Tonight there was another accident. One man, determined not to lose his opportunity to light a cigarette, unbuckled his seatbelt and proceeded to rummage around on the floor of his truck while travelling along at a high rate of speed. Unfortunately for him and two other individuals, there were two trucks in front of him. Now, I saw unfortunately, but it was actually rather fortunate that he unbuckled his seatbelt, because if he had not, he would most likely have been sheered in half as the trailer of the truck in front of him sliced through the cab of his truck. As it was, he was knocked between the two front seats and pinned there. He may lose his legs and certainly lost a lot of blood, but he is alive. But his legs, millions of dollars of cargo later, thousands of dollars of medical expense, and multiple people in anguish all over a dropped cigarette lighter and the need for another nicotine fix.
I feel physically drained and emotionally tried. I don’t feel all that much emotion about the actual accident, but I do reflect upon how much distraction we allow in our lives and how often we seem to crash into others as we continue on our way without seeing what is in front of us. Had this driver known what was in front of him, perhaps he would have obeyed the speed limits, slowed down like everyone else was doing, and would have saved his legs and truck. There is a morale here, but I don’t want to pinpoint it so simply. Draw from it what you will. I am just tired, and I have seen enough blood today to want to think about it any more.
