Editor:
Isn’t it odd how we think?
I woke this morning at 4 a.m. and got up; the moon was out full. My first thought was “must be icy out there; a clear cold night.”
Make some coffee, and start the day. I hear an ambulance and think “someone got it on the highway, damn!” At 4:45 a.m., the alarm goes off and my wife wakes, and we talk for a while before she is off to work.
“Could you please start the car honey?” she says.
Now I remember the sound of the ambulance, and that it is probably icy on the highway. I start the car, and yep, it is really frozen, so when I return, I say, “Be careful out there. It’s really iced up.”
“Oh yeah, I will,” my wife says, and with a kiss and a goodbye, she walks out for her drive to Nanaimo.
Five minutes later, the phone rings. “Oh no, now what? Who’s that? What happened? Ah crap!” Did my mind have all those thoughts at once? Because looking back, it seemed like it was instant!
Polly just wanted to let me know she was behind an accident and asked if I could call and let work know she would be late.
Phew! Sweat can break fast when you think too fast. Now I say, “glad it wasn’t you.” Then I think as I hang up the phone, “just past the Mohawk store,” she said. How many times is that? Can’t get by there when an accident happens, and they happen often on that corner and have for a long, long time.
Now what? Just have to tell this to someone, but who will listen, who can do something about it? And what could they do?
At 6:19 a.m., she calls and says she made it to work. Saw one more accident close to north Nanaimo. The road was real sparkly all the way.
“Any sand on the road?” I ask.
“No, just sparkles, and slippery. I made it though!”
Hmmm, lucky!
Got to put this on paper, I think. So now what, who to send to, and what could, or would, they do?
Ever have those thoughts? What do you do? Me, I sent it to the local paper and to the people at Highways and to politicians who I think can do something about it.
Will they do something to end the carnage on this corner? I doubt it, so now what? I guess I just wait till the next siren and say “Oh crap!” again.
Hope Polly stays lucky!
Brent Browning
Ladysmith