Tuesday, March 30, 2010

oh, be careful...

i thought today for the first time in a long time about the song we sang in sunday school as a child:
oh be careful little eyes what you see
oh be careful little eyes what you see
for the father up above is looking down in love
oh be careful little eyes what you see
oh be careful little lips what you say...
oh be careful little ears what you hear...
oh be careful little hands what you do...
oh be careful little feet where you go...
i thought of this song today because someone sent me an email that i wish i could remove from my memory.
it was prefaced as a "don't text and drive" email, and showed a series of photos of a smart car that was essentially inside a semi. the driver of the smart car was supposedly texting and crossed the centre line. it looked as though the semi had eaten the smart car - there was really nothing left of it.
there was a warning that the photos were graphic, but i thought the worst thing i would see would be some blood on the highway. i mean, the pictures of the car itself were graphic enough. and considering the person that sent it to me (an elderly person), i never thought it would be that bad.
well, it was that bad, and worse. the only way i can properly describe it is to say that i feel ruined. i was unprepared for close up shots of the smart car driver, who had been sliced in half from the accident, and (i assume), dead. you could see his face. one picture was of his face, and another was of his lower half.
i am sure even just describing that give you chills. well seeing it was worse. i almost vomited. i gagged over my garbage car at work, like i was there in person and had seen the results of the accident. after the initial shock wore off, i drove home and thought of the lyrics to that sunday school song. oh how i wish i had been careful enough to never see that! now the image is burned in my mind. i spent the day feeling as though i had gone through an ordeal. after bawling on terrell about it for half an hour, i had a long nap and the first thing i saw when i opened my eyes was that guy's face. i can't believe that is just out there on the internet. that is someone's SON and that is just being sent around all over the world as some kind of gore pornography. that makes me almost more sick than the image itself.
and so i am reflecting on the song, and though its simple and childish, it still rings true today. we put ourselves in places where we see, hear, do, and say things that we shouldn't. sometimes its not our fault, like today. and sometimes we let it slowly get to us, like listening to depressing music when we feel sad which only makes us feel worse. we must be careful, because not only is God always watching us, but because He wants to protect us from these things.
i wish He would have slapped His hands over my eyes today.

3 comments:

Mom said...

Oh, Janna. Sorry that happened to you.

Brynne said...

That is so terrible!
It makes me sick that someone would post pictures of that poor man like that. That's so unnecessary and it doesn't make me think "Oh, I shouldn't text and drive" it makes me think "What kind of sick person would take a picture like that and then think to themselves 'Hmm, what can I do with something this disturbing? I know! Put it on the internet!'"
I understand posting pictures of the cars. That is pretty much the norm for any kind of "don't do this" email.
But pictures of the victim is total invasion of privacy. Whoever started that email has zero respect for that guy's memory or his family. Can you imagine what happens when somehow, that email ends up in the inbox of someone who knew that guy? Cause it will. That's the way these stupid things work.
I remember my dad, whenever he responded to a crash that was bad enough to need the jaws of life, he would simply say that they had to use the jaws. He never went into any kind of detail, because it obviously upset and disturbed him. So that also means that whichever member of the emergency response team that took those pictures should be slapped and then committed, cause that's just not right.

This makes me mad and ill at the same time.

Jadis said...

I'm so sorry my dear! I've seen one similar as well, but only of the vehicles; that is terrible!

I remember near Christmas when my friend and I were driving on the highway at night, we slowed down because we thought we saw something on the road..it was a coyote that had been hit and couldn't walk and he was sitting in the middle of the road looking all scared...I can't think of that and not be sad...I think about it everytime we drive by there and as someone who loves animals so much, I wish I had NEVER witnessed it. It broke my heart; so I say my heart is with you now. Much love.