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I went to the doctor yesterday, accompanied by my supervisor. Many people have the flu, and I have had a cough for a while. So I wanted to check things out. The doctor spoke sufficient English, so I didn't need my supervisor there, but he still stayed in the room. He needed to listen to my lungs, so I prepared for the stethoscope. But I wasn't quick enough. There was a nurse in the room, who swiftly grabbed my shirt and lifted for the doctor. I am sure that I wasn't the only embarrassed person in the room. My supervisor was still there, and I assume that he looked somewhere else. What a day to wear an old, full of holes bra. To conclude this story... I felt really stupid going to the doctor, because the doctor said I just have a cold. I feel fine, no fever, no headache, no sore throat. But, he still gave me 5 different kinds of medicine, including one anti-biotic. But the day wasn't over yet. Last night I came the closest to tragedy that I have ever been. I was doing my laundry in the 10:00 hour. About 10:20, I heard a thud; another card accident at my intersection. I put down my stuff and got to the window about 20 seconds later. Talk about "bikkuri shita!" This went beyond accident. The cars were on fire. Things kept exploding. People were running and screaming. My neighbor had a fire extinguisher, but it was useless, he was only endangering himself. The fire blazed for about 10 minutes or so. Six fire engines arrived on the scene and the streets were closed off. One of the car's horns started blaring. Tons of people stood around; Neighbors in the their pajamas, men smoking cigarettes, people came out of the woodworks for this scene. I brought out my camera to take pictures (as did a few others), but I felt so guilty, so I tried to take them on the sly, but I know they won't turn out. After the fire was put out, I became aware that there were 3 cars involved in the accident. How it happened is beyond me, because 2 of the 3 cars were situated very strangely in the intersection. However, it looked like the car in the middle, the one that exploded had been hit hard by both cars, causing it to spin. After the smoke cleared, the paramedics moved in. I saw them take away 2 people on stretchers. I know that at least one car's passengers got out, because the car's door was open. As for the two people I saw being taken away, I am not sure if they were alive or not. The stretchers were behind the cars, so I couldn't see what was happening. What I did see was the paramedics bringing 2 stretchers, a large piece of plastic wrap (I think) and a zip-up bag. I only saw one person carried away by stretcher, and that person was zipped halfway in the bag. I have since decided that the person or persons in the small car that exploded did not survive. One man kept poking around that car, and the police kept pushing him back behind the rope. Soon after that, the car was covered with a blue tarp. I thought that the other cars would be covered also, but they were not. I finally went to bed at 1:30, and the cars were still in the road, the small one still covered. So my guess is that the car was covered because the driver was dead inside the car. The accident happened too late for it to have made it into today's paper, but I suspect that it will be in tomorrow's. So I will let you know more details then. A crazy thing about this is that Saturday night I awoke because of the sound of a car accident at the same intersection. I am aware of one other accident that happened there within the past year. It is weird, because this one happened on a week night, and the sound of the crash was different. The first 2 I heard were louder: I heard the cars trying to stop and the sound of breaking glass. I didn't hear any attempt to slow down last night nor did I hear breaking glass. You could convince me that neither of the 3 cars knew is was coming and therefor did not slow down. But I must also take into account, that I was not in my bedroom (which faces the street), but in the bathroom hanging my laundry. Valerie Straayer |