Man Blames Chili for Crash

I came across this article on foxnews.com about a truck driver who crashed into a house in Massachusetts because he claims he was knocked unconscious from a bowl of chili from Wendy's. He said that he choked on it after hitting a bump and he passed out. I thought that I had heard it all, but then once I took the time to process it, I thought, he was driving an eighteen wheeler and eating chili while doing so? He is lucky that his careless actions didn't hurt anyone. I would hope that common sense would of told him that it was bad idea to eat while operating this vehicle, let alone eating the chili from Wendy's.

I think that this was really careless of him to do this and he could of possibly killed someone. Remember the accident on the Oklahoma Turnpike last July that killed nine people? This was also caused by driver carelessness. These guys are driving around an 80,000 pound vehicle at upwards of seventy miles an hour and our personal vehicles weigh 1/20th of that. There is great responsibility in driving a vehicle of this magnitude and you need to more conscience of your surroundings and be on high alert at all times. According to the information on smartmotorist.com, 20-50 percent of accidents are caused by driver inattention.

What is astounding is on froedtert.com, they had an online survey to which teens and parents responded to. A staggering 45 percent said that were distracted while eating in their vehicle. More amazing is that 80 percent of car crashes and 65 percent of near misses are caused by eating while driving as this article indicates. I know that most of us are really busy and rely on multitasking and going through a drive thru is ever so easy nowadays since almost every fast food chain has one. I am guilty of this and a few years back I was stopped by the highway patrol for eating breakfast on the way to work. He told me that is why he stopped me and I explained to him that I was trying to eat before work and he waited for me to finish before I could leave. I was really lucky that I didn't get a ticket, but it made me more be aware as he told me that the ticket for careless and imprudent driving can cost you your license in Missouri. So I did the next best thing, I tagged my car in Oklahoma and got really dark tint so it would be harder to see. It is no excuse as to my carelessness, but it is something now with age that you consciously don't do. I will usually wait to eat until I get to work now.

I will admit that eating while driving to work accomplishes two things. You get to work on time and you have energy to start working. You just have to be smart about it. If you are merely eating a bagel versus a hamburger or chili in this case, be smart and pull over. It only takes a few minutes and you could avoid a serious accident.

Musings of a three year old

This is just for fun, but lately I have noticed that my three year old son shows signs of overthinking and advanced intelligence..Just this week he told me the following three things:

Example 1. I am always having to get onto him for jumping, standing or walking on my bed. It is one of those soft, marsh-mellowing foam mattresses so I can see why kids love to jump on it. I was laying in bed on my stomach late at night when I felt him walking on my back. I said to him " Parker. Didn't I tell you to quit standing on the bed?" His reply. " I'm not daddy, I am on your back." Technically right, so no spanking.

Example 2. Last night he said " Daddy. I can see the moon." I said to him jokingly " Yep. It's bright tonight. You wanna go to the moon with me?" Parker pondered for a moment and said "I don't think so. We would slip off because it is slippery." I asked him " What makes you think it is slippery and we would fall off?" "Well..It looks like snow and snow is slippery and we would slip off because it is small and you are big." My first thought was what the heck but then I realized he is right, so I chuckled and let it be.

Example 3. We were both sitting on the couch and he wanted a toy across the room on the floor by his toy box. He asked me if I would get it for him. I told him " Parker. You got two legs. You go get it." He looked at me and without missing a beat he replied " So do you." I looked at him puzzled at his candor and I solemnly walked over to the toy and brought it back. Again he was right, and since he was honest, (actually because I couldn't counter his comment) I felt compelled to do it.

So as you can see, he exhibits profound intellect and it is something that I have noticed just all of a sudden like late at night while I am sleeping, he is reading the Encyclopedia Brittanica volumes from a-z. It is really amazing to get insights to how he understands the world versus reality. He is my oldest son and his little brother who is almost two shows very little intellect. He doesn't talk yet and every time we turn around all he wants to do is sit and eat. He will eat anything as long as it passes his sniff test. He sniffs everything before it goes in his mouth. It is rather strange, but he has picked up on one thing. It must be funner to remove his clothes and pee in the floor and then use his clothes and diaper to wipe up the pee on the wood floor. And then toss it all in the trash and hide the evidence. Like we wouldn't notice that he has no clothes.