Rant #2,853: Accidents Will Happen

 
I want to preface this Rant by stating that this type of thing happens thousands of times each day in our country, but unless it involves a celebrity or someone of note, we don’t hear about it … and that is all fine and good with me.
 
I read the other day about the unfortunate experience of Pete Alfonso of the New York Mets, and how he is lucky to be alive.
 
It seems that while driving his truck to the Mets’ training facility in Florida, he was hit by another car in such a ferocious way that even his heavy truck couldn’t keep its wheels on the ground, flipping over three times before it finally came to a stop.
 
The T-bone crash, which was the other driver’s fault as he went through a stop sign, left Alfonso dazed but not totally out of it, and he had the wherewithal to bang out his front window as he extricated himself out of the car as the police came to the scene.
 
What’s worse—or better depending on how you look at it—is that his wife witnessed the entire situation from their other car, as she was driving behind him with their dogs in the car.
 
Happily, both Alfonso and the other driver came out OK from the accident, with just a few scratches and probably a major welt on their psyches.
 
When I read about this, flashed back to my own car accident, which occurred coming up eight years ago in May 2014.
 
And what a terrible accident it was!
 
My wife, son and I were in our car driving on a main road on a wet and rainy day, and we were driving to a business so that my son could fill out a job application.
 
All of a sudden, out of the blue, came a car from the other, left side of the road, who we later found out also went through a stop sign and never saw us as he exploded out of the street.
 
He T-boned us, and my car flipped over, with my family and I dangling from our seats, as happily, we were wearing our seat belts.
 
The police came very quickly, and all that I remember is that as I was dangling upside down in the car, I was calling out for my family … I did not know that they were already out of the car.
 
Again, happily, no one was hurt on either side—just a few scratches—but my car was totaled (see photo) and my psyche was certainly damaged.
 
Here is what I wrote about the accident in Rant #1,209, May 16, 2014 … short and to the point:
 
“Of everything that has happened in my life, this is probably the most earth shattering.
 
To think I was one step away from you know what has really put a damper on a lot of things, and has shined a light on others.
 
And to think that my family was in the car with me ... God was looking down on us last Saturday.”
 
I had a short bout of PTSD from the accident, but I recovered pretty quickly. Here is what I also had to say about the accident in that Rant:
 
“Accidents will happen, and accidents produce victims.
 
I am just that, but onward and upward now.”
 
So I kind of know how Alonso feels right now, what he is going through, what he is thinking.
 
And to think that his wife saw the whole thing happen before her eyes!
 
It is just incredible to think what was going through her mind when she saw this happen.
 
I know that with me, my entire life was going through my mind as this young kid hit me, and all it took was a split second.
 
I am sure I must have blacked out for another split second, but happily, the only scars that my family and I have from that accident are probably in our minds.
 
Once you have such an accident, you never forget it, but in my case at least, it was pushed far back in the recesses of my mind …until I read about what happened to Alonso—and then I relived it, and I mean I relived it each and every second that I can remember.
 
And I can say that you never drive the same way after such an accident.
 
I am still a bit gun-shy when a car pulls out of the left and tries to merge into traffic, and while I know that 99 percent of the time they know what they are doing, I still am inclined to give them a honk when they do this.
 
And I have driven by the area where my car was hit on numerous occasions, and I just thank God that we all came out OK from it.
 
And God forbid if there were people on the street where my car was pushed and overturned …
 
No, I don’t even want to think about that.
 
So, to the Alonsos … I know exactly what you are going through now.
 
My advice: take it one day at a time … you will pull yourself out of this, but it could take more than a day or two or three.
 
Just give it time. You will be OK.