ACCIDENT-PRONE TAFT
I am totally wigged out. Freaked out. I just witnessed what could've been something that happened to my friends and i..
Taft Ave. was relatively quiet today. No traffic, no noisy jeeps honking, no FX drivers trying to snag passengers, no crowds of students rushing to get to their classes, no uber long lines in the train station. Like I said, it was a relatively quiet Saturday in Taft.
There were a few students, like us, who had NSTP classes from 1 to 4.
JP, Mark and I cut class and headed to Brothers' Burger in Malate, splurged our money, ate our hearts out, complained about eating too much. We rushed to get back to DLSU, Andrew Building, because we were only hitching with one of our blockmates for a ride home. We ended up waiting for awhile because Carmen was still in McDonald's eating, so we decided to chill at the parking lot in Sherwood, which was right in front of Andrew. It seemed like any other normal day...we were just teasing each other, talking about silly stuff.
There were a bunch of students who exited Andrew. Bored as we were, we were just staring at everything and everyone since we had a pretty good view of Andrew building and the street and the cars passing. In particular, there were 2 girls who crossed the street from Andrew and then stopped midway as they were waiting for the cars on the opposite lane to pass. They were happy and chirpy, just like any other student who's happy to just get out of the 3-hour NSTP class.
It seemed like any other normal day. But it wasn't. In a split second, an entirely horrid scene unfolded before our eyes. It happened all too quick, but nevertheless replays in my mind all too slow. A scream pierced the quiet air. Split second. And then it was replaced by the sound of what seemed like a tire blowing up. THUMP. Split second. A girl skidded 20 feet from where she and her friend attempted to cross, across the street, just a few feet away from us. The other girl, lay on the other side of the street, just as unconscious as her friend. Split second. It all happened in a bunch of split seconds tied together. A few seconds, before the Starex van retardedly hit the breaks. It was almost as if he didn't realize that he almost killed two people.
I felt everything and nothing. That's the best way to describe it.
I remember cursing, curse after curse. I remember looking at JP, as if to make sure that he saw everything that I did. I remember the guard standing up behind me, stunned, just as we were. In those few seconds, their lives could've easily ended. Complete bullshit. I remember trying to light a cigarette with my shaking hands. I remember tears welling up in my eyes. But that's not what's important. I can't imagine what they would remember...
It almost sounds like a cliche. But LIFE REALLY IS SHORT.
I remember thinking about what they thought when they saw the car rushing towards them. I remember thinking that their parents were about to receive the worst call a parent could ever receive. I remember thinking how it could've been us. I remembered how valuable and yet disposable life can be. At the hands of who, I wonder..God? I suppose. It's what I've been raised to believe. It's what I want to believe.
I hate the driver of the van. I wanted to punch him when he got out of his car. Instead of helping the girls, the first thing he did was rationalize. "They were pushing each other." What a fucking idiot. If I was already a lawyer, I'd put him to jail. Or at least sue him to the last of his every fucking centavo. There is nothing he can say or even do to make up for what he did. Nothing he can say to rationalize that it was somehow the fault of both parties. He was driving in the fast lane at around 60-80kph. Like I said, the streets were quiet. The usual rat race wasn't present on this fateful Saturday. He was driving at high speed, up until he hit the two girls. He did not even swerve. He did not even attempt to hit the breaks. Whatever his reasons were, his driving proves that he did not see the girls. For pete's sake, he pulled up a few feet too far after he hit them. What the fuck was he doing? Texting? Getting a blowjob? That motherfucker. Someone ought to cut off his dick.
Were the two girls at fault? Maybe, maybe not. But we saw them. They were being careful. Probably the big posts of the LRT line gave the driver and the girls a hard time to see each other. But I saw them being careful. When they checked to see whether there were cars, I can only assume they saw the van from afar. Maybe they decided to cross because the van was still pretty far. They probably didn't realize the rate that the van was speeding. Thump. I can still hear the thump. It keeps on replaying in my mind like a broken record.
The memory's too vivid. I remember seeing the girl who was on the other side of the street move. I thought she was conscious and just sobbing out of pain. Wrong. She was having a seizure. It scared the shit out of me. And then there was that girl who skidded god knows how many feet. I remember seeing her Chucks fly up the street. I remember seeing it land, too. And then I also remember them moving her, as I silently thought to myself that they shouldn't have done that. They carried her to a jeep, and I remember seeing her limp arms flail around useless, a trickle of blood coming from the right side of her head. The right side of her head...which was full of blood.
And then it was over. And Mark, JP and I just sat there..still waiting for Carmen. The other cars passed by a few minutes later, some of them grinning silly in their cars, completely oblivious of the accident that occurred just minutes earlier. Oh god.
Too vivid. Too fucking vivid.
