This morning, I was in a car accident which totalled both cars and left quite a few gawking bystanders. Fortunately, neither I nor the other driver were seriously hurt, though my friend told me afterwards that when she got to the accident, she realized that had I been two feet further forward when I was hit, she would have probably been visiting me at the ICU.

I don't really remember seeing the car before it hit me, but during the first few milliseconds of the accident, the FIRST thought that crossed my mind was not "Ohmygod I hope I don't get hurt!" but instead, "Thank god this isn't my fault". Maybe a sign of the economic times and a bit of guilt-ridden catholic influence, but I just didn't want to be responsible, have to pay more insurance and have this thing haunt me for a long time. Possible internal organ damage or facial lacerations were not my primary concern.

When I opened my eyes, saw the steam rising and heard all the fluids dripping from my crushed engine, I looked over at the other driver who was just recovering from having been wacked by her airbag. Thoughts of flaming engines combined with crushed doors that don't open crossed my mind, and I jumped out of my car without -gasp- even thinking of grabbing my computer. Everything hurt, as it was going to hurt even more after the adrenaline wore off, but fortunately, other than a sprained wrist, nothing broke or bled.

I sat down with the driver who hit me and we exchanged names and made sure we were both OK and waited for the police and ambulance. I've been hit before by someone who didn't yield and see me, and last time, I remember being irritated with the other driver and upset at how something I didn't do had inconvienced my life. This time, I just felt bad. The girl fully accepted that the accident was her fault and she didn't even try to make excuses to the cop. Her dad came to pick her up in his late-model work truck, and it was pretty clear that they were first generation immigrants like we had been, who had worked hard to make something here and would be really affected by something like this. Fortunately, we were both realtively unscathed and this morning was not as bad as it could have been.

(Oh, and no, E_ did not get her pity point from our nephro prof.)