[Magdalen] Kaeton's commentary

[Grace Cangialosi]

Thanks for posting this, Ginga.  It's a good reminder of our human frailty, especially in the face of sudden crisis. I like, of course, to think that I would never drive away from an accident I had caused. But I have also remembered an incident from about 12 years ago and how badly I behaved.

Without going into detail, let me just say that I was stopped behind a truck as we waited for a stopped school bus in the oncoming lane. Suddenly I saw in my rearview mirror a truck top the rise and come barreling down on me at full speed. He clearly wasn't going to be able to stop, and I had nowhere to go.
Well, I wasn't injured, but my car was totalled. But what I remember with great regret was that when the poor driver rushed up to apologise  and make sure I was all right, I screamed at him, "You idiot!! Didn't you see that we were all stopped??!!
His brakes had failed, and he was probably as upset as I was, but I had thought I might be killed, and my nice persona went right out the window.
I can't be sure of what I would do if I were to cause a serious accident...

On January 3, 2015, at 6:20 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:

>Mark Harris has written of how irrationally human beings can act in this
>sort of horrific experience.
>This is a note about Heather Cook the human being, who comes from a long
>line of human beings related in turn to a whole host of living beings who
>when confronted with extraordinary threat reacts in ways not always up to
>frontal lobe human ethical standards.
>http://anglicanfuture.blogspot.com/2015/01/when-terrible-terrifying-and-awful.html?spref=fb
>I feel enormous compassion for Heather Cook...I just can't help myself.  I
>know she is in need of pastoral compassion.  I pray she is receiving that.
>I hesitate to say this, because I do not want to offend those who think
>otherwise.  But, no matter what she has done, and much we don't know, she
>is still our sister in Christ.
>And, of course, the family and friends of Tom Palermo and those who witness
>this god-awful accident, even we who inhabit the Pub, each and all have
>need of the very same pastoral compassion.
>Ginga
>On Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 5:51 PM, ME Michaud <michaudme at gmail.com> wrote:
>> And people do stupid and unexplained things when they're
>> freaking out. Not everybody's capable of doing just the right,
>> mature thing under every circumstance.
>>
>> We had a case where a teenager gave birth in a bathroom
>> stall and walked away. The Commonwealth accused her of
>> all kinds of evil stuff, but a psychiatrist, serving as an
>> expert witness, explained very clearly that women who've
>> just given birth aren't always capable of thinking clearly.
>> Duh.
>> -M
>>