The Air Conditioner and the Meaning of Life.
Hey there, it's been a while. I'm sitting here, the kids are in bed, and I have a quiet moment. A quiet moment to think, with no tv, and a stack of cookbooks and food magazines beside me. But I'm too distracted to read. I keep thinking about yesterday, how yesterday an air conditioner almost fell on me and the Babe. It was my turn to take the girls to school, as I do every Tuesday, then I head off to work. Along our route we pass a sketchy apartment building, possibly a men's shelter, and it has definitely seen better days. The men sometimes sit out front and smoke, and they've seen better days too. We try to walk by there quickly, it usually smells and is generally a bad vibe. Yesterday the Lady was happily skipping ahead as I held the Babe's hand and was walking past the building. It's right by the crosswalk we use and we were waving to our favourite crossing guard. Suddenly I felt something move behind me, then heard a loud crash. I turned around to see an air conditioner in pieces on the ground. The crossing guard ran over and we both realized that it had fallen and that the Babe and I were nearly crushed by it! If we were a mere half step back, who knows what would have happened to us! It all happened so fast and I was in such shock, that we just kept on going to school. I did stop and look across the street at the building and saw a few more air conditioners that looked unsafe. I also saw where the one was that fell, it was two floors up and there was a guy looking out, he seemed confused that there was this big space left where that machine once was. Once we arrived at school, my heart was racing. I started to tell a friend about what had just happened, when another mom came up to me and asked if I was okay. A lot of families walk that same route and the crossing guard was telling them what happened. Someone actually had the sense to take pictures. I realized I was too shocked to even think of that. I barely remember the ride to work, and called the Hub when I got there. Told him to walk down there and take pictures too and give me the street address so that I could file a report to the police. I cried as I told him, all the emotion of it came flooding out. It felt good to file the report, I didn't want that to happen to anyone else. The Hub called me in the afternoon and told me that an inspector went to the building and had all the air conditioners removed. Yay! I was so happy that it was looked into quickly and I helped to stop any future accidents. But I can't stop thinking about "what if?" What if it did land on me? The Babe? The Lady? I'm freaked out. Not just thinking about my kids getting hurt (or worse), but I also think, that could've ended me, and I'm not done living yet. That could've ended me and I'd never see my family again. It has sparked in me the need to live better, for myself and them. Be more present, to not worry so much about the small things. To follow through with things that I've been putting off because it's not the right time. To even be nicer and more patient is a goal I need to work on. I just turned forty four years old a few days ago, and I was already thinking I wanted to make some changes in this new year. It's time to work it out, life's too short.