What do You Think?

jamusu · Jan 28, 2009

Monday night I wrecked my truck on the highway. I was driving and hit a patch of black ice, began to slide and fish-tail. Next, the truck made from four to five 360 revolutions. There were no other vehicles in front of me. The entire time I remained calm as I could, and steered the truck to the best of my abilities.

After the last 360, I thought I had control of the truck, but it began to fish-tail and slide again, and I knew that I was going to crash into the guard rail, which I did.
I unhitched my seat belt, exited the truck and inspected it.

The front grill and fender were bent and warped, the hood was damaged, the bumper dented and torn from the truck, and the right tail end was completely smashed along with too many other things to list.

I was happy that I or no one else was injured, but upon noticing the damage I became extremely ANGRY at myself. ANGRY...but not for what you might think. I was ANGRY at myself because I reached for my Pentax-K-1000 only to realize that moments earlier I removed it from my truck and left it at home. To make matters worse, there was a roll of film staring me in the face, but I had no camera with me.

What do you think? Should I have been angry about the damaged truck, or for not having my camera with me?

Jamusu.

winger · Jan 28, 2009

Well, if the camera had been with you, would it have flown around in the cab while you spun? Or slammed to the floor? That might have had a worse ending. Maybe leaving it home saved it for another shot you have yet to see.
What matters, of course, is that you're ok. Since you are, I guess you can be ticked at whichever you choose, though.

tim_walls · Jan 28, 2009

jamusu said:
What do you think? Should I have been angry about the damaged truck, or for not having my camera with me?

Personal experience - not any deep psychological insight, so the shrinks will probably be along in 5 minutes to tell me I'm completely wrong (or to take me away) - after scaring yourself shitless, it's quite normal to vent/get angry/release frustration on something trivial like whether or not you remember your camera or whatever.

I guess it's a natural diversionary technique for the mind to choose to concentrate on something 'manageable' rather than the considerably more stressful subject of what actually just happened.

nikonfilmguy · Jan 28, 2009

Do you have a cell phone? If so, does it have a camera?

In a situation such as you went through - it's okay to shoot digital.

In fact, it's probably preferable so that you can upload pics to the insurer.

MikeSeb · Jan 28, 2009

I think you should be angry about the hydrogen-bonding tendency of the water molecule, which has caused its freezing point to be far above that of non-polar molecules of similar molecular weight....

It could be worse; there could have been a d-----l camera on the front seat with a dead battery.

Jeff Kubach · Jan 28, 2009

I agree with Bethe. At least you're not hurt. To bad about your truck, repairs can be quite pricey. If you got decent insurance you'll be alright.

Jeff

Poisson Du Jour · Jan 28, 2009

A 360 or two, huh? Then bang. Oh dear. Yes, always carry a loaded camera, digital or film it don't matter.
In an accident, that little companion will be an extremely useful device to have around. One recent nasty accident here in country Victoria (Australia) saw the front seat passenger decapitated after the guardrail jacked up through the windscreen and — — —! Moral: Just be grateful you're still around and put the psychological shock behind you.

jamusu · Jan 28, 2009

Points well taken everyone.

Jamusu.

jamusu · Jan 29, 2009

MikeSeb said:
I think you should be angry about the hydrogen-bonding tendency of the water molecule, which has caused its freezing point to be far above that of non-polar molecules of similar molecular weight....

It could be worse; there could have been a d-----l camera on the front seat with a dead battery.

__________________________________________________________________
Hilarious!!

Jamusu.

Nick Zentena · Jan 29, 2009

When something similar happened to me I just started walking. Didn't turn around until I figured I would freeze in the blizzard I was trying to walk in. Of course trying to walk off the 401 during the middle of rush hour wasn't the smartest thing either :rolleyes:

Nigel · Jan 29, 2009

MikeSeb said:
I think you should be angry about the hydrogen-bonding tendency of the water molecule, which has caused its freezing point to be far above that of non-polar molecules of similar molecular weight....

Hmmm, without that hydrogen bonding, a bunch of biological processes don't work. So, without hydrogen bonding, none of us would be here.

Lets call it a tie.

MikeSeb · Jan 29, 2009

Nigel said:
Hmmm, without that hydrogen bonding, a bunch of biological processes don't work. So, without hydrogen bonding, none of us would be here.

Lets call it a tie.

Not a bad tradeoff, Nigel!

For some reason, though not much stuck with me from chemistry classes, I was always fascinated with hydrogen bonding--how it accounted for so many physical characteristics of molecules.

Water wouldn't be a liquid at room temperature without it, since most other substances with a similar molecular weight are gases. Fascinating.

No question, we aqueous humans wouldn't be around without it. Nor much of anything else as we know it.

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