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Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Yes, well, um

On my way home I saw a horrific accident happen right in front of me. Literally. At the inter by the Kroger - the light was red, very red, and I slowed down to join the cars that were already waiting at the light. The big gray truck next to me was still speeding along and then drifted in front of me. I thought to myself, he must be getting in the turn lane. And then I thought, maybe his brakes are out and he is going to swerve around everyone to get through the intersection. Only he didn't swerve and he didn't slow down. He didn't tap his brakes even once, and he plowed into the two cars ahead that were stopped at the light. He was going at least 65 mph. They all crunched together and then slammed into the intersection of cars that had the green light. I have never heard the sound of a pile up before and I wish that I never had now. The glass that exploded all over the road was amazing - in a non-amazing way. People were instantly out of their vehicles running through the intersection, cell phones in hand to try and help people. I sat there in shock. I was now the first person in the lane when I should have been the fourth. It was not an ok feeling. My arms were numb. I didn't know what to do. There was already a slew of people on phones, doing what they could to help. Smoke poured from the engine of the big gray truck. I eased over to the right lane next to me and just sat there. And then the police arrived. I turned rt and went through the Kroger parking lot to bypass the accident and get back on my way home. I cannot even begin to tell you the guilt that I feel - I should have stopped. Not to help - I know that there was nothing that I could do - but to tell someone that the big gray truck never even tried to stop. I think that I owe it to the other people in the accident. They did absolutely nothing wrong. Nothing. Big sigh.

I went to the gym tonight. I walked on the treadmill - 1.65 miles in 33 minutes. I did a warm up and a cool down. I have watched enough Oprah to know that this is what I should do. I felt very awesome in my sports bra, work out pants, and new running shoes (Yes, I did also wear a shirt, but that wasn't new, so why mention it?). I called my mother on the way to the gym. This is how our conversation went...

Me: I'm going to the gym to work out.
Mom: Oh. *shocked and speechless*
Me: Yeah, Chris and I thought this would be a good thing to do for ourselves.
Mom: Oh, well, um, don't hurt yourself, Honey. *oozing with honest to goodness concern*

Ahhhh, such confidence in me. But, I did not hurt myself. Although I do have some things to remember for the future, like, I should not try and look at the back of the treadmill while walking. I felt like I needed to know how close I was to the edge. I almost threw up, and I wasn't close at all. Not a good idea. My legs are currently burning. Burning is good, right?

3 comments:

Mark Fennell said...

Jeez. I understand your shock. I've seen wrecks, been in wrecks and it's never fun. It'll haunt you constantly for a little while and then it will only visit occasionally. It's a learn and grow process. If there were fewer witnesses, you might could've given a witness statement. But, yeah, stay at a safe distance from the blood and fumes.

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olcrazypete said...

Oooh, I saw that accident. Was going from gordon st to the west side, was gonna cross 129. They made me turn toward 85. Must have been 2 big fire trucks there. Amazing/scary thing was the amount of stuffing floating around - like a seat or pillow or something had exploded. Really glad you weren't hurt, hoping it all looked worse than it was for the people involved.