Grave humor on the way to coffee

[thedeadlyhook]

Interesting sightem on the way to pick up morning coffee - San Francisco Examiner headline in newspaper box. "Fall off ___ kills tourist in North Beach," with a sub-caption about how the shocked community, etc. The blank in the headline was a space on the glass covered by one of those graffitti-scribbled "tag" stickers," which was made for a little mystery for me to ponder in the space of the block I had to walk before I saw a paper box with the full headline. Golden Gate Bridge? Coit Tower? A cable car? That last always strikes me as a distinct possiblity, what with the way people do hang off the cars going "look at me," as if they aren't just monkeying around on the outside of a several-tons-heavy vehicle made of cast iron surrounded by speeding cars, and the selfsame speeding cars, who whip around the cable cars at close range as if they were particularly annoying and extra-slow schoolbuses. SF traffic is horrendously dangerous, although better now than during the "dotcom" boom. (My personal stereotype of the dotcom yuppies always including a particular tendency to drive like Grand Prix racers through narrow one-way streets whilst simultaneously talking on cell phones and drinking lattes, usually taking a moment to scream at pedestrians who got in their way. As one of those pedestrians, I frequently fantasized about having the ability to destroy SUVs with laser eye-beams.) At any rate, it always suprirses me that we don't hear more about tourists ending up as door prizes on the cable car. Talk about an embarrassing epitaph. "I left my heart in San Francisco"? Yeah, right.

Anyway, the missing word turned out to be "roof." Roof? What a tourist is doing up on a roof is a good question to start with, so no idea what to make of that - I haven't read the actual story. I can't help but feel terribly sympathetic to whatever no-doubt heartbroken relative has to digest this bad news - see above for epitaph note - because it can't be fun to have that thought in the back of your head while being bereaved, and as a frequent childhood bereaver, I can attest to how one's brain coughs up little absurdities like that. I was reminded again of the SE Asian earthquake all over again, how holidaymakers there sure didn't see that one coming, and how that's the punchline to a lot of life's little grim stories - the fate you didn't expect.

I've avoided talking about the quake thus far, partly because it occured to me, more than once, that looking at those images might darn well be looking at my future - after all, as our local news was quick to remind us, there's a comparable style of fault north of Calfornia, off the coast, and Toys and I live in the flatland avenues of SF, no more than two or three miles from the ocean. Our neighborhood could easily be underwater in a heartbeat. This occurred to me while out buying beverages for New Year's Eve, actually, trudging through a heavy rain/hailstorm - nice weather we were having, related, do you think? The Pacific Ocean here is also very cold.

This post turned out quite dark, didn't it? I'm sure everyone feels more comfortable contemplating the specter of the Grim Reaper - gosh, I know I do. ((apologies))

Comments

[toysdream.livejournal.com]

I know this isn't what you meant, but "childhood bereaver" kinda sounds like you were the one doing the bereaving, and suddenly I'm having this image of little Hookles pushing the other kiddies' relatives off roofs. :-\

As for the whole horrible tsunami thing: I do think one of the most inspirational tales I've heard in connection with this was the story of ten-year-old Tilly Smith, documented in this article from the Telegraph, who saved about a hundred people on a Thai beach because her geography teacher had covered tsunamis a couple of weeks earlier and she recognized the warnings signs of a tidal wave. Granted that the world is dangerous, fickle place, and we're all frequently at the mercy of man and nature, but let's hear it for education.

Next up: A public-service campaign to get people to stop dangling off those damn cable cars. Maybe we can enlist our favorite superheroes for another round of PSA comic books (after all, it worked wonders for the malevolent embodiment of inadequate ventilation)...

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

I don't think there was anything to imply there that I went around pushing kids off roofs, fella.

The Telegraph article is damn inspiring. Just goes to show how one person can indeed make a difference.

Those PSA comic reviews are the bomb. You have to do a longer post about this. See, I'm getting cheerier!

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

That's because obviously you and I both are sick. ; )

[lillianmorgan.livejournal.com]

SF traffic is horrendously dangerous, although better now than during the "dotcom" boom.
My uncle used to live in Mill Valley - think that the dotcom boom completely changed the nature of the place.
as our local news was quick to remind us, there's a comparable style of fault north of Calfornia, off the coast,
As depressing as this sounds, according to a report I saw on the BBC, there is a lot more scientific equipment in the way of satellites and earth sensor wot nots around the Pacific Rim for faster earthquake detection (partly due to there being G8/richer countries (Canada, USA, Japan etc) around the Pacific) than in the Indian Ocean.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

I can only hope all that equipment gets redeployed a little more judiciously in future - as we saw in SE Asia, one event can have huge effects far away from the original source.

