Cause and Effect Date Tuesday, April 23, 2024 - 03:03 AM PST Topic Experiences You never really know what it's like until it actually happens. Sure, you've seen movies and heard accounts from other people, you may have had a mild fender-bender or two... but nothing really prepares you for the experience of a full-blown car wreck. I was sitting at the light, waiting to turn left. i was on a grocery shopping trip, a trip I had made many times uneventfully. I had made that same turn successfully over and over. I moved into the intersection just as the light turned yellow. I waited for the oncoming traffic to pass through the yellow or slow down in anticipation of the red light. I looked carefully to make sure that the traffic was stopped and thinking it safe, made the turn. It looked safe. It looked like the way was clear. From the corner of my eye, I glimpsed movement and at that moment, time slowed down. I turned my head slightly to see the oncoming grill of a gray truck RIGHT OUTSIDE MY PASSENGER WINDOW! This is where it got really strange. I knew, but didn't believe, it was going to hit me. I know it crossed my mind to speed up or hit the brakes, neither of which would make a difference. Then it hit. I watched the frame of the car door buckle and fold into a nightmarish tangle of metal as tiny green glass blocks went flying everywhere and the car went sliding sideways. I've had near-death type accidents before and it never ceases to amaze me when the moment of realization comes that you might not make it out of this one. There's no last minute bargaining, no hopes, no regrets. There's just a simple acceptance of fate. A feeling of "This is it." It's peaceful. Then you realize that you survived. The car came to a stop at the curb. I looked up and saw people staring at me from the corner. I looked down and saw green glass littering the floor. I looked over and saw the incredible damage to the right side of the car. I heard the music on the radio and reached over and turned it off. I put the car into park, removed my foot from where it had fused to the brake pedal and proceeded to flip out. I don't even know what I was flipping out about. Maybe the fact that I could have died. Maybe the fact that I didn't. Definitely the fact that I had destroyed the car. Most certainly the fact that what hit me had to have had people in it who might be hurt or dead. I saw a blonde woman coming over to the car. I had to unlock it to let her open the door. She told me I was okay, that I was just in shock and that she was calling 911. I asked about the other people, if they were okay. She said she didn't know. I think I kept asking that. She asked if there was anyone to call, and I got my cell phone out and pushed the button that would call Rogue and handed it to her, saying , "Don't scare him." She talked to him for a minute then handed the phone to me so I could tell him I was okay. By then, the paramedics had arrived and a guy was behind me, holding onto my head and telling me to keep my neck still. I said, "But I'm not hurt." He said, "You think you're not hurt. That's the adrenaline. Once it wears off, you might hurt more than you think. You should go in the ambulance and let us take care of you." I kept arguing with them, wanting Rogue there because I didn't feel capable of making a simple decision. Finally, I let them talk me into getting me onto a backboard. While they were taking me out of the car, Rogue showed up. He saw the damage and said, "Yeah, go in the ambulance. I'll catch up with you at the hospital." They put me into the ambulance, alongside another person. It was a 15 year old boy who had been the passenger in the truck. I couldn't have felt worse at that moment. I didn't know how badly he'd been hurt, but I knew he must have been pretty scared. I know I was. We got to the hospital and I was put into a room. I don't know how much time passed before Rogue showed up. I had been answering questions and had nurses poking at me and taking vitals and doing nurse things. They talked to Rogue and he made phone calls and held my hand. They took me and x-rayed my spine to make sure I didn't hurt it and took the neck brace thing off me. Then they said my spine was okay, there was nothing broken but there would be muscle pain for a while. They gave me some pain pills and sent me home. So, for the past two days I've been taking pills that knock me out cold after half an hour in between taking care of business that I was needed for. Rogue took care of most of it. I had to go make a statement at the police station and discovered that they'd cited me for failure to yield the right of way. Rogue went to the tow yard to get things out of the car and ran into the mother of the boy who had been driving the truck. she had taken her other kids to see my car and give them a lecture about seatbelts and auto safety. She told Rogue that the boys who had been in the truck were fine, just shaken up a bit. The boy who had been driving had only had his liscence for three months. She was really nice about the whole thing. It was a huge relief to me to know that those boys weren't hurt. There are some things that happen to make you re-evaluate your life a little bit and this, for me, was one of those things. It was just dumb luck that nobody was hurt in this incident. Everything you do can have an impact on yourself and other people. Even a simple act like turning at a light. This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=777