My last Huge Project, before the Super-Secret Project, was the Death by Chemistry Project. We filled the test at the end with imaginative “real-life disaster” scenarios.
It was ghoulish. We had a tornado hit an airport where containers of surface-cleaning acid spilled out on an parking lot that led to a propane tank yard next to a runway where a Piper Cub was flipped over on top of a widening puddle of jet fuel. Oh, and the rain was falling on the possibly water-reactive acid. You have ten minutes! What do you do? Tick tick tick ….
So, watching the Breaking News from Minneapolis tonight it struck me: You have a bridge collapse into a major river. There are flames leaping from a crushed semi. Below the burning semi there is a railway container car that has been crushed by a falling span, and next to it there is a tanker car filled with an unknown fluid. (They aren’t showing in on any channel but Fox, but it’s there and it is creeping me out.) Oh, and there is a school bus full of kids on the bridge, a thunderstorm heading in, and a major league stadium full of fans watching a game. Downwind. Okay, I’m not sure about that last part, they may not be downwind, but if we were making up this scenario it would be.
I’m reminded that when we made up these disasters, we knew to step it back a notch when Caroline would shriek, “AND THERE ARE PUPPIES! THERE IS A BASKET OF PUPPIES AND THE FLAMES ARE HEADING STRAIGHT FOR THEM!”
Well, at least there’s no basket of puppies (because if there were Fox would have them on a loop), but I keep wanting the camera man to go back to the tanker so I can look closely at that hazardous material placard on it.
9 responses to “Unreal”
I was Puppies-girl, not Caroline.It made ya’ll laugh though which was my entire contribution to that particular Super-Secret Project.
One of my writing board friends had crossed that bridge five minutes before it collapsed. She’s a little freaked out.I believe I’ll leave the Boone and Blanchette bridges to the daredevils and just stick with the extension. Not that it being newest is much comfort.
Fox News? Now that’s scary!What is also scary is the fact that we probably won’t know for a long while, and by then it won’t matter! I heard they are closing down the search for the night, what the hell?
I am rather worried. The daughter of one of my patient’s went on vacation to Mall of America. I hope she is ok.
You are psychic. I was reading the long paragraph and thinking, “You forgot the puppies!”Hey, did you hear about the chemical dumpster fire here in St. Louis this morning? There was a great quote on the radio about “they handed us all these MSDS and there sure is a lot of stuff in there!” http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/laworder/story/FD2E565DAFE048308625732B0045FA2D?OpenDocument
Oh, and Hot Mom – by the end of that project we were all Puppy Girls. 🙂
Hot mom – Credit where due. You birthed the puppy remark.Friend #3 – I was wondering if I’d be concerned. It didn’t occur to me unitl I was well over the Page bridge.judibleu – Well… I thought that too, but I guess with a water situation it isn’t like an earthquake where they might be trapped under some rubble and survive. They would be trapped under rubble and drown. Sad. – I hope so too. I’ve been to that Mall. The sidewalks outside it are heated so ice doesn’t form. Caroline “� No fighting over the puppies. And wait “� a chemical dumpster? That sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.
A little too close to home for comfort. My son has a friend who lives in Minneapolis and he’s not been able to contact him. We’re hoping for the best.
sue – I’m relieved to hear there are a lot fewer fatalities than they first thought. I hope your son’s friend is fine.