the holidays are upon on us. this is a time of gatherings, of sharing, of family, and of friends. it is a time to party. but i must stress and beg of you all of one thing -- please please please do not drink and drive. not this holiday season, or ever.
on october 6, 2001, i experienced the worst thing in my life. something i wish for no one to experience, but far too many have and many more will. me and my father were sitting home watching tv when he got a phone call. something told me before he got off the phone what it was. i just knew it. my beliefs were verified when he told me that my mother had gotten in a car accident. but the people had told us that it was a minor one and not to worry. so me and my father rush out of the house, and drive to the scene. it was then where i saw the worst thing ever. imagine driving up a road and seeing one of the worst car wrecks you have ever EVER seen in your life, only to find out that your mother is involved in it. a head on collision. both cars totaled. the other driver was drunk, swerved into my mother's lane, and hit her head on. she was lucky. she got away with "only" a bruised rib or two, a broken wrist, and a steel rod in her left arm with her whole body bruised. but the mental injuries are severe. whenever she drives with anyone, she clinches the door with her life, she flinches whenever a car passes by. she is emotionally torn. all because some guy decided to drive under the influence.
these types of accidents dont just affect those directly involved either. i write this forum post at 4:46 am because i keep reliving the whole experince and i cannot sleep and i wasnt even involved. all of my relatives are weary of everything. the emotional trauma we have all felt being of one stupid person is too much to handle at times, even one month and 9 days after the event.
the point of this forum post is not as a pity story, but as an example. an example of how one more can of beer, one shot, one swig can turn the lives of many upside down. i would rather see you all not drink at all, but that is unrealistic. so instead, i urge you all to give the keys to a friend who is not drinking or to just stay where you are. i care about you all, as does your family and your friends and your partners in this great community. i do not want you to live through the trauma my family, and especially my mother is going through. i know some of you have been down this road before and know exactly what i am speaking of. to you, i give my condolenses. to those who dont, please trust my words. they are genuine.
my mother was very lucky, but you or the other people involved may not be. one more drink could make you one more statistic.
the holidays are a time of joy, let's try to keep it that way.
04:01 am, Thursday, November 15, 2001 (8 years ago)
i agree with ekzibit, that takes courage, and love of your family. i am lucky enough to have only the elderly people in my family die (which im not saying wasnt sad of course) but that way, they knew that they where going to die. one of my late uncles does have early colon cancer, but they say it can be cured :)
[Discovery is looking at the same thing everyone else is, and thinking different] [Where Don't You Want to Go Today?]
a little over two years ago, on feb. 28, 1999, i too was hit by a drunk driver. he was totalled. he ran the stop sign, and i t-boned him dead on. my car was totalled... i was in the hospital for a few days and in physical theorapy for 6 months after that. although physically i'm ok now, yes, i agree that the mental struggle is very difficult to deal with.
after i was comfortable driving again, which took almost a year to get to a point where i didn't think about it every time i got in a car, it took until around now to stop being so angry. and that's not to say i'm not completely over it. i am still a little angry; i'm just able to push it down deeper.
and hey, look- i get to go to court on the 28th of this month again! great, looking forward to reliving it...
my cs partner, bren, got hit while biking by a dd. the guy ran a red light, hit him on the side with enough force to push him into a pickup truck, tip the pickup truck on it's side and push him and the bike over the top of it.
shattered his right leg, massive other injuries. he couldnt watch movies that involved cars for years
he's getting a new bike as soon as he has the cash for it
:: hi, i'm miriku and i'm at fault for whatever just went wrong ::
That's absoluely horrific. Best wishes to you and your mother. How many people have we lost because of these drunken nitwits on our roads? One is one too many.
*These posts are masterpieces of comic timing.* "imnotproudtosaythatimokaywiththegirlnextdoorwhoisfamousfors howingherbreasts"
Mike, i'm so sorry to hear that. Best wishes to you and your family. I've only been in one bad car accident in my life, fortunately noone was seriously hurt (a sprained ankle and a whole bunch of cuts and brusies across a total of 7 people spread across 2 cars, we were -very- lucky), but the mental reaction is the worst part, even sitting in the passengers seat, you see on coming head lights and you tense up bracing yourself, until the car passes. It sucks. The reaction went away though. It just takes time.
Driving drunk is about the dumbest thing you can possibly do with a motor vehicle.
Remember, if you've got a drivers license, you have the responsibility of weilding a large metal and polymer object in a -safe- and -unthreatening- manner. Too many people take for granted the fact that they can get in a car and drive around. Never take your transportation for granted, always remember the control necessary to drive a car, and make sure you have that control.
