Oct. 9--"Syl, I've been in an accident."

Vicki, my wife, had just called me from the street Tuesday afternoon. She had been traveling east on Gravois Avenue near Kingshighway. An approaching car suddenly turned left in front of her, she said. It was raining. She couldn't avoid getting hit. The car smashed into the front driver's side of our Toyota. As she spoke, I heard a loud voice in the background: "Move your car!"

In a dazed voice, Vicki asked if she was supposed to move the car or wait for the police.

"I don't know," I stammered. "Are you OK?"

Her leg was sore, she said, but mostly she was shocked, and her feelings were hurt. We bought the Toyota last year. It was the first new car we have ever owned as a couple. Now, she said, it was "damaged," which seemed to be her main worry.

Her priorities, in that moment, were a tad off, but accidents can have that effect on people.

No doubt, my priorities were rearranged. Before the call, I was at home catching up on the news: St. Louis had selected Maj. Daniel Isom as its new police chief. Presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama were scheduled to debate that evening. Longtime Cardinals coach George Kissell, 88, was in critical condition after a car accident (I would soon find out that he died Tuesday). And the stock market had tanked -- yet again.

But my wife's call was a game-changer. The news, nationally and locally, suddenly meant nothing. My thoughts shifted to "me and mine."

Those feelings, I suppose, speak to larger sentiments, especially as it relates to politics. It wasn't so long ago that many Americans were chattering about illegal immigration, Obama's controversial preacher, or the number of homes and cars McCain owned. Now, the crumbling economy, lost jobs and foreclosures and what might happen to "me and mine" dominate everything.

In reality, my priorities weren't rearranged after my wife's accident -- they were intensified. As I hurried to the scene, my mind quickly went to that dark, "what if" place:

What if I had lost my wife? Could I go on? What if she was disabled? Could our family manage on one income? Would this mean I would have to sell our house? Would I have to put the girls in different schools?

My wife's well-being aside, most of those fears were already dangling out there. It's not like the bad news spreading across the country has spared this region.

Late last month, it was reported that the unemployment rate in the St. Louis area had reached its highest point in more than 16 years, with more than 105,000 people unable to find jobs.