The search - thanksgiving

I had already witnessed two ambulances speeding by on our trip to Saratoga, and on the way home, a team of fire trucks. Nonetheless, I didn’t give much thought to it, as it is pretty common to see ambulances blaring by an intersection.

In any case, my parents simply stopped the car each time and waited for the ambulance or the team of fire trucks to plow through the intersection. My mother casually asked, “Where is the sound coming from?”, and seconds later, when the ambulance siren disappeared into the distance, we carried on with our normal lives.

Two weeks ago, a family friend got involved in a car accident on the 880 freeway. He had been driving at the speed limit, and had only diverted his attention for a few seconds when he rammed into the car in front of him. The air bags popped up and the front part of the Lexus was ultimately destroyed. Fortunately, he is lucky to have survived the accident without sustaining major injuries.

But recently, one of my sister’s friends was not as fortunate. On a clear night in Riverside, Elena Marie Cadet passed away in a car accident, just five days before Thanksgiving. Elena was only 18, and in her freshman year at UC Riverside.

Some of us may have simply eaten our Thanksgiving dinner this year without sincerely considering our blessings first. And usually, I’m embarrassed to admit that I’m one of those people. But this year, the recent string of events really forced me to wonder: What if someone I love is next? What if I’m next?

We have all heard the siren of an ambulance approaching an intersection. And every time, we always ask the same question: “Where is it coming from?” If we have to get out of the way, then so be it. As the ambulance exits the realm of our sight, the cars start back up again, and we continue on to our destination. Everything goes back to normal, as if it had never been interrupted. “Where is it coming from?” and nothing more is said.

But have you noticed that we never ask “Where is it going?”

Every time an ambulance drives by with its horn blaring, it is a sign that someone out there needs help. How can we be so sure that an ambulance we see on the street isn’t driving towards someone we love who desperately needs help?

You never know. One day, it may very well be speeding towards you.

Now, I am aware that I’m not the only person who hasn’t given much thought to the motives behind every ambulance. Many of us don’t.

However, as the accidents began inching closer to people I knew personally, I’ve realized why I never considered the darker meaning of a speeding ambulance. The true reason that we act so casually to these occurrences is because we think that these kinds of accidents always happen to “someone else.”

Unfortunately, we’re all someone else to someone else.