Accidents Happen

I was walking out of the local grocery store and heard a sound I had heard before.  For me it happened 17 or so years ago in Las Vegas, Nevada on a rare wet night.  Today it was for a gentlemen that was loading groceries in his car when the truck next to him began pulling out.  Actually, it was a trailer directly next to him that was connected to a truck.  The driver of the vehicle started pulling out when his wheel on the trailer caught the passenger door of the truck and took it with it.  That popping, crunching metal sound is unforgettable.  It rings memories in my ears as I think about being stuck on a boulder in the wash and watching my door bend back in the wrong direction while I was reversing off the boulder with my door hanging open.  I don't know how the land got there but it did and it toasted my door.  Well, the door of this truck was likewise toasted.  It also appeared to damage the front panel of the vehicle as well.  Oh it wasn't at all pretty.  The owner of the damaged vehicle was quite upset and a few choice words escaped his lips.  I felt for both because I could relate to both.  It is so sad when you see yourself cause an accident of this nature.  It seems like it in slow motion and there is nothing you can do about it.  Then seeing the damage that is done is equally as upsetting.  I hope the driver made it out of there alive.  The victim, in this case, was quite animated and quite upset.  Hey, accidents happen.  It can be fixed.

I dropped Jack off at scouts this afternoon and on my way back there was a young girl riding a motorized scooter up and around the church.  She got to the area I was at and was running it down the sidewalk and kept looking.  I was climbing in the vehicle and when I looked back up she was looking at me from inside a bush.  She drove right off the sidewalk.  I've had some calls like that myself where I was paying attention to something other than what I was doing.  She was fine and was back on her way in no time. 

Andy followed me out in the street on his bike.  I had made a quick turn and was back to work on something when I heard a crash.  Andy also made a quick turn and didn't do so well.  He was clutching his gut and gasping for a little air.  Nothing like getting the wind knocked out of you.  Poor fella.  He sucked it up fast though and was back on that bike in a half minute, ready to go.  I was happy to see that, not the crash the getting back up and trying again. 

Throughout our lives accidents will happen.  Sometimes they are a little more severe than others though that doesn't really matter.  What matters is how we respond.  It can be easy to blow up and make it a terrible experience for all involved or we can do something to make it better.  We can let it get us down or we can get up and start again.  Well, not much else to say I guess.  Clearly I have rambled enough.