My wife and I were invited to attend the graduation of a grandson from a training program at Ft. Huachuca. Since we live only a few hours drive from that base, we said we would go. And then take him to the airport in Tucson, Arizona to catch a plane home. Since our drive from home to the base is just under 3 hours, we left 4 hours prior to the graduation time, and arrived at the base with 1 hour and 10 minutes to spare. But just short of the base entrance, the traffic, two lanes of it, came to a virtual halt. As we inched along, beside, behind or in front of, all those others going to the base, or to the city of Sierra Vista which is just past the base, we wondered why we were stalled. When we finally arrived at the base, not the main gate, but at a different gate that had been opened, we were told that a soldier had a car wreck at 4 a.m. and was killed and the highway was closed while the accident was being investigated. All traffic was routed through the base, with police at every intersection to direct traffic. It was now 9 a.m. and the accident was 5 hours old. We were finally able to arrive at the graduation site at 9:30, just in time to see our grandson leaving the graduation exercise. We did make contact, take pictures, and take him to Tucson. All as planned. Well, almost. As we left the base, we were again detoured around the accident, which is now 8 hours old, and sent to Sierra Vista, then to Tombstone and then to St. David and then to Benson, where we caught the interstate to Tucson. That was the first time we had ever been to Tombstone, and that wasn't intentional. But we arrived at the airport in time for his flight, and we arrived back home in time to go to bed at our normal time. Were we upset? NO. Was he upset? NO. Did we have an enjoyable day? YES. An excellent adventure. Did we know the soldier who was killed? No. Did our grandson know him, or her? no. he didn't even know any thing about the accident or why we were delayed until we told him, after the graduation. We have no clue why the soldier had the accident, except we were told it was a roll over. We were detoured around the site, so didn't see the accident or the site. Who it was, or why it happened, we have no clue. So, why this blog? you ask. Oh!, you didn't ask. Well, here is the purpose. One person, and only one, as far as we know, made a choice to do something that caused a ripple effect on hundreds of people for many hours. Whether the one person was the individual who had the wreck, or someone else who caused the individual to wreck, we know not. But someone made a decision to do something, that caused the accident. Because of the length of the road closure, and the investigation, our grandson mentioned that there was probably something going on rather than just a simple car accident. What, we don't know. Whether the soldier was drinking, on drugs or involved with something illegal, or sleepy and chose to drive without enough sleep, was an MP on patrol, or whatever the scene was, one person made a choice that impacted many. How many others missed the graduation ceremony, as did we. How many going to Sierra Vista were late for work, or missed an appointment, or were running late to do some necessary shopping, or some unnecessary shopping, so making them late for other things later in the day, or made others late who were waiting for them. Our adventure turned out OK. Maybe others did not. We will never know. But we all should think before we do something rash or make an unusual decision; Or even make a remark without knowing the situation. As I did with this blog. How will this affect others? And That's The View From The Ditch Bank.
