Inability to Handle the Obvious

[Bullethead 12]

This evening I was driving home from my FedEx boss' house were I drop off the truck. The route from his house to mine is along an ancient rural road through the deep woods. It's alll up and down and twisty-turny following an irregular ridge, one of the few routes across this area that doesn't require making a major bridge. I'm sure it grew from a game trail to an Indian trail to a wagon road to what we have today. Needless to say, with its many sharp turns and often high banks on either side, it's not something you should go too fast on. More modern roads with many bridges take straighter, wider routes between the same points, but not as direct (as the crow flies) or scenic, so I take the old way. Besides, it's Halloween and I enjoy watching the ghosts along the old way.

 

In a particularly treacherous stretch of Deadman's Curves about in the middle of this road (as in 5 miles either way from any intersection), I came across a minivan deep in the ditch alongside. I'd been passing 4x4 pickups parked there at intervals for the last few miles, showing were deer hunters had gone into the woods, but they'd been empty and able to get out of the mud (we had about 2" of rain yesterday). This minivan was in the ditch (an old, abandoned road just adjacent to the current path) much deeper, totally mired, and occupied. So I stopped,

 

The woman occupying the minivan was gripping the wheel and staring straight ahead. Her vehicle was on the outside of a sharp curve and long tracks and smashed bushes marked her path overshooting the curve down into the ditch. The driver's side was hard up against the far side of the ditch, and smoke was beginning to pour out of from under the passenger side, marking a grass fire started by the hot exhaust pipe from the still-running motor. Obviously, if she stayed there much longer, she'd be unable to get out.

 

So I walked up and started stomping the fire out while calling 911. AT&T might not be everywhere, but nobody else covers these boondocks. I also yelled at the woman to shut off her motor. She responded by using her button to roll down the passenger side window so she could hear me. I said something along the lines of "SHUT THE %$!#$%*ING MOTOR OFF!!!" She got all hostile at that so it took me a while to make her understand that she was about to be immolated. I think it was only the smoke blowing in through the open window that convinced her to do it. And meanwhile I was trying to talk to the 911 dispatcher (fortunately made of sterner stuff). Anyway, luckily the woman in the car was unhurt so I was able to convince her to get out of the vehicle while I continued to stomp the fire out.

 

Bottom line, the minivan had a messed-up front end, it didn't burn up, and the sole occupant walked away, and I continued on home once the authorities arrived. When I left, she was trying to tell the cops she'd been run off the road by some mystery vehicle which of course hadn't stopped and she couldn't describe the same way twice in a row. But she was on the wrong side of the road for evasive action. I think it pretty obvious she'd been going too fast for this dangerous road, and had been so shocked at her inability to handle it all that she'd have sat there and burned to death if somebody hadn't come along. And that's a sad reflection on universal sufferage.

[Olham 164]

Could be a scene from a David Lynch film, almost.

And there is another film, where Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin crash in the wilderness with a plane.

Hopkins asked Baldwin, if he knew, what all those people died from, who got lost in a wilderness.

Baldwin replies unwillingly. "What could they possibly die from? Hunger? I say, they die from hunger."

Hopkins replies. "No, they die from shame. They are so ashamed of their own unability to deal with nature,

that they die."

Edited November 1, 2009 by Olham

[Bullethead 12]

What are you doing up so late? But nice sig grahic

 

Could be a scene from a David Lynch film, almost.

And there is another film, where Anthony Hopkins and Alec Baldwin crash in the wilderness with a plane.

Hopkins asked Baldwin, if he knew, what all those people died from, who got lost in a wilderness.

Baldwin replies unwillingly. "What could they possibly die from? Hunger? I say, they die from hunger."

Hopkins replies. "No, they die from shame. They are so ashamed of their own unability to deal with nature,

that they die."

 

Well, you KNOW Hopkins will NEVER starve as long as there is "long pig" on the hoof .

 

The sad part is, people like this are given the right to vote. I feel I did a disservice to humanity stomping out the flames that destiny had otherwise ordained to consumer her.

[Rickitycrate 10]

BH I was going to say you sure did help her but what did you do for us? Good work, good man. To you sir .

[Olham 164]

Those I save I do not love - said the fireman.

Well, she might have good qualities you didn't see under these cicumstances.

 

And yes: democracy is, where every idiot is allowed to vote. Nothing's perfect.

[Bullethead 12]

Those I save I do not love - said the fireman.

 

As Smokey Bear says, 9 out of 10 wildfires are due to human stupidity or maliciousness. From long experience, I'd say it's a higher percentage for wrecks and house fires. It's rather hard to feel sympathetic under such circumstances.

 

I have NEVER been to a wreck that wasn't caused by sheer stupidity. Drinking, driving too fast, talking on a cell phone, or all of the above. One of my favorite neices, dead at 19 years, would be alive today if she hadn't been in such a damn hurry and tried to pass in a curve. She hit a dumptruck head-on, got her A post through the shoulder, and bled out before the ambulance arrived, not that it would have helped her had it been sitting there when her wreck happened.

 

One of the "joys" of being a rural fire/rescue guy is that you're blood to, affiliated with, or at least a drinking buddy of most of the people you have to scrape up or watch their house burn down. But that said, there's no escaping the sense of being counterproductive when you stop nature from taking its course.

 

Well, she might have good qualities you didn't see under these cicumstances.

 

Nearly everybody has some good qualities. Old Sadam was a devoted father to at least some of his children. Good for him, but look how they turned out.

 

 

 

 

And yes: democracy is, where every idiot is allowed to vote. Nothing's perfect.

[Caveman 1]

we have all had a moment of stupidity but some people just don't learn from it...

[Bullethead 12]

For all you know, that woman may well save lives every day in an operating room. How about giving your ego trip a rest?

 

Welcome aboard, Sieben . Don't mind me. I'm just a grumpy, bitter, cynical old fart who drinks a lot . You'll be the same someday if you live long enough .

 

I must disagree with your asessment of me, however. I'm not egotistical, I'm just harshly judgmental. I've spent a large part of my life picking up the pieces left after amazing acts of stupidity that have shattered countless lives and given me constant nightmares. As a result, I have developed an attitude of zero tolerance for fools, and I believe I have accumulated enough field observational data of fools in their native habitat to know a fool when I see one. I don't exempt myself--everybody is a fool in at least 1 area of behavior. We all should have been drowned at birth.

 

As to the woman in question here, I happen to know she didn't finish high school.

[BirdDogICT 3]

As a newbie I know I should keep my place, but....

 

Bullethead, sometimes your arrogance amazes me. If everyone were as tough as you, as capable as you, as aware as you, drove as well as you, etc etc, who would you find to feel superior to?

 

For all you know, that woman may well save lives every day in an operating room. How about giving your ego trip a rest?

Welcome Sieben,

Every new member here gets one free turd in the punchbowl. Looks like you just used yours.

 

Like Bullethead, I have also "spent a large part of my life picking up the pieces left after amazing acts of stupidity that have shattered countless lives and given me constant nightmares" working in healthcare since the mid-70s. I'm writing this while relaxing with some nice cabernet after spending the last 14 hours working with "train wreck" patients in a long term acute care center. You have to have a lot of compassion for people that are suffering, but many put their friends and families through hell through selfish, stupid behaviors that result in chronic, incurable illnesses. If Bullethead is cynical, sounds to me like he's earned the right to be so. My experience is that the cynicism is what protects the caring, compassionate, intelligent person from the stupidity around them. Need proof that people are stupid? Just review each year's Darwin Awards.

 

Cheers

Edited November 2, 2009 by BirdDogICT