Maybe that was me being uplifting, hoping some good will come of all this.

[hurry-sundown.livejournal.com]

I went to look at the news story (I have the procrastination thing going on today), and it's about as sad a tale as you can imagine - and of course, I feel compelled to conveniently link it here, just in case anyone else is (a) procrastinating, and (b) morbidly curious:

http://www.examiner.com/article/index.cfm/i/010505n_dufault.

[magista.livejournal.com]

(c) of course - all of the above. Yeah, that's a sad one indeed, particularly as she hadn't originally planned to be in SF at all.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link. I tend not to read the Ex because of its sensationalist bent, but that story has a hometown news quality of strange-things-that-happened-in-your-community, doesn't it?

Poor tourist. Life really is an unexpectedly weird little narrative, isn't it?

[magista.livejournal.com]

If there can be good news in contemplating such scenarios, it would have to be that a couple of miles inland, you'd be facing lots of water but not the brutal force of the wave after it had careened through the streets. Of course, that's if the earthquake wastes time happening offshore. When ol' San Andreas lets go, everybody falls down.

Nice morbid speculation there, Hook. Now I'm sitting around wondering how I'm going to die. Ah well. ::philosophical shrug::

I think I live in a great place, because I'm more likely to die because of the cold than because of flood (we're comfortably inland, and far enough from the river), earthquake (no large faults nearby), volcano (none near), tornado (not likely in the foothills), hurricane (see above re: inland) etc, etc, etc... Of course, there's always fire. I always am relived to see my building standing when I come home from vacation.

And did I mention no tendency to hideously large insects? I am never moving further south. Palmetto bugs, my ass.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Well, there's always those plague scenarios I keep hearing cautionary tales about. Or the ironic accident, as per above. Gosh, I guess I am in a morbid mood...

Right there with you on the large-bug issues. I'm glad my family only visited Florida when I was too young to be freaked out by the wildlife I've heard tell of there. (shudder)

[magista.livejournal.com]

I ran a good quarter mile screaming and crying from the cockroach on top of the public phone at the wash station in the campground, back to our motor home, back when I was about 19 or so and we were at DisneyWorld. More stoic LJers may laugh if they will, but I was convinced it was going to jump me from the top of the phone hood.

My dad, who at the time sold pest control chemicals and equipment, was vastly amused. Still is, when he retells it these days. ::sigh::

Ah yes, plague. Why is it that the older we get, the more paranoid we get about every little ache, pain or sniffle? I guess it's because we're finally out of youthful denial about our own mortality. I even gave up skiing, though mostly for the sake of my knees, simply because I have much too active an imagination and too much human biology - I can picture the exact places the tendons would separate and the bones would crack...

And my father is still skiing at 75. I guess it hits some of us harder than others. Or perhaps I can accuse him of having no imagination? LOL

[fyrebryhte.livejournal.com]

There's only one way to deal with morbid moods....
GOTH PARTY!!!!!!! Seriously though, I was contemplating the goth trivia get together idea and decided it should definetly be taken to its inevitaable extreme. Candles, The Cure, depressing art flicks (or various so-called "goth" movies. Whatever.) and most importantly, lotsa black clothes and eyeliner! Now, I know you and Toys don't often wear black, *snerk!* but I thought you could make an exception. Please, please please??? Goth Party? Mein Haus oder dein, ja!

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Okay, I think you could sell me on the idea. ; )

We'll be away for this weekend, but next weekish? Workable? I can see how many like-minded depressives we can whip together for a trivia-off of Gothickness and generalized red wine drinking and eyeliner... what say you?

[fyrebryhte.livejournal.com]

I say YAY!!!

I've no rules about the when or where of it. Whatever date works for the most people. Woo-hoo! Red wine!!
I'll make the... uh... What the hell do goth's eat?

[fyrebryhte.livejournal.com]

aside from the bitter fruit of life's neverending agonies, I mean.

[thedeadlyhook.livejournal.com]

Hmm... Gothic food. Must think on this. Possibly something with cheese. Yes, cheese. Hmm...