Running into people

I hate running into people (or more literally, skating into people). Not that I do so intentionally - I usually keep a lookout for other skaters, so much so that I end up not doing much myself during a busy session.

However, when I'm concentrating on a program, and especially when skating backwards, those eyes on the back of my head don't work as well.

Earlier this week was one of those times. It must have been the first time that I skated into a skater when I didn't have my program playing.

We were both skating backwards, and I was about to step forwards when I realised she was right there. I tried to stop, almost tripped and must have pushed against her. She fell hard.

I apologised, asked if she was ok, and she said she was fine. She is direct, and would say immediately if things were not ok. She would not try to hide it if she was offended.

Still, I felt bad.

It was good that everyone is ok. But, what if things were not ok? So what? What does an apology do? Should I feel bad the rest of my life?

That brings to mind Karla's accident at O'dorf during practise ice, when she collided with another skater and hit her head on the ice. Nobody attributed fault to either party - they were just concentrating on their skating, and happened to be at the same place at the same time!

I suppose I should take it in perspective. Accidents are accidents. They will happen even if all skaters are careful and take precautions. The only thing I can do is to do my best to ensure safety.