information

If you get the metaphor, and if you could use a banksman to see both ways around the bend and avoid a collision or clear a jam, DM me