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Throwing it all Away |
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For most people, your first car is memorable, but for me it was unforgettable. When I was sixteen, I bought my first car. One week shy of having my car a year, I destroyed it. Even now the terrible day is fresh in my mind. Through my irresponsibility and negligence, I threw away a great thing. |
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When I was sixteen I worked at Busch Gardens, a local theme park, on my summer break. I saved almost all the money I had made there over the summer. That fall, I bought my first car, an all black 1992 Blazer.� It was a chick magnet, or at least I liked to think it was. I was sixteen with money to spend and a cool ride. I loved my car but mostly because it was no one else's but mine. There was also some pride in knowing that I worked hard to get my car, and no one else had to help me pay for it. For the first time in my life, I had something no one could take away from me, or so I thought. |
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One week after having my car a year, on a cool autumn, day I totaled it. I had been hunting with my dad that morning in northern Virginia. I remember the weather had been extremely dry lately making dusty gravel roads very loose. I had to leave around lunchtime to go back home, but my dad stayed. As I turned on to one of the dirt roads leading back to the main road from the hunt club's cabin, I remember giving the engine a little more gas then I should have. The back end of the Blazer was loseing traction as it spun sideways. I had it under control at that point so I didn't bother letting off the gas. My testosterone overcame my right thinking. So I continued giving the car gas. I was enjoying the car whipping around wildly. When I turned the wheel trying to correct the spin, it caused the car to spin violently in the opposite direction. Right then I had lost control of the car. The last thing I remember before the accident was heading head on in to the raised embankment on the side of that narrow rural Virginia road. When my car hit the embankment, all of its momentum sent it and me sideways into a roll. It seemed like slow motion at the time, but it only took a few seconds before it was all over.
The first thing I remember after the Blazer came to a rest on all four wheels was having extreme chest pains. I tried opening the door but it was too mangled to open. As I climbed through the shattered window out of my destroyed vehicle, I steped back and stared at my ruined car I can't believe what had happened. Every window was shattered and every piece of sheet metal was distorted and wrinkled. I looked up the road and saw my dad driving towards me. He had heard the commotion from the hunt club's cabin.� On the ride to the emergency room, all I could think about is how my immaturity and reckless attitude lost me my pride and joy. The biggest reason that I loved my car was that it was mine and no one could take it from me, but in the end it was no one else's fault but mine that I lost my car. My father and I decided to not involve the police since I only had liability insurance, and it would not help to claim the accident to the insurance company. |
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In a split second of reckless thinking I lost everything I had worked so hard for. I had spent a summer working fifty hours a week for nothing because I screwed around.� I really came down on myself after the accident. It was my fault after all. I was angry at myself for being so immature. The accident also scared me pretty good. I broke three ribs in the accident when my chest hit the steering wheel. I proubably should have been hurt a lot worse, especially since I was not wearing a seatbelt. This experience helped me realize that I needed to take a look at my reckless behavior. I was lucky this time to only lose my car, but next time it could be worse as a result of this accident. I have become more responsible for my actions and am not as irresponsible. |
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