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Friday, June 10, 2011

We've Been Run Over ... Again

Talk about wrong time, wrong place ... we have been run over twice in the last ninety days.  What are the odds?  Do we have a sign on our backs, which we cannot see, that says, "Go ahead, just run over us" ?  I'm beginning to wonder.

I used to work in an industry whose business it was to was to calculate the odds of certain things happening.  It was called, in the world of statistics, the "incidence of coincidence."

Seriously, that was what it was called.  Well, we have definitely gone beyond your ordinary standard deviation, as we have been rear ended twice in the past three months.  What are the chances?  Never mind, it happened.

The first time was in Boston, this past March, the night before we were to fly to Dublin, Ireland.  We had flown all day first from Sacramento to San Francisco, then to Boston.  We arrived late in the evening, and planned to rest overnight and then take a flight the next day for Dublin.

We were about a half mile from the airport in a hotel shuttle van, the driver was making the usual in-transit chit-chat with us and four other passengers, when we stopped at an odd three-way intersection.  We were idling for a couple of moments when suddenly WHAM!!  My head snapped back and David and I looked at each other wondering "what just happened?"

Soothing music was playing on the radio, but it wasn't enough to soothe my nerves, with my ears ringing and my brain trying to figure out what had occurred.

Finally, after a couple of nano-seconds it computed, "We've just been hit."  And by another shuttle bus, no less.  A professional driver had just hit another shuttle bus.  He was a chain-smoking, nervous, jumpy little guy, who looked as though he had been driving for about 48 straight hours.  Oh, boy.

As soon as we looked around at the other passengers and determined that no one seemed to be hurt, we started trying to figure out whose luggage was closest to the rear doors of the van.

We did, all six of us.  In which order had we entered and loaded, thus whose "stuff" was most likely messed up? Can you believe it?  Just moments before we were trying to figure out whether our necks were broken, and two seconds later we were trying to determine whether our hand lotion had exploded all over our best sweaters.  Talk about changing priorities.                                         
                                                      * * * *

Fast forward to today.  Some of you, who stop by regularly know we have just "re-done"  two upstairs rooms.  I had managed to eliminate enough books (gasp!  to know how tough this was for me to do, see  More Sorting ...More Subterfuge ) and thus I had an unneeded bookcase to donate to Goodwill.

The old bookcase, combined with some odd bags of clothing (the clothes were not odd, unless your tastes differed vastly from ours, but the size and shape of the bags were lumpy) meant we had a small pickup load ready to take to the Goodwill this afternoon.

Our hearts were in the right place, but our truck wasn't.  We made our drop off, and as we puttered across the parking lot toward the exit, WHAM!!  Really?  Again?  Twice in less than 90 days?  Are you kidding me?

The driver, a teen aged boy, jumped out apologizing, immediately admitting that he had not looked behind him when he backed out of his parking space.  He was young and in a hurry.

We are not young, and we were in no hurry ... but we really didn't want to be maimed this afternoon either.

Insurance information was exchanged, phone calls were made, while the sun blazed down upon us.  I went in to a nearby food place, bought some iced tea, and brought the young "perp" some ice water.  He seemed dazed that we were not yelling at him.

So now we are waiting on a call from the repairmen, the adjuster, and any other participants in this little driving-drama.  Phooey!

I had already been battling a flare-up of arthritis in my neck and shoulder.  Now I look like a human tilt-a-whirl with my head at an odd angle and my eyes rotating, because my head cannot do so at the moment.

What is it they say, "Life is what happens, while you were busy making other plans."

I'll tell you what.  I'm staying home tomorrow.  And maybe for several days after that.  I'm too old and stiff to keep getting run over on a semi-regular basis.  Maybe I'll just sit and admire the new drapes in the guest bedroom.  That's safe, isn't it?

Hope you are tucked in safe and sound.  We are not forgetting that it could have been worse.  We are thankful.  And who knows, tomorrow may be better.  It's a thought. ...Marsha

8 comments:

  1. Once is too often, twice is way too much! Hope that's it!

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  2. Ouch, oh no! At least I've had a few years between each rear-ending! Taking my friend to the airport, I'm stopped at a red light when the lady behind me decides to drive through. She pushed us right into the intersection and I thank God there was no cross traffic! Still have neck arthritis from that time! Next time, I stopped to allow a pedestrian to cross and the guy behind me was on a cell phone and couldn't react quickly enough. He hadn't noticed the pedestrian!

    Be well soon!

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  3. I'm so sorry to read of these two accidents within 90 days. I can understand your desire to stay close to home for a time right now. Praise God that you weren't hurt badly. But be sure to get checked out as the neck pain can progress. Believe me, been there and done that ...

    I think I need to do a bit of back reading on your blog. I knew about the redo of your rooms but missed out on your trip. I'll have to read those posts.

    And btw, your attitude and kindness towards the young man probably spoke much to his heart. Love in action and even in the midst of calamity can be so salty. I love that.

    blessings and love,
    Debbie

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  4. You're what they call an outlier. A statistical anomaly.
    I'm glad you guys weren't hurt badly.

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  5. Oh my goodness...so glad you weren't hurt. I have been through this before, but it was three times and I did hide in the house for awhile. That was over 16 years ago and nothing again.
    Rest up! And yes life happens when you are making plans as you have so wisely reminded me. Enjoy life!

    Oh your comment on my post on the balloon has stuck in my mind..yes we can fence in our little yards, but the open sky can't be fenced it...I will always look up and enjoy the expanse of open sky....thanks for the reminder.

    Healing and courage to get on the road again soon.

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  6. Oh no! I'm so glad you are ok. And I love your attitude, that it could have been worse. Such a great outlook on the heels of a bumpy day.

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  7. Hope your eyes have stopped spinning by now. I know what you mean...but lately it has been ME at fault! And I don't like it! This winter in a blinding snow storm, I backed up at the grocery and hit a snow covered parking pole for Amish horses. This morning following an emergency case in surgery, I backed up and put a dent in the car not seeing a large "decorative" rock at the end of the drive, doing a friend a favor. Guess backing up is NOT my thing! I'll try to stay out of your way too! :-)

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  8. first, I'm glad you're still with us. Second I'm hoping this big target that seems to be on your back gets lifted soon! Third, boy is this ever – I mean EVER – a metaphor for life – I could spend a week on this metaphor – as long as it's not actually me that's getting run over :-) thank you for this – I hearted reading it – and God bless and keep you and all of yours this day Marsha.

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