Shokufeh is... home

He wasn't moving

Today I called 911. I don't know that I've ever done that.

I had just left to pick up MrMan and was stopped at a red light. I noticed that, in the line of traffic going in the opposite direction, the second car had a front hood that was very smashed. Sticking-up-several-feet smashed. Wow, how's he driving with that? Then I noticed the debris in the street. Oh, he's not driving. He's been in an accident.... I guess with the first car at the light?

The light changed. I noticed a couple of pedestrians approaching the car with the smashed hood. I drove across the intersection. As I drove past, the pedestrians were talking to the driver, who seemed dazed and was clutching his torso. It seemed that the airbag had deployed and maybe there was blood. This accident happened seconds ago. I guess right before I got to the light. And then I processed what I'd seen in the front car at the light: not only was the car not moving once the light changed, the driver wasn't either. Because of the tilt of his head and the different heights of our cars (not to mention my shortness), I could clearly see only the bottom half of his face. But it was still. And his mouth was wide open. And his head was tilted back. None of those are quite normal. Together, they're cause for concern. Of course, piecing it together took me a little time. Enough time that I was a block past the accident.

The 911 operator asked me what color the cars were. I told her I didn't notice, but that it was very apparent which cars they were, once you got to the intersection. And that the MAN WASN'T MOVING. I kept wondering if I should have stopped. But what would I have done? I have no skills that would help a man that WASN'T MOVING. Was he dead? Was he in shock? Was he at that weird tilt because of the airbag deploying? And what about the second man? How could he have been driving so fast that his car looked the way it did? And that the man in from of him WASN'T MOVING? Or was it somehow the fault of the man that WASN'T MOVING?

Can you tell that I was, and still am, a bit weirded out by the fact that the MAN WASN'T MOVING? For all I know, seconds after I passed, he moved. And stepped out of the car. But I suspect that's not the case. After picking up MrMan, I couldn't help but pass by the intersection. There was a policeman standing at the light, not allowing any cars to drive in the block of the crash. Even if they wanted to drive in the lane where I had just driven half an hour before. The man who WASN'T MOVING was gone, but his car was there with the door open. Why would we not be allowed to drive in that block, unless the accident was of the very tragic sort?

Perhaps I'm overreacting, as I've watched the evening news, and checked online, and have yet to see anything about the accident. But I keep seeing his tilted face, his gaping mouth, and wondering what happened to him.