So the VW fest is today, not yesterday. I drove all the way to Bradenton for nothing but ended up taking lots of photos at the track and then at Lake Manatee and went to an outlet mall and bought some books. So, I am a dumbass, but a productive one. I'll write more about my day later. I have to get moving BACK TO BRADENTON for the actual VW fest. But I wanted to write about something that really upset me.As I crossed the Sunshine Skyway bridge for the first time, I excitedly anticipated the moment when I reached its apex. I love bridges, and this one, with its gleaming golden cables and its twice-as-long-as-any-other-bridge-of-its-type machismo, really appealed to me.
There it is. Note the hulking menace that is Tropicana Field in the background. Having both in the same shot is the architectural equivalent of a red carpet photo of Paulina Porizkova and Ric Ocasek.Anyway, I am calmly driving my little green Jetta up to the top, and you can see all the weather equipment and all that stuff they put at the top because it's really fucking high, right? There's a story, of course; the original Sunshine Skyway was smashed apart 25 or so years ago. A very large boat rammed into it during a storm, and the bridge gave out underneath something like 40 cars, tossing people to their deaths. Kind of depressing. But not as depressing as what comes next.So I get to the top, and I'm so very excited to be at the top. UNTIL. There is a giant red sign and a giant red phone. The sign reads the equivalent of "OMG DON'T KILL YOURSELF." Actually, it probably reads "Emergency Distress Operator Line" or something even more frightening.Instantly, I became very, very upset. And I don't get upset often; I'm a cold, emotionless prick. But I really got depressed and upset after that. And even now, typing this story, relating it to you, my body remembers that sensation of nausea that accompanied the cognitive processing of what the sign meant.That someone could be so troubled as to go to the lengths of jumping from the FUCKING SUNSHINE SKYWAY is really, really upsetting to me. You had better be really, really sure of your decision, because you're going have a lot of time to think about it on the way down.Anyway, I felt that I needed to relate that story to y'all. Even more troubling is that in my googling for a good photo (didn't like what I found so I used the one I took yesterday) the first hit was for a pool where people bet on when the next person to jump from the Skyway will be. Ugh.
--------
