Retroactive patience

[randy_byers]

On Wednesday after we saw Scott Pilgrim vs. the World downtown, Denys and I got stuck in a terrible traffic jam on Aurora. We remembered too late that they had started work on the anti-suicide fence on the bridge and that traffic across the bridge was narrowed to one lane in both directions. I was pissed off that there hadn't been any signs warning us at the on-ramp, when we could have diverted to Dexter. We crept along at a rate slower than walking. It took us a half hour to finally get to the bridge, where we were surprised to discover that no traffic was being allowed across whatsoever. We were diverted to Dexter. I was really pissed that the cops were waiting to divert people at the bridge rather than diverting us much earlier.

Well, today I found out why in the Fremont Universe blog: There was a jumper on the bridge that night. The cops were eventually able to talk her down. (The blog article is actually about the fact that somebody live-tweeted the story, and asks whether this was a good thing to do.)

So in retrospect I am no longer pissed at the cops. They were responding to a crisis, and their plans probably unfolded haphazardly as they dealt with it. One of the bizarre things that happened on top of all this is that a Medic One vehicle had to make it's way through the traffic jam to get to one of the retirement centers along Aurora. I hope they were able to save whoever that call was for, too.

Comments

[stevegreen.livejournal.com]

The blog article is actually about the fact that somebody live-tweeted the story, and asks whether this was a good thing to do.

Certainly isn't if the potential jumper is reading the tweets.

[randy-byers.livejournal.com]

Now there's a scene to conjure with: jumper with iPhone ...