blech ... accidents

I'm feeling very much non-creative today, as far as post titles go and basically anything else goes. This is one of the many times I wish I was in Maryland, at home with my parents. My family is going through a rough time right now... Earlier this week, my younger brother was in a serious car accident and was flown to the trauma center in Baltimore. Granted it's one of the best ones in the world, and they're taking good care of him, but it's still hard to see him in pain and swollen and broken... The staff there, as well as the body shop guy, are all amazed that he and his friend are alive. The car was just demolished, everything is twisted and cracked and broken... I was down there when it happened. I was actually the one that had to tell my mother about it, she was out of the house and so I got the calls. By thursday night, Brother had been moved out of the ICU but was in still really bad shape--they're talking a few weeks right now, I think, because they have to monitor his breathing constantly. Thursday night, I had to leave to get back to NY by friday morning. Work starts up on monday again and I want to be in MD, but I can't be. I can't do anything in either place--well, not true. If I were in MD I could help my mother and she could help me, and I could visit my brother and show him my support. He doesn't even remember what day it is with all the painkillers he's on, he's barely coherent, and he knows I was there but then I left...does he remember why? Does he remember I'm coming back?

My mother is having a hard time with it, of course. Her son is beat, swollen, broken all over, in tons of pain (he's been rating it as an 8 normally, 10 being highest), and she can't do anything. She wants to know everything that's happening, but she can't be there the whole time and the staff is telling her mostly all the good things. She's like me. She wants to know everything, good or bad, as soon as it happens, so she can prepare herself and know as much as she can so nothing is a surprise later. I'm not told things when I'm away from MD, I found this out in college. That's making being up here harder, because I know things are happening with my brother that I'm being protected from hearing about because I'm up in NY. I was promised I would know everything through specific people, and already there has been information withheld--within 24 hours of me leaving the state.

On another thread... I've heard the inside scoop on car accidents for years now. The kids my age that were paralysed, killed, thousands of dollars in debt, arrested, etc. because of the poor decisions they made when driving. Why would you drive when intoxicated? There's always another way--staying the night, friends driving, public transportation, parents. Why would you speed in such excess on a dangerous road? Yeah, it may be a thrill, but find a rollercoaster, jump out of a plane--you're endangering yourself and others. Why would you be so reckless when it's raining so hard? You can almost always wait for the rain to calm a bit before going out in it, and you can drive more cautiously. Why would you race a friend down a busy highway? There are racetracks nearby where you can clock your time, find a video game, race something that actually takes physical strength instead of ability to push a petal. Don't kill someone's mother. Why would you take your child in the car with you when you can barely walk straight? Some things just sicken me... Why do people get in the car and believe themselves invincible, when every day there are people dying from motor vehicle accidents? When police give you warnings and tickets about your recklessness--speeding, drinking, driving without a seatbelt on--why wouldn't you take the hint eventually and change your behavior??