Pre-Pesach Injuries

Erev Pesach is unfortunately the time of more accidents and emergency room visits than any other. People are rushed, pressured, overworked and overtired. In an atmosphere like that anything can happen, and unfortunately does. So when a Pesach accident happened to my friend, I met lots of other Pesach oops-ers in the emergency waiting room. There were also other unfortunate incidents. Across from us sat an 18 year old girl and a woman that I assumed was her mother. They were chatting calmly until for some reason it seemed that things were not quite regular here. I asked the girl what was wrong with her. She had just been stoned on an Egged bus going in Route 443 to Modi'in. Doctors were afraid she had glass shards in her eye. Her friend was hurt more seriously and was still being treated for a gash in her head. These two girls, bnot sherut, are national service volunteers.  Between Modi'in, a yuppie secular-religious city, and Beit Choron Arabs stoned their bus. Do you remember that the Army did not want to open 443 to Arab traffic, but the High Court of Justice demanded that the road be open to all, or it would not be fair to the Arabs living in the area. So they were forced to open the 443 and the busy road has become dangerous for Jewish drivers. Sigh. Such a sweet teenager, waiting patiently to find out if she had glass in her eye, while sitting and worrying about her friend. There is something wrong when a mother sends her daughter to do national service for the country and ends up sitting in the hospital with her all night. I don't know what else to say. Sad.