You guys.
I had just finished breakfast at a local restaurant with some friends and as we were walking to the car, a man walked up to our group, obviously in some sort of distress. He stammered a bit, then finally managed to croak out, "I'm choking".
So we are standing there, watching this guy expire right there in the parking lot, and it hits me <again> just how fragile our lives really are. It made me think of so called "intelligent design" theory. Like, "Ok people, here is something you must do everyday, or you will die... oh yeah, and every once in a while... it'll kill you.
Kinda reminded me of that old joke:
If Mama Cass had shared half her sandwich with Karen Carpenter, they would both be alive today."
Anyhow, all that took about 1 second in real-time, then I hopped behind this guy and Heimliched him. (That didn't sound right)
Never done it before, or even been trained in it's use. But it was just like they say... pop! Then a great whoosh of air as this guy took a desperate breath.
We just stared each other for the longest time... he said thanks & I said no problem, or something else lame like that, and we left.
After some thought about this brief demonstration in mortality and the human condition, it occurred to me that what we do here on this website, is kinda like a larger version of the same thing that happened to this guy yesterday. We just need allot more arms to wrap around the collective human torso, and expel the blockage which is strangling our species.
Never caught his name.
Hope he makes good use of this new life he has... same wish I have for us all.
What we do in our lives, echoes through time,
with hilarious & unexpected consequences. Who can say what my arrogant meddling will result in down the line, as I causally exercise my god-like power over life & death?
Interesting day... went sailing the rest of the day, which was less dramatic, but just as excellent.
Funny ole' world huh?
(I guess the take-away" message here is, if you're choking, you wanna be standin' next to me.)
