Okay. In the interest of putting this behind me, here's what happened. I was driving to work on Wednesday morning around 9 a.m. when my windshield became obscured by magnesium chloride (a substance put down on the road by the snow plows). As I drove, splash back from passing vehicles and the vehicle in front of me made it nearly impossible to see. I thought about stopping at Morrison and clearing the windshield, but knew this would take 10 minutes or so and I had to be at work by 9 a.m. regardless of the circumstances ('cuz of this ridiculous rule the ceo has come up with). That 10 minutes would have saved me a day's worth of salary, aches and pains, and a whole lot of trouble.
As I continued past Morrison, I couldn't see at all. I put on my blinkers and tried to make my way to the shoulder by looking out the side windows. Then "bang" I collided with what I thought was a car abandoned in the snow (people do that out here). I came to a sudden stop. Through a tiny sliver of clear windshield on the passenger-side, I could see that my hood was totally crumpled up. The next few minutes are kind of a blur. I decided that I should get out of the car and see what I hit. I crawled out of the passenger side door to avoid traffic that continued to whiz by. The front of my car was in ruins. The guy I hit was a ways in front of me. He was driving a truck, so I did little damage to his vehicle. As we walked back together, asking if the other was okay, we decided that standing on the hillside was safest until help arrived. As we were standing there, a chevy cavalier nailed my BMW in the back. Then a Nissan truck came along and rear-ended the cavalier, which sent him ramming into the BMW again. The Chevy Cavalier guy was hurt and taken to the hospital. The rest of us had the pleasure of standing in the snow for the next two hours while they extracted him from his car, investigated the crashes, gathered our statements, and determined who was at fault for what. As it turned out, I was not cited because the officer decided we were both at faulf. He was pulling into the lane of traffic, I was pulling out. I don't know how that adds up to me not being at fault, but I was certainly thankful.
Two days later and a lot of time to contemplate this, I realize how lucky I am. I walked out of my car, and aside from soreness in the neck, shoulders, and arms, I am okay. Since Thursday afternoon, I have had trouble with the soreness in my arms mainly. Somehow it is causing my hands to shake and inhibiting my range of motion. I think it has something to do with the muscles being seized up from absorbing impact. Today they are shaking less, and I am having less trouble completing normal tasks (like gripping my pen, typing, picking up an object).
That brings me to another place. I feel really lucky that I will be okay in a few days. This experience has given me empathy for people who suffer injuries and need to adapt afterward to deal with their disabilities. It's been frustrating to not be able to type as fast, or write my last name the same way, or pick up a glass of water without exerting effort. How much more must it be for someone who loses range of motion, limbs, or mobility.
And another place. I drive to work every day looking forward to 8 hours later when I can drive home. I never think that it might be my last time. I always believe I'll wake up the next day. This experience has made me more aware of each moment I have. It's caused me to question afresh what the purpose of all this is. I think, the purpose is to learn to love others and shine a bright spot on their life by having an impact. Whether it's picking up the phone to connect with a friend, writing a novel, or loving those around you. That's the purpose of life, as I see it.
