Accidental Chatting
First off - I see a lot of accidents here. More than what I'd consider normal. Not horrible high-speed evil accidents, but fender benders. Smashed lights. Smashed front and back ends. The kind of accidents which don't really hurt anyone or make the car undrivable, but which certainly mess sh!t up.
It's almost always on Kingston Pike. I've never actually seen the accidents happen, but I can guess *why* they happen.
Idiots.
Cars don't crash themselves. Behind every accident is usually at least one idiot. Maybe they were tailgating. Maybe they were messing with their phone or the radio or eating some of Knoxville's endless and disgusting fast food and not looking ahead of them. But that's not really my point. If you want to find stupid people doing stupid things, look around, and make sure you find a mirror. We're all guilty.
My point is what I see after these accidents. Without exception - and for real, I've seen this like 10 times - the people involved in the accident stand outside of their cars, and hang out, chatting. Young people, old people, white collar and blue collar alike. They smile, sometimes they laugh, and they talk. As if they were friend or neighbors.
It confuses me. When I get in a car accident, I'm not happy. I don't curse and yell and freak out on people (that much). But I'm not chatty. I'm not social. I sure as hell don't smile and laugh. I call the cops, exchange information, and sit in my car silently pissed off. Pissed off at the insurance hike that will follow. Pissed off about having my car towed and fixed. Pissed off about paying for it. If I'm the cause the accident, I get pissed at myself. If the other person is the idiot at fault, I'm pissed off at them. I would assume they'd be feeling the same way.
But apparently not in Knoxville. Accident victims are coordial. They're engaging and good spirited. Usually I think this kind of behavior is great, but in this case, I'm not so sure. On one hand, I believe being nice and positive is possible in almost every situation. On the other - if you touch fire and get burned, you're less inclined to play with matches. If you hit me, it's not 'O.K'. It's not something where we'd say 'these things happen'. No. It's a crappy situation affecting two parties, caused by one. I don't think that person should be forgiven so easily. I *do* think they should feel and accept some accountability for their actions.
Accountability isn't a friendly chat beside a smashed up car. I can think of more than one Tennessee situation I've been in where that metaphor applies.
It's almost always on Kingston Pike. I've never actually seen the accidents happen, but I can guess *why* they happen.
Idiots.
Cars don't crash themselves. Behind every accident is usually at least one idiot. Maybe they were tailgating. Maybe they were messing with their phone or the radio or eating some of Knoxville's endless and disgusting fast food and not looking ahead of them. But that's not really my point. If you want to find stupid people doing stupid things, look around, and make sure you find a mirror. We're all guilty.
My point is what I see after these accidents. Without exception - and for real, I've seen this like 10 times - the people involved in the accident stand outside of their cars, and hang out, chatting. Young people, old people, white collar and blue collar alike. They smile, sometimes they laugh, and they talk. As if they were friend or neighbors.
It confuses me. When I get in a car accident, I'm not happy. I don't curse and yell and freak out on people (that much). But I'm not chatty. I'm not social. I sure as hell don't smile and laugh. I call the cops, exchange information, and sit in my car silently pissed off. Pissed off at the insurance hike that will follow. Pissed off about having my car towed and fixed. Pissed off about paying for it. If I'm the cause the accident, I get pissed at myself. If the other person is the idiot at fault, I'm pissed off at them. I would assume they'd be feeling the same way.
But apparently not in Knoxville. Accident victims are coordial. They're engaging and good spirited. Usually I think this kind of behavior is great, but in this case, I'm not so sure. On one hand, I believe being nice and positive is possible in almost every situation. On the other - if you touch fire and get burned, you're less inclined to play with matches. If you hit me, it's not 'O.K'. It's not something where we'd say 'these things happen'. No. It's a crappy situation affecting two parties, caused by one. I don't think that person should be forgiven so easily. I *do* think they should feel and accept some accountability for their actions.
Accountability isn't a friendly chat beside a smashed up car. I can think of more than one Tennessee situation I've been in where that metaphor applies.
posted by Knoxville Yankee at 8:30 PM - Permanent Link
1 Comments:
I agree with you. We were in a collision with a teenage driver here who couldn't have cared less how fast he came around the curve or even if any of us were injured. As I sat in the car freaking out and talking to our insurance people, my husband and mother-in-law (both from Clinton) only seemed to care why I was so upset. They weren't worried about how long it would take to get the vehicle fixed or if our two-year-old was shaken by the impact. I don't understand the mentality here. At home in Ohio I have seen drivers scream and cuss at each other or even some people get violent and try to drag others out of their wrecked vehicles. Nothing of the sort here... like any other situation, they'd rather smile to the face of the other driver and then turn around and talk behing their back.
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