Okay, that makes it sound more dramatic than it actually was, but now I've sucked you in...
Heading from the Meadows to Tollcross I was filtering on the right of the queue (I could see which traffic was going through the crossroads ahead so had bags of time to get to the ASL). A girl who had been on the inside of the traffic cuts through. I manage a 'whoah!', then there's a coming together of my left pedal with her front wheel. We both stay upright (she was hardly moving, I was going slowly - safe y'see). She immediately apologised saying she wasn't looking. To be honest I should have seen her coming through the gap as well even when concentrating on possible traffic coming towards me.
Anyway, her mudguard had popped out the SKS safety things, which I tried to help her with, but she was better at it than me, and so we set off with a smile and laugh - no damage, no harm (by now a truck was coing the other way, and rather than slow down felt the way to get us to move was to scowl and accelerate - it worked).
It struck me again, although maybe this is because I'm just reasonable when no harm is done, that the immediacy of contact (as in being bale to talk and see expressions and so on) helps defuse any potential issues in situations like this, unlike when you're wrapped in your car and have a bump. Anyway, bizarrely it cheered up my commute.
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