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Accidents

A while back I was driving to work. It was the first time I was late for my new job because there was an accident on the freeway. It wasn’t just an accident, I’m pretty sure someone got taken away in an ambulance. Of the 4 lanes on the freeway, three of them were taken up with the accident. There were also a dozen or so Police cars and various emergency equipment vehicles.

Coming home there were not one but two accidents. The first one was a motorcycle that appeared to have careened off a jersey wall. The other was a bumper-thumper.

It amazes me to no end that people will slow down to watch things on the side of the road. If someone pulls to the shoulder to check something in their car – traffic slows down. A hot, leggy blond leans over her Jeep… oh, hell, I’ll even take a peek at that.

Why are we so curious about such things? What are we hoping to see? What can we learn from seeing a fire engine hose down a burning car?

The answer is this: we don’t see these things every day. It’s very rare that I get to see a car burning or someone on a gurney get loaded into an ambulance. Bad things happen all the time and we watch them in some sick delight. It’s why NASCAR is so popular or why anyone in their right mind would watch hockey.

On another note: it’s hot. It’s DAMN hot. It’s India hot. I’m tired of being hot. Today in the office we were moving some people (and their computers) around. After a few of them I was so soaked it looked like I got off a water ride at a theme park. I must have been working the hardest because nobody else was breaking a sweat like I was. Either that or they are in better shape than I am.

Must have been because I was working harder… couldn’t have been that other thing.

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