But good news is..they're okay. They lost a lot of blood. A lot of injuries. But I guess their stable. And while that's suppose to make me feel better. I still don't.. :(
Life's too short. It's short, full of surprises..and totally disposable. At any time. At any place. A place like accident-prone Taft.. :|
Taft Ave. was relatively quiet today. No traffic, no noisy jeeps honking, no FX drivers trying to snag passengers, no crowds of students rushing to get to their classes, no uber long lines in the train station. Like I said, it was a relatively quiet Saturday in Taft.
There were a few students, like us, who had NSTP classes from 1 to 4.
JP, Mark and I cut class and headed to Brothers' Burger in Malate, splurged our money, ate our hearts out, complained about eating too much. We rushed to get back to DLSU, Andrew Building, because we were only hitching with one of our blockmates for a ride home. We ended up waiting for awhile because Carmen was still in McDonald's eating, so we decided to chill at the parking lot in Sherwood, which was right in front of Andrew. It seemed like any other normal day...we were just teasing each other, talking about silly stuff.
There were a bunch of students who exited Andrew. Bored as we were, we were just staring at everything and everyone since we had a pretty good view of Andrew building and the street and the cars passing. In particular, there were 2 girls who crossed the street from Andrew and then stopped midway as they were waiting for the cars on the opposite lane to pass. They were happy and chirpy, just like any other student who's happy to just get out of the 3-hour NSTP class.
It seemed like any other normal day. But it wasn't. In a split second, an entirely horrid scene unfolded before our eyes. It happened all too quick, but nevertheless replays in my mind all too slow. A scream pierced the quiet air. Split second. And then it was replaced by the sound of what seemed like a tire blowing up. THUMP. Split second. A girl skidded 20 feet from where she and her friend attempted to cross, across the street, just a few feet away from us. The other girl, lay on the other side of the street, just as unconscious as her friend. Split second. It all happened in a bunch of split seconds tied together. A few seconds, before the Starex van retardedly hit the breaks. It was almost as if he didn't realize that he almost killed two people.
I felt everything and nothing. That's the best way to describe it.
I remember cursing, curse after curse. I remember looking at JP, as if to make sure that he saw everything that I did. I remember the guard standing up behind me, stunned, just as we were. In those few seconds, their lives could've easily ended. Complete bullshit. I remember trying to light a cigarette with my shaking hands. I remember tears welling up in my eyes. But that's not what's important. I can't imagine what they would remember...
It almost sounds like a cliche. But LIFE REALLY IS SHORT.
I remember thinking about what they thought when they saw the car rushing towards them. I remember thinking that their parents were about to receive the worst call a parent could ever receive. I remember thinking how it could've been us. I remembered how valuable and yet disposable life can be. At the hands of who, I wonder..God? I suppose. It's what I've been raised to believe. It's what I want to believe.
I hate the driver of the van. I wanted to punch him when he got out of his car. Instead of helping the girls, the first thing he did was rationalize. "They were pushing each other." What a fucking idiot. If I was already a lawyer, I'd put him to jail. Or at least sue him to the last of his every fucking centavo. There is nothing he can say or even do to make up for what he did. Nothing he can say to rationalize that it was somehow the fault of both parties. He was driving in the fast lane at around 60-80kph. Like I said, the streets were quiet. The usual rat race wasn't present on this fateful Saturday. He was driving at high speed, up until he hit the two girls. He did not even swerve. He did not even attempt to hit the breaks. Whatever his reasons were, his driving proves that he did not see the girls. For pete's sake, he pulled up a few feet too far after he hit them. What the fuck was he doing? Texting? Getting a blowjob? That motherfucker. Someone ought to cut off his dick.
Were the two girls at fault? Maybe, maybe not. But we saw them. They were being careful. Probably the big posts of the LRT line gave the driver and the girls a hard time to see each other. But I saw them being careful. When they checked to see whether there were cars, I can only assume they saw the van from afar. Maybe they decided to cross because the van was still pretty far. They probably didn't realize the rate that the van was speeding. Thump. I can still hear the thump. It keeps on replaying in my mind like a broken record.
The memory's too vivid. I remember seeing the girl who was on the other side of the street move. I thought she was conscious and just sobbing out of pain. Wrong. She was having a seizure. It scared the shit out of me. And then there was that girl who skidded god knows how many feet. I remember seeing her Chucks fly up the street. I remember seeing it land, too. And then I also remember them moving her, as I silently thought to myself that they shouldn't have done that. They carried her to a jeep, and I remember seeing her limp arms flail around useless, a trickle of blood coming from the right side of her head. The right side of her head...which was full of blood.
And then it was over. And Mark, JP and I just sat there..still waiting for Carmen. The other cars passed by a few minutes later, some of them grinning silly in their cars, completely oblivious of the accident that occurred just minutes earlier. Oh god.
Too vivid. Too fucking vivid.
But good news is..they're okay. They lost a lot of blood. A lot of injuries. But I guess their stable. And while that's suppose to make me feel better. I still don't.. :(
Life's too short. It's short, full of surprises..and totally disposable. At any time. At any place. A place like accident-prone Taft.. :|
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