Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Fragile

Witnessing a road accident is not the peachiest thing.

My mom was driving my brother to a shopping mall near our house so he could catch the latest Star Wars episode; I accompanied them in the front passenger seat. On the way there, a blue pickup truck carrying an unsecured gas cylinder came out onto an adjacent lane from a junction to our left, and the swerve caused the cylinder to topple out from the back of the truck and spin into oncoming traffic. A motorcyclist directly behind the truck desperately tried to avoid the cylinder in his path, but it was headed for him way too fast, and he ended up ramming straight into it. The bike skidded on its side, the motorist hurtled across the road, somersaulted through the air, bounced off the tarmac, rolled through the air again and somehow landed on the kerb a good 7 metres away from the impact. He propped himself up, looking dazed and shaken but definitely very much alive. In the duration of these six seconds, my mom and I were swearing as though we had sold our mouths to the devil.

Mom tore down the highway to chase after the pickup truck, horning and darting in and out, ironically like those "crazy young punks who deserve to die" she's always talked about.

We finally caught up to the truck and I took down the license plate number. We sped up to the driver's side where two guys were chatting away, oblivious to what had just happened. I rolled down my window, threw my arms out and waved like a madman to catch their attention and signalled them to pull over. They did so and my mom came out in a flurry of urgent anger to inform them of what had just happened, telling them to turn around and check up on the accident. It took a while for the two young men to form startled looks on their faces; they either had been on something the night before or they just possessed the cumulative IQ of a celery stick. They did eventually realize that their cylinder was indeed missing, and they drove up to the next U-turn.

My mom drove back to the shopping mall, still cussing at their carelessness. My body remained frozen in my cringing position, clammy hands keeping a firm grip on my collarbone. Throughout the entire affair, my brother kept silent in the backseat, probably just annoyed at how messed-up drivers could have cost him a good seat in the cinema.

24 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's crazy *## s***.

Scary as hell. It's great what you and your mom did. I can't imagine seeing all that happen.

Fuh.

9:34 PM  
Blogger Olivia said...

why do you spell 'mum' as 'mom'?
i thought that was just an american spelling.

11:27 AM  
Blogger disco-very said...

Az
Yeah, it's very haunting. i don't know if the truckers got to the scene on time, but i think we did all we could.

Honeybosh
I tend to use both spellings interchangeably. American Degree Programs do that to you.

12:09 PM  
Blogger disco-very said...

random-girl
the carrots are all... i dunno, vegetating?

12:11 PM  
Blogger Muddy said...

Arghhhh, bodoh lah sial!!! Can't believe they didn't even noticed it happened. And bravo to you and your mom in saving the day. That poor motor-biker needs vengence!

Anyway, *whew* saw your commercial last night while watching Idol. You look CUTE, babe! :))

12:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's a regal thing mom did. We need more like her. Can I have some? :-)

2:51 PM  
Blogger albert said...

Buy 4D! Kidding kidding. I prefer to spell it as "mom" because you could be "keeping mum". I don't even know which is which.

3:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

what i am puzzled about is why ur mom got so angry with the driver of the pickup truck, to react so violently by it is obvious they did not realise what happened. why was ur mom and you so angry about it? there is no need surely? u mentioned the drivers were startled and surprised. u thought they were on drugs or stupid. what a strange conclusion to reach. it was so obvious they did not know that their goods have fallen off and hit someone.i think ur brother in the back seat realise both of u have overreacted.

9:01 PM  
Blogger Blake said...

That is amazing. Maybe the drivers were hopped up on Red Bull and Vodka.

Blake

1:40 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i haven't SEEN YOUR AD! *freaks out* mostly shown on tv3 is it?

2:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hehehe..it was a coincidence day before yesterday.

1. Browsing through friend blog (meewuargh)saw a cool nick name

2. Click and read her blog

3. Does not watch tv most of the time at night but that day felt like watching CSI and some other channels.

4. There it was the streamyx add. You look soooo 'kawaii' and the dialogue was funny. Congrats on the acting and a job well done.

Cheerios.

9:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"what i am puzzled about is why ur mom got so angry with the driver of the pickup truck, to react so violently by it is obvious they did not realise what happened."

An act of ignorance and carelesness can cost a life or worse, a limb. If the worst happened, what can the drivers do? Say, "Oopsie, I made a boo-boo. Sorry about you lost your legs though."

It was a gas cylinder, not a piece of wood, for crying out loud. It could explode and blow up the entire highway.

D-uh.

11:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Typo: Sorry about you losing* your legs though.

11:24 AM  
Blogger disco-very said...

