TOD 09.25.07

Over the weekend, we were witnesses to a horrendous accident in which someone died. As a result, there was a massive traffic back-up, and we observed a wide range of responses. Some people wanted to be helpful and organize the mess. Some wanted to just know what was going on. Some were rude, and some were downright selfish.

For our part, having just barely missed being involved in it, we were grateful. A few hours is nothing compared to not being alive, and all lesser concerns seemed quite petty at the time. So it was very tempting to harshly judge those other drivers who wouldn’t make room for the emergency equipment or who wanted to inch up ahead or even who wanted to take pictures. But I continually reminded myself that they hadn’t experienced it my way, and they didn’t know as much as I knew. They were reacting largely how I might have reacted had I been in their cars.

It served as a very useful reminder to me to be cautious about judging others based on my knowledge and my perspective. We’re all fairly human, after all.