Witness to an accident...

As some of you may know, I was a witness and then participant to a pretty rough car accident on my way home Tuesday. My frustration with humanity...or just the Marysville population led me to write a letter to the editor of the Everett Herald. I thought I would share it with you in the event it doesn't get published. I still need to process everything that happened but want to share more details about what I witnessed and how I felt about it all. For now, please give a read to the Letter to the Editor and please forgive grammar and spelling errors, it is after all almost 2am.


Letter to the Editor
August 11, 2010
Incident on Sunnyside:

While traveling the back road of Sunnyside to Marysville Tuesday, backlogged with cars due to construction I was just one of many anticipating a normal commute home. When I witnessed a pretty serious accident begin about 10 feet from my car and end about 10 feet behind me with it’s closest point not even 2 feet away from my door. To my dismay only two individuals got out of their vehicles to check on the drivers of the vehicles that had just collided and I was the other one. Without hesitation I got out of my car to check on the occupants, help direct traffic, assist law enforcement and medics care for the injured. Not one other person stopped to help but two of us. I know that there were at the very least 4 other cars that were witness to this accident, but they left the scene…I realize they were in a hurry to get home, everyone was, including myself and having to deal with construction traffic and now a car accident just didn’t fit in their plans. I know this because there were people yelling obscenities at me as I was trying to help direct traffic. I know it was hot out, people were tired but there was no reason for those of you who honked your horns, flipped me off and called me a fat cow just because my helping with the accident added time or distance to your commute. Did it ever occur to you that there was someone seriously injured? Could you not have just turned around nicely or drove on the one lane that was open and just been okay? Heaven forbid that this incident added 10, 15 or 20 extra minutes to your drive home. I am disgusted by how incredibly unsympathetic our society has become, how morally bankrupt we operate from day to day and think it’s okay to treat people poorly…not just me because I was helping and I was an easy mark to take your frustrations out on, but those involved in this accident. They deserved your patience or at the very least, some form of common decency to show that there is still some good in this world. As you read this, you know who you are, you know what you said and how you acted and I am ashamed at how juvenile your actions were. We all deserve better than what some of you gave. Period.

Sincerely,
Deb Carlsen-Marysville