I saw these
videos today Must
see Videos and it got me thinking of the good old days on the streets. I
remember people screaming at us when we blocked traffic on surface streets and
even worse language when on the Interstate. We block lanes of traffic not so we
can hide behind the fire truck and giggle about how much we love jacking up
traffic. We block these lanes for our safety and for that of our patients and
fellow emergency workers.
You may
have noticed this phenomenon yourself as you slow down to rubber neck a traffic
accident, without noticing it, you begin to guide your vehicle gently in the
direction you are looking. Then suddenly you have to jerk your wheel in the
other direction just before you nearly crash yourself. Feel kinda stupid and embarrassed
when that happens I bet.
Well guess
what, every year people react too slowly and slam into firefighters, cops,
ambulance personnel, road workers and anyone else that has to do their job in
traffic. I respect that drivers slow down for these accidents, what I don’t
respect is their motive. See we know you aren’t slowing for us, we know you are
ghouls, what is that people hope to see?
A dead
body, a person tangled in the wreckage, the blood dripping from a car? I don’t
know what is in the minds of the ghouls, but I know it isn’t honorable especially
when their phone or video camera is trained on the events in front of them. It is
truly sick to do this people. My God what if you accidently filmed someone you
knew mangled in the twisted metal? What if was your family or friends killed or
hurt? Would you still rush home to post it on Youtube or Facebook? Would you
still Instagram it or tweet it to your friends and followers?
Who knows
you might get some huge traffic on your Youtube channel, it might even go viral
if you are lucky. Wow, how cool would that be if you captured some really gruesome
images, maybe some guts or something? That would be something to show the kids
wouldn’t it.
Seriously people
slow down to help us and keep us safe, but put the cameras away please. Isn’t
it bad enough that the footage from dash cameras in police cruisers and other
emergency responder units end up on the internet? Do you need to contribute to
the coarsening of society with another contribution? Government agencies have
no choice in the release of their videos, it is a taxpayer funded endeavor and
therefore a part of the public record it has to be released if that is
requested.
Be a human
being and show some respect for the tragedy that has unfortunately happened on
your way to work, or church, or a meal. I understand the uncontrollable force
that pushes your eyes in that direction, I do, but with training you can learn
to drive by without looking, I do it all the time. I don’t look anymore, it is
too familiar to me, and that is a part of my past, I had enough in my thirty
years to last the rest of my life.
If you need
to see gross, the internet is full of it I’m sure just Google it and enjoy. Bet
you won’t last long. You know why? Because the human body comes apart very
easily, we are fragile creatures trust me I know.
While I’m
at it I have another pet peeve about the way drivers respond to any emergency
vehicle on the road. If the cop car or tow truck, or fire truck is safely off
the main road and not in traffic, stop slowing down and screwing up traffic,
okay, drive on.
I just saw
it today on the interstate, a semi truck had a flat tire and had pulled off on
a scenic overlook. Two State Patrol cruisers with their lights on had stopped
to help the trucker. This totally mundane event had brought all three lanes of
traffic to a standstill. What the hell is that all about? They were all well
out of the way, there was no wreck or hazard at all. Yet we all came to a screeching
halt and had to gaze at the pretty lights.
I am sure
everybody at the back of the traffic jam was cursing about the wait and complaining
about how this was going to screw up their day right up until it was their turn
to stare at the police cars, then they too had a gander. Why not after all you
were already slowed down right?
I’m not
sure the reason for these two phenomenon, maybe it is in our DNA, maybe it is a
throw back to the days of gladiators and blood sports. All I know is it always
bothers me and always will I guess.
I remember
the day, 9-11, and I remember being glued to the TV as the events unfurled in
front of my eyes that day, just like yours. I also remember the first image or
two of people leaping from the buildings. I almost vomited. I looked away and
wondered why the news would show those images.
They quickly
self corrected and stopped showing those pictures. Maybe because it was live is
why we had to see those horrors, maybe they didn’t realize quickly enough what exactly
it was that was dropping from the buildings.
A film
called the Falling
Man Documentary was made about the most famous image of one of the poor people
falling to their death. I watched this film not because I wanted to see it, but
because it featured an in depth conversation about why we look. If you can
stomach it I’d watch it, it just focuses on the one photo and the only
newspaper in the entire country that ran it as a front page image and the blow
back from doing that.
Alright I’ll
put away my soapbox for now I’ve said enough.
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