snaggletooth lives
I have something very important to share with anyone that reads this. This is probably the most important post I've ever made to be honest. For those of you that don't know me and for my friends that know my cynicism and jocular attitude, know that I am being absolutely sincere.
It is vitally important to realize your actions and the consequences associated with driving any type of vehichle. We all too often take for granted our ability to drive and reach our destination safely. It is an activity that most of us participate in daily and as such, becomes routine. Unfortunately what also becomes routine is those times we choose to drive when we are impaired.
I want to take a second to explain what I mean by impaired. We are exposed to warnings of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, yet we forget the multitude of other ways that our judgement, coordination and response time are impaired. Anytime that you are tired (trust me on this one), emotionally distraught, overwhelmed by distractions within the car (cellphones, radio/dvd, passengers...) you should seriously consider and then reconsider your ability to operate a vehichle. You should be confident when driving, your thought shouldn't be 'I bet I can make it'.
Not just this holiday season, but every day you are fortunate enough to be alive evaluate your placement in car. You are either a driver or passenger, if you don't feel capable of driving please recognize that and then find someone to get you to where you need to be. There is no shame in being alive and unharmed.
I know that this sounds preachy and given my recent car accident it would be easy to dismiss my message to an extreme reaction to a bad situation. Please don't. If I can get this wake up call for you then take my words to heart. This lesson does not need to be learned the hard way, you might not be as fortunate as I was.
As you can surmise from the above, I was in a horrible car accident on Saturday. The accident occured on day two of my return trip from Odessa Tx. I had stopped in Dallas Friday night to rest before begining the next morning. While I was in Dallas I decided to go out on the town, I got back to the hotel around 3 am. I woke at 9:30, approximately 5 1/2 hours with getting ready for bed and such. I had driven on far less sleep before, everything would be fine.
Around 150 miles northeast of Dallas on my way back, I fell asleep and woke up on the other side of the interstate in a wooded patch along the side of the road. My initial feeling was of lonliness. I ran to the road to see where I was and found several drivers had seen me cross the median and stopped to help. Fortunately I hit a tree and not another vehichle. I could have been killed, but far worse I could have killed a family. I could have ruined a lot of peoples lives and with lightning speed at that.
I knew I was tired, I had stopped about a half hour earlier and purchased some of those packages of wake up pills. I had taken them before, I knew how my system reacted. I took one pill and then right before I fell asleep I took another. How many times have you nodded off at the wheel and caught yourself as your head dropped? When was the last time you read the drivers manual that you used to take your exam? Eight years here. How well do you remember the details of what you were reading 8 years ago?
I had been away from my home for a week and was highly motivated to get back as soon as possible. Postpoing my arrival was not a consideration, I had to get home. I fell victim of the thought that accidents happen to other people, that statistics of highway accidents were made up of these "other" people. I'm here to tell you, it does happen to you.
One effect that this has had on me has been spiritual. For those of you that know me you know that I run with a mostly atheist crowd and I'm not a god person. But I have been fortunate enough to survive at least three car accidents that totaled each of those vehichles I was driving. This is the first that is my fault. Up to this point in my life I have been able to account for my life, my mistakes and near misses as a result of luck or blind coincidence. I can't say that anymore.
If one variable in the equation of my car wreck had been just slightly different I see only a few possible results. All of those end much worse than the way the accident played out. Yes, I could be dead and so could several others, but I'm not. In fact I'm not even hurt that bad. I walked away with a scrape on my shin and rough teeth. I fucking walked away.
On Saturday December 27, 2k3 providence saved my life and the lives of others. Something intervened in my life. Many people have attributed my survival and well being to luck or to gaurdian angels or some quasi-spiritual concept. I can't tell you what it is i feel right now. I don't know about this god person or Jesus or Yah·weh or Buddah or gods and godesses, life force or higher conciousness, but I know that there is something else to this life.
A curiosity has been sparked, I want to know more. I want to know what it is and I want to understand the relationship it has with my life. I wasn't lucky, no one has this much luck, but I was fortnate. I am thankful to be alive and to be able to share these thoughts with you.
