Always vigilant

I've always been a worrier, I suppose. 24/7, non-stop I find myself playing through every worst scenario that might possibly invade my life. I'm always on the lookout for power tool dismemberment, paring knife cuts, trip hazards, electrocution from dropping a toaster in the bathtub, you name it. Driving? Forget it. I am the king of knowing exactly what every car in sight is capable of doing. Only once can I recall this habit definitely saving my life, but it most assuredly did while sitting at a light waiting to turn left, many years ago.

Tonight I saw an accident coming and couldn't do a thing about it. My daughter and I were leaving the dentist office, downtown. It's your typical, turn-of-the-century mining town-narrow, two-lane, one-way, downtown street lined with buildings. It was early evening, traffic was heavy and the street was clogged with snow. It was also snowing. People lined the streets, window-shopping and what-not. A rather large family (like 8-10 people, not BIG people) began to cross the street from right-to-left. They hurried out in front of a car in the right lane and attempted to get to the clear, left lane. A truck traveling behind the car pulled into the left lane, passing it and accelerating right into the family, hitting a little boy and knocking him right out of his shoes-I saw them flying even further than he flew. I was right behind the truck until he moved out to pass. Saw the family taking a really big chance, saw the truck was accelerating right up behind the car and knew he would pull out to pass and I knew the whole family could not hope to avoid getting fucking whacked by that truck. It was not pretty, but the boy will live and in fact, seemed unhurt. I doubt he totally escaped injury after flying several feet into the air and getting knocked out of his shoes and most likely felt nothing due to the adrenaline rush from getting run over by a truck, but I'm sure he'll live and that's the important thing.

I can't seem to get this out of my mind. I called PW to make sure LP was safe and to have her reminded to beware of traffic. I called my oldest boy to remind him, even though he's 17. I called Mr. Bud to have him remind his boys, too and still I can't shake this bad feeling.

Sooo, for those of you with children, remind them to be vigilant. Tell them about the little boy, who thought he was safe with Mom and Dad and tell them to watch for themselves and to be careful, especially now that winter is here and driving conditions deteriorate. Be safe out there.