The other day, on my way to work, I passed a scene of a terrible traffic accident. A couple of trucks were overturned, and a small car, absolutely crushed, was lying nearby. I don't know for sure, but I can't imagine anyone in that car escaping unscathed. This made me think: If I had only left my house, say, ten minutes earlier, I might well have been in the middle of the chaos when this accident occurred! Talk about a close shave!
And this made me think of another narrow escape from mortality: Several years ago, I was almost on a flight from JFK to Belgrade--a flight that experienced catastrophic mechanical failure minutes after take-off. The plane crashed into the ocean: No survivors. And if it hadn't been for the fact that I had no ticket for that flight, nor had I any reason to be travelling to Belgrade, I might very well have met my fate on that August night.
Of course, when I think about my close calls, I always shudder when I realize that, had I been President of the United States on November 22, 1963, I would almost surely be dead right now!
Really makes you think.
*******************************
Incidentally, according to my Blogger dashboard, "The Solipsist" is holding right now at 59,999 pageviews. That means that, if you are the first reader of today's post, you will be the 60,000th visitor to this humble website! Congratulations! You have won exactly nothing!
If you had been President on Nov 22, 1963 you wouldn't have been shot because you wouldn't have angered the powers that be, stepping out on a limb to fly in the face of them....."Mechanical failure" for a flight that crashes into the ocean could be a code word for something more sinister....As to the truck and the little smashed car, yeh, that coulda been you.
ReplyDelete