Perspective – Feburary 15th

Gripe! Bitch! Moan! Complain!

Yep, I’m tired. Yep, I’m cranky. Yep, I’m probably stretched too thin. Yep, I’ve got two different audits for two different organizations coming at me like a freight train and one of our company’s biggest fundraising events is just nine days away and all is chaos and I’m not getting enough sleep and…

…and after another of those long days, I head for home much later that I would like. A block or two from the office on Ventura Boulevard (a major thoroughfare in these parts, for those of you not from these parts) I go around a little bend to see flashing red lights ahead.

Our lanes are clear and, surprisingly, still moving. (That’s clue #1.)

As I get to the accident in the oncoming lanes, I see just one ambulance. No police yet. No fire trucks yet. No other ambulances yet – and they’re going to need a couple. (That’s clue #2.)

Beyond, I can see that the backup is only a block or two long, still clear back beyond Topanga Boulevard. (Another state highway and major traffic artery in the area. (That’s clue #3.)

The clues say that this just happened. Maybe two minutes ago, maybe less. The ambulance looks like it was here by coincidence and they’ve got it parked sideways across all three lanes to block traffic from the accident beyond. (This is not normal procedure – you’ll generally get a fire truck or the police to block the road while the paramedics can focus on their work.)

I’m stopped fairly close to the accident as the light is red ahead of us. I get a good view – might wish I hadn’t.

No clue how it happened, but it appears that someone in mid-sized car T-boned a smaller car. A couple other cars are dented and crunched off to the side. Lots of glass and debris.

The paramedics are working on two people laid out on the ground. I’m guessing that they came from the smaller car that got T-boned. It’s pretty well a mess. They must have pulled them both out of the far side, because the driver’s side is gone. It’s dark (thankfully) so the details aren’t clear, but the patients don’t seem to be moving and the two paramedics look like they could use another two or four helpers.

In the mid-sized car, the air bags deployed, the glass broke out, and there’s someone sitting in the driver’s seat still. It doesn’t look like they’ll be getting that door open any time soon, but a civilian is holding something up to the face of the driver. There’s a lot of red.

The light changes, we crawl forward. I’m listening and watching, but I never see or hear reinforcements coming, although I’m sure they were. But they weren’t close.

Gripe? Bitch? Moan? Complain?

Yep, I’m tired. Yep, I’m cranky. Yep, I’m probably stretched too thin. But I’m not stretched out unconscious and bleeding in the middle of Ventura Boulevard.

Maybe today wasn’t as tough as I thought it was.

That might be worth remembering. Like, tomorrow.