Muddy,
yeah i know, it's so strange... how did they not notice a sudden change in load, nor see something strange in the rear view mirror? bah, blur-cases will be blur-cases. and yeah i saw the ad too... haha. it's hilarious, it turned out really well. thanks dude :)

ah pink,
i was pretty surprised at my mom's quick-thinking too, she was awesome that day.

albert,
i empathize.

anthony,
thanks visiting and offering your views. it sounds like we reacted quite drastically, but i think if you were in our shoes, you would have probably taken it the same way. it was an accident that could have been well avoided if all proper precautions were taken beforehand. you see, the cylinder was the property of the truck drivers. it's common sense to know that gas cylinders are heavy and pretty dangerous if you don't handle them correctly. the drivers should have made sure it was fully secured in their truck, like tying it down. instead, they just chucked the cylinder into the back, right at the edge, and expected it to withstand bumps, potholes, quick turns and the like. for the drivers to not know that their cylinder fell makes it even worse, as they are clearly involved in the incident - it was THEIR duty to take care of whatever was on THEIR truck AND be aware of ANY possible mishaps. (my brother kept quiet because he's generally a very reserved guy.) let's liken this to another scenario. say, a guy on a bench eats a banana, forgets that he has left the peel on his lap, and gets up and leaves. the banana peel falls from his lap and onto the floor. you come walking by and slip on the banana peel, and twist your ankle. you are burdened with medical bills. who are you naturally going to blame: the banana peel for lying there, yourself for not knowing where you were walking, or the banana guy for being careless about something he left behind?
it's all a matter of acceptance of responsibility, anthony. and ignorance is certainly no excuse. give it some thought, yeah?

blake,
good theory... hahaha :D

evan,
don't worry, you'll catch a lot of it during the Malaysian Idol commercial breaks. :)

saintvamp,
i'm not sure if you are the same person, but someone else just emailed me to tell me a similar coincidence. I've caught the ad a few times also and i'm really impressed with how it turned out. my co-actors were hilarious! thanks loads for your comments.

ah pink again,
thanks for helping to prove the point. :)

1:29 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hi tx to ah pink and disco-very for explaining ur beliefs. actually, a lot of people think like u. that is why so many people have sued the council for tripping over pavements. i personally will not have behaved the way u did, and i would personally have accepted responsibility in the banana skin accident, but not the way u suggest. blaming the person who dropped the banana skin. i would accept it was my responsibility to see where i am going. if i slip on the banana skin, so be it, i will learn to be more careful next time. isn't that the way we all learn to live life?
i dont go round blaming everyone for things that happen to me. u mentioned taking responsibility, but only to blame the other person for not being responsible. i take responsiblity for whatever happens to me, and learn from it. am i the only one who view life like that? it seems so from the comments supportting u from everyone in this blog.

4:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Your mom seem to be a lot like you..or you a lot like her ;)..at least it is great what you did...but did you also report these drivers to the police?
I never whitnessed an accident like this..but my husband once described me one in every detail, a deadly accident he one saw when he was sitting in a bus. An old man got smashed by a lorry when he tried to cross the road :(.
By the way...too bad I wont be able to watch this ad where you are singing at Malaysian Idol..or is anybody recording it????;)

7:51 PM  
Blogger Ash said...

Ah.. The story of the Samaritan Mom, the Irritated Star Wars Fanboy, and the Stunned Blogger with Fear of Collarbone Injuries. Guess-starring Celery Stick IQ Men and the God-damned Lucky Motorist.

An enjoyable read.

11:27 PM  
Blogger burn666 said...

'Lucky motorist' is a bit of an understatement don't you think? Any rolling propane barrel that collides into your bike that you can walk away from sounds more akin to heavenly intervention of some sort...

3:25 AM  
Blogger disco-very said...

Anthony,
thanks for chipping a few more cents into the discussion. your views actually reflect that of my father, who truly believes that all things that happen to us, both good and bad, are the direct result of our own doing. although it does seem to be a minority opinion, I still respect it because I do get what you're saying. in fact, i now sorta understand better why my father responded with "Serves the biker right", when my mom told him about the incident. This argument actually reminds me of a Pulitzer prize-winning article I read a few years ago. What would happen to fallen individuals who were too innocent to be aware of their own actions? It's an interesting piece, and I hope you enjoy reading it if you find time. thanks again.

Ursula,
No we didn't report to the police. It wasn't exactly a crime, and the guys in the truck did show concern when the news finally did hit them. we felt we did all we could at that time, and I do hope that the truckers got to the scene on time. --- after reading what your hubby witnessed, i think i don't have anything to feel squeamish about anymore! yikes. --- i'll try and see if i can get the ad on MPEG; i'll keep you posted. (though i seriously doubt i'll be on Idol. :P)

ashril,
i enjoyed your summary :)

burn666,
i agree that the guy was freakin' blessed.

3:34 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

love the journal.. the jap impersonation was.. cute
and.. sorry to hear about your traumatic experience

got the link from patrick.. =)
cheers

10:36 PM  
Blogger NoMandLand said...

nice blog

1:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Anthony Wong: Wow. Only this time it's not a banana skin and a sprained ankle. Are you telling me that if your wife/gf/mother dies in a hit and run accident, you would not lodge a police report because according to you:

"I dont go round blaming everyone for things that happen to me. u mentioned taking responsibility, but only to blame the other person for not being responsible. i take responsiblity for whatever happens to me, and learn from it.."

Disco-very: Sorry to hijack your comments, but this is getting verrrry interesting.

2:06 PM  
Blogger disco-very said...

soo jin & a true virgo,
thanks for dropping by and appreciating my ramblings. :)

ah pink,
no please, go right ahead, i'm intruigued by the discussion :)

4:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

cat fight.. omigod!
finals is.. less than 11 hours away..
last 4 papers of my life
PLEASE!!
to whatever powers that be..

2:57 AM  

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