sand river
Ideas of mortality, the body’s vulnerabilities and frailty, and corporeal suffering have been plaguing my mind lately. These things slap you in the face when you cut yourself while slicing tomatoes and proceed to bleed like the dickens.
Then others share their horrific kitchen accident tales (please be careful when you wash glass tumblers).
Then you see your dad’s elderly (but perfectly “functional”) neighbor sitting on her own front steps covered in blood because she fell and hit her head and the wound is so bad you can see the bone of her forehead, and there’s a thick gelatinous sheet of coagulated globular blood just jiggling off her chin. You ask her if it hurts and she calmly says no. She’s perfectly lucid and not flipping out.
And your roommate gets hit by a car while riding his bike (any day now it’ll be me too). Even the video from first aid training at work, though funny, had me a bit spooked.
It’s terrifying how in a blink of an eye, injury can happen. The most mundane, habitual activities can wreak havoc in a split second. Even leaving the house can have grave consequences. Anything can happen!
Uh, I guess what I’m saying is. BE CAREFUL out there.
November 3rd, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I once saw a guy eat shit at an intersection while he was on his motorcycle (..in a short sleeve t-shirt, no less)…his bike went out from under him and he bounced off the concrete…3 times. haven’t been on my bike since. scared the shit out of me. i use to be so fearless about everything *sigh* youth, how i miss thee.
November 4th, 2009 at 2:49 am
I was just reading that NEAR DEATH article from Robot Power, the one where people recount times when they almost ate shit in the most fatal and final way. I don’t think I’ve honestly had a near-death experience like that, but it is crazy how many moments come by that could have ended really badly.
I think after going without driving for so long (and now doing a little bit of motoring again), i’ve become such a crazy defensive driver and hate not being in control of a car. NOT. WORTH. THE. RISK.
November 5th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Jack London: “I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it should be stifled by dry-rot.”
November 7th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
@jenny oh GAWD that sounds TERRIBLE. SO sorry you had to witness that, but sometimes it’s good for us to sober up to the realities of how dangerous automobiles / bicycles / motorcycles can be. He probably got tore up with road rash, if not something much worse.
@ryan near death experiences, yikes. Life just plays out in mysterious ways, and one can’t help but think of how near death experiences happen “for a reason.” Anyway I’m glad you drive with caution.
@tim I never heard the ashes vs dust part of that quote before, but it’s a good one.
November 17th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
A friend of a friend once saw someone’s leg get run over by an AC Transit bus. She said it flattened out the dude’s leg, with the bone sticking out the side. I nearly barfed just hearing the story.
We all got it comin’, kid.
December 2nd, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Um, Hobo, are you who I think you are? Hmmmm? If so, thanks for leaving a comment. Super appreciated. I can’t believe your friend witnessed that. And what about those ppl who jump in front of trains? Imagine being there for that…
March 27th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
I love, loev, love Jesse’s face in that photo where he has a fierce grip on that rope and is almost losing.