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October 22, 2009

Watch out for yourself, you just never know

Carl Keith Greene

I’m sitting here, staring at a blank “piece of paper.” At least that’s what we would have called it a long time ago. It does look like a blank piece of paper.

It kind of reminds me of the mornings of my senior year in high school. First class of the day was physics, followed by creative writing.

While I was listening, sort of, in the physics class, I often wrote the assignment for creative writing. That way I looked as if I was taking notes, but was actually doing something I should have done the night before.

Seems like most of my life I’ve been working on deadline, putting off things until I’m just short of being late, like with this column. Actually I’ve been ahead of the game the last few weeks, but this one is going to “paper” just before it’s due to go into the paper.

Writing is one of those tasks on which some people just can’t get a handle. I love doing it, but sometimes I also can’t get a handle.

Maybe it’s because of the other things that flow through my mind. This week I’ve been engrossed in the international drug conspiracy that seems to have operated in Laurel County for the past couple of years.

Many of the alleged conspirators seem to be from the Balkans, at least from their names’ spellings. It was confirmed a couple of days ago that at least three of those charged are from Croatia.

Another is definitely from the United States. Of the others in the group of nine that have been revealed in the sealed indictment, I’m not sure.

It appears that the conspiracy extended out of the state as well.

The thing that really gets me, though, is the quantity of drug-related stories I write about in Laurel, Knox and Whitley counties.

If it’s as bad in the whole state as it is in the Tri-County, we are in a heap of trouble. And I guess we are in a heap of trouble.

It absolutely blows me away when I think of just how much illegal dope is sold, consumed, made and grown in this area.

Between the druggies and the alcoholics, I am amazed that there are not more traffic incidents than there are in this area.

In 2007, wrecks that involved alcohol in Laurel County saw three persons being killed and 49 injured. The year 2008 saw one killed and 45 injured.

In Knox County in 2007, two were killed and 17 injured. The next year, two were killed and eight injured.

Whitley County’s count for 2007 was one killed and 22 injured and in 2008, one killed and 19 injured.

Drugged drivers in Whitley County accounted for four killed and nine injured in 2008. In Knox County, four were also killed and 21 injured. Laurel saw five killed and 14 injured.

You know, it’s almost scary to hit the road. Those statistics were only for drunken or drugged drivers.

THEN, you add the drivers who are texting, talking on a phone, not paying attention to traffic or just bad drivers, and it’s tempting to sell your car and just hole up in your house for the rest of your life.

But we can’t do that very well. So I just keep my eyes moving for that car that is sliding over the center line of the highway, watching to make sure that the car coming from a cross street or road actually stops before coming all the way out into the road until I pass, or looking to see if the driver who is weaving in front of me is talking on a phone or texting or tweeting.

So what are we going to do?

I absolutely don’t know.

It’s a jungle out there, not only on the highway, but in the grocery store, at pump-it-yourself gasoline stations, just walking down the sidewalk or holing yourself up at home for the rest of your life.

So, what can we do? Just pray about it, I guess.

Life’s funny, or at least strange. So keep your hands on the wheel and off drugs, watch out for drivers doing strange things and hope for the best.

See you later, I hope ...

Carl Keith Greene is a writer for the Times-Tribune. He can be reached at cgreene@thetimestribune.com

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