we all get a turn?

[a_muse_d]

awaiting my turn




most rock pits/dump sites have a wheel wash you drive through
to clean off muddy tires
before heading back out onto public streets

this one does not
so they provide a high pressure fire hose
and you do it yourself



speaking of our turn...

a shooter ran through our largest mall yesterday afternoon at 3:30 or so
and shot three people, two who died at the scene, one who is in serious condition
at a hospital

then he shot and killed himself

just fucking weird; no one believed it was really happening at first
because, hey, that stuff happens in other places, not in Portland.

at 4:30, as there were still hundreds of people hiding in the mall
as police swept through to assess the situation and get the survivors
out into the evening, i was sitting in a sports bar after work to watch things
unfold on the teevee and to have a winter beer

as i sat down, the guy next to me, visibly shaken, was describing how he was
walking past the Macy's perfume counter when a young man, dressed in black
wearing a hockey mask and carrying a black automatic rifle, jogged past him,
bumping into his shoulder and continuing on.

the man next to me said that for a split second he thought it was some sort of gag,
a joke of some kind, then before that thought could finish, he realized this was real
and he heard POP POP POP POP POP and he hit the floor. after lying there for a minute or so
he crawled out of the store and ran out of the mall

he gave his info to the police, who were swarming around the mall, and got out of there; his
business was finished and he just wanted to be gone

and so it was very very weird to watch this unfold on tv while this guy, who was a lucky
mo fo, sat next to me, decompressing


so, do we all get a turn, then?

is it yours next?

i know we all get a turn to live and to die, but this business, too?


just brain dumping this morning before heading out to haul dirt from the
light rail project, drive it to a dump site and hose off tires.

life as usual