Ostomy Memories Accidentally

Many words have multiple meanings. The word TIP, for instance, could be the extremity of something, or a gratuity for someone who has done you a service, or a bit of practical advice.
The word ACCIDENT has more subtle variations. It can be a car crash; it might mean most any unfortunate, unforeseen incident that occurs unexpectedly, typically resulting in damage or injury; it even has been used euphemistically to refer to an incident of incontinence, as in “uh oh, he’s had an accident.”
But let’s narrow the scope of the word ACCIDENT to this: an event that happens by chance, typically producing undesirable or possibly disastrous results. Like life.
Life is an accident, thrust upon us by natural forces beyond our control, and even beyond the control of the natural forces (aka “parents”) involved. All those little sperms swimming madly along toward the ovum, like athletes at the commencement of a triathlon, and chance may (or may not) favor the one with the longest or most well-formed flagella. All those diverse biological possibilities that come together to form the lives we have, the eyes that may be brown or blue, the gender, the size of our nose or our feet, the ability to perform some acts better than others.
Much of what takes place during our lives is the haphazard result of accident. Sometimes you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and, WHOOPS, too bad for you, buddy. There was a scene in “Two Mules for Sister Sara” where Sara the faux nun comments about how God will look after things. Clint Eastwood’s character contests that analysis. He relates how a bullet may ricochet off a rock, killing one person, not touching the guy next to him. It’s not fate or karma or whatever. “Just an accident,” he tells her. “It’s just an accident.”
The wide receiver drops the pass and fails to score; his team loses by three points; the drop was an accident. A woman dies of breast cancer, a disease she developed by mere chance. A dam bursts, drowning hundreds. It was an accident.
Life is an accident.

Hello HenryM.
Once again, I do like your logic in guiding us through various aspects relating to ‘accidents’. I agree that there are many things in life that have few other plausible explanations. However, I would be much more interested in the phenomenon encapsulated in the saying ‘an accident waiting to happen’.
This concept opens up the opportunity to investigate whether so-called ‘accidents’ were preventable, or were the result of negligence, poor workmanship/practices, or deliberate policies designed to benefit some and disadvantage others.
When you say: ”Much of what takes place during our lives is the haphazard result of accident”. This prompts me to contemplate all those things that pertain to my ex-client’s lives. It makes me question whether their disadvantages, obstacles, etc., were ‘accidental’, or whether they were the result of deliberate amoral principles, policies, behaviour and strategies of the advantaged, to deliberately exploit the underprivileged.
We live in societies which are often governed by people who have their own dubious agendas to benefit themselves and their kind. This is surely no ‘accident’, yet their influence impinges on the lives of everyone in those societies.

Just a thought!
Best wishes
Bill

Hi Bill and Henry,  Thanks Bill for your usual "spot on" insight.  There are so many things in life that we may term accidental, but on closer inspection turn out to be anything but.  In fact two of Henry's examples, the dam bursting, killing hundreds could very likely be due to poor engineering (negligence on the part of the humans who designed it) and the woman who developed breast cancer may have been exposed to carcinogens in the food she ate and the air she breathed, again human caused and preventable.  There certainly are many totally random occurrences in life that could only be accidental though. Many are not of a pleasant nature, but there are lots of "happy accidents" too.

By the way Henry, (I'm sure you already know this Bill) another meaning for the word "tip" is a dump or a messy place, as in "you don't want to go near Henry's room, it's a tip".  Kidding!  I'm sure your place is spotless!

All the best,

Terry

That's a definition of "tip" that I've never heard before.  Could that be a Canadian thing? 

'Tip' is definitely a term that is used here in the UK to denote a place where rubbish is 'tipped'. My wife tends to use the word a lot to describe and show her disapproval of both my office and my shed. However, I try to point out that what seems like a 'tip' to one person, is strategic 'order' for another. I know precisely where everything is --as long as nobody else (meaning her!) gets in there and starts moving things around to suit their own idea of 'tidiness'. Needless to say, I would not dream of going into her office and move things, neither would I deem to comment upon how she decides to store her things. Although I do find it somewhat amusing that she tends to misplace/lose things far more often than I do. Oh! the joys of growing old together.

Best ewishes

Bill

No, it's actually a British colloquialism.  I'm familiar with it only because many of my favourite authors are Brits.  Most Canadians wouldn't know what I was on about either.

T