The Sky is Falling

July 7, 2016

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On my lunch break, running errands, I happened to see that a whole block (at Madison/Dearborn) was taped off. On top of that, there was a firetruck on the scene… and a lot of people waiting on the corners were craning their necks, looking upwards.

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I stared and tried to see what they were all seeing… but I couldn’t spot anything. I saw these two guys, but just assumed they were window washers.

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I walked near another guy who was also looking up, and asked him if he knew what was going on (he didn’t). I explained that I saw all these folks staring up, but that I tried looking… and had no idea what they were all staring at.

I felt a little like Dave Sutton.

He confessed to me that he, too, tried looking and didn’t know. Those guys up there also looked to him like window washers.

Happy I wasn’t alone in my confusion, I ended up walking across the street and asked one of the fireman who was standing by – asking folks to stay on the other side of the tape. He said a window had broken (and I assumed, came loose and fell down) – and that the guys up there were repairing it.

Mystery solved, I then went about my errands.

But as I was walking – I thought about how extreme the reaction was. Close off the entire block? But then I figured if something fell from such great heights, I guess it could potentially travel a decent distance from where it began. Horizontally speaking, of course.

As this realization crept into my head, I began wondering what the odds were of something falling on me, as I went about my business in the city.

Probably along the lines of winning the lottery. But then I started wondering: is it safer for me to walk closer to the buildings, or further away?

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Back at the office, looking out over the intersection.

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Looking down at several people looking up.

Another realization: this whole time, up until this very sentence I’m typing… I didn’t even stop to consider the possibility that someone was injured. I hope no one was hurt.