Friday, March 20, 2009

The occasional cosmic wake-up call

I've watched the coverage of the death of Natasha Richardson with one of those eerie little chills. Of course I feel bad for her husband and family. She and Liam Neeson actually seemed like a normal couple for all of their un-normal circumstances, and like were in real love as opposed to show business love.

But the part that kind of sets me back a bit is that kind of feel like I know what happened, because I'm the same kind of person.

You bump your head. You don't want to make a big deal. You feel silly for all the fuss, and so, "No, no, I'm fine." You're tough. You feel bad that people are worried, and want them not to worry. You feel a little woozy. But that's to be expected. You did bump your head. But it was just a stupid accident. You don't want to waste your time and everybody else's. So, you'll just sit down for a minute and you'll feel better. Really.

You just don't want to make something out of nothing. Never knowing that this time, it is something.

I don't know how many times I've done the same thing. And of course the fact that I was fine all those times just makes me less likely to go for help the next time. Most of the time I just want to suck it up and walk it off. But there are times when you should suck it up and let somebody help.

2 comments:

WashingtonGardener said...

That IS the truly frightening part -- all of us have done similar things and glossed over an injury that we should just not "walk off." This was a great warning to many of us to take better care of themselves. It also re-confirms my NEVER go skiing policy :-(

FirePhrase said...

Agreed on ski avoidance. She was even just on the bunny trail, not playing some wacko ski/football mishmash like the Kennedy who kicked it on the slopes.

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