As I am originally from the suburbs of Minneapolis and, in another lifetime, crossed over the Mississippi every day to go to work at the State Capitol, it was hard for me to comprehend what was going on last night at the site of the 35W bridge. When I first heard about it (about two-and-a-half hours following the incident), my first thought turned to my parents, who generally wouldn’t venture that way on a Wednesday night. Nevertheless, I called them to ensure that they were safe and sound and to clarify where exactly the collapse occurred. At first, I thought it was very near the bridge I would’ve taken to work back in the day. It wasn’t as close as I thought, but still, the fact that I took a very similar route to work in much worse weather conditions (I worked at the Capitol mostly during the winter, which, in Minnesota, could strain anything and anybody) gave me pause. As much as I wanted to change the channel to the Food Network or the Nats game, I kept coming back to MSNBC, FOX News, CNN, and the like, and wondering how this somehow might impact me, my family, my family’s friends, co-workers, etc.
Also, the collapse is a mere stone’s throw from the Metrodome where the Twins and Royals played a game — and to which, I would imagine, some of the folks on the bridge when it came down were headed for a fun night of overpriced hot dogs and an underachieving home team nine. If I still lived in Minnesota, perhaps that could’ve been me irritated at road construction on my way to the Dome. (The new stadium for the Twins was set to see a groundbreaking ceremony today, but that’s been postponed, as has this afternoon’s series finale versus the Royals.)
Then, this morning on the way into work this morning on the Yellow Line, as we crossed the Potomac, I looked over at the 14th St. Bridge (not unfamiliar to calamity itself) and, for a fleeting second, wished that it was that bridge that had met the ignominious fate that my hometown bridge met twelve-and-a-half hours previous. It would be easier, I thought, for the people here to endure tragedy rather than those in relatively-ignored Minnesota (i.e., no one cares except when they elect a wrestler as governor or when the NBA team trades its long-time star or the NFL team decides to take a lake cruise), who, in my biased opinion, are generally nicer, probably a bit more naïve about the world at large, and all of that.
Anyhow, I just wanted to get those thoughts off my chest and hope that today brings a little less darkness into the world. To that end, above, I thought it fitting to post a photo I took this morning while walking to the Crystal City Metro.