Please be careful, your body is fragile, your family loves you, your pets need you and your plants are dry.
It is vitally important to realize your actions and the consequences associated with driving any type of vehichle. We all too often take for granted our ability to drive and reach our destination safely. It is an activity that most of us participate in daily and as such, becomes routine. Unfortunately what also becomes routine is those times we choose to drive when we are impaired.
I want to take a second to explain what I mean by impaired. We are exposed to warnings of driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol, yet we forget the multitude of other ways that our judgement, coordination and response time are impaired. Anytime that you are tired (trust me on this one), emotionally distraught, overwhelmed by distractions within the car (cellphones, radio/dvd, passengers...) you should seriously consider and then reconsider your ability to operate a vehichle. You should be confident when driving, your thought shouldn't be 'I bet I can make it'.
Not just this holiday season, but every day you are fortunate enough to be alive evaluate your placement in car. You are either a driver or passenger, if you don't feel capable of driving please recognize that and then find someone to get you to where you need to be. There is no shame in being alive and unharmed.
I know that this sounds preachy and given my recent car accident it would be easy to dismiss my message to an extreme reaction to a bad situation. Please don't. If I can get this wake up call for you then take my words to heart. This lesson does not need to be learned the hard way, you might not be as fortunate as I was.
As you can surmise from the above, I was in a horrible car accident on Saturday. The accident occured on day two of my return trip from Odessa Tx. I had stopped in Dallas Friday night to rest before begining the next morning. While I was in Dallas I decided to go out on the town, I got back to the hotel around 3 am. I woke at 9:30, approximately 5 1/2 hours with getting ready for bed and such. I had driven on far less sleep before, everything would be fine.
Around 150 miles northeast of Dallas on my way back, I fell asleep and woke up on the other side of the interstate in a wooded patch along the side of the road. My initial feeling was of lonliness. I ran to the road to see where I was and found several drivers had seen me cross the median and stopped to help. Fortunately I hit a tree and not another vehichle. I could have been killed, but far worse I could have killed a family. I could have ruined a lot of peoples lives and with lightning speed at that.
I knew I was tired, I had stopped about a half hour earlier and purchased some of those packages of wake up pills. I had taken them before, I knew how my system reacted. I took one pill and then right before I fell asleep I took another. How many times have you nodded off at the wheel and caught yourself as your head dropped? When was the last time you read the drivers manual that you used to take your exam? Eight years here. How well do you remember the details of what you were reading 8 years ago?
I had been away from my home for a week and was highly motivated to get back as soon as possible. Postpoing my arrival was not a consideration, I had to get home. I fell victim of the thought that accidents happen to other people, that statistics of highway accidents were made up of these "other" people. I'm here to tell you, it does happen to you.
One effect that this has had on me has been spiritual. For those of you that know me you know that I run with a mostly atheist crowd and I'm not a god person. But I have been fortunate enough to survive at least three car accidents that totaled each of those vehichles I was driving. This is the first that is my fault. Up to this point in my life I have been able to account for my life, my mistakes and near misses as a result of luck or blind coincidence. I can't say that anymore.
If one variable in the equation of my car wreck had been just slightly different I see only a few possible results. All of those end much worse than the way the accident played out. Yes, I could be dead and so could several others, but I'm not. In fact I'm not even hurt that bad. I walked away with a scrape on my shin and rough teeth. I fucking walked away.
On Saturday December 27, 2k3 providence saved my life and the lives of others. Something intervened in my life. Many people have attributed my survival and well being to luck or to gaurdian angels or some quasi-spiritual concept. I can't tell you what it is i feel right now. I don't know about this god person or Jesus or Yah·weh or Buddah or gods and godesses, life force or higher conciousness, but I know that there is something else to this life.
A curiosity has been sparked, I want to know more. I want to know what it is and I want to understand the relationship it has with my life. I wasn't lucky, no one has this much luck, but I was fortnate. I am thankful to be alive and to be able to share these thoughts with you.
Please be careful, your body is fragile, your family loves you, your pets need you and your plants are